Material Information in Property Listings: Dwellons response to the Government Consultation

In December 2025, the Government closed its Open Consultation on Material Information in Property Listings. At Dwellon, we chose to submit a detailed response because the proposals go directly to the heart of what is currently wrong with the home buying and selling process in England.

The consultation focused on what information should be made available to buyers when a property is marketed and when that information should be provided. In simple terms, it asked what buyers should know before deciding whether to view, offer on or proceed with the purchase of a home. This includes information that could affect a buyer’s decision, the value of the property or the ability to use it as intended.

Our response was prepared by Susan Jones, Chartered Town Planning Consultant and founder of Dwellon, who has more than forty years’ experience working within the UK planning system. Much of that experience has involved enforcement cases, where development has taken place without the correct permissions and has therefore become unlawful. Through this work, and through Dwellon’s day to day involvement with buyers and sellers, a consistent pattern has emerged. Important planning and building regulation issues are often discovered far too late in the process, when time, money and emotional energy have already been invested.

The UK planning system is complex and difficult for non professionals to navigate. Many homeowners unknowingly breach planning controls, while others assume that works carried out by previous owners must be lawful. These assumptions are often wrong. At the same time, council planning departments and enforcement teams are under severe resource pressure and are frequently reliant on third party complaints to identify problems. The result is a system where issues remain hidden until a property transaction is well under way or even completed.

Dwellon was established in 2023 following Susan Jones’s own experience of buying a home and realising how little meaningful due diligence takes place at the point a property is listed. Since then, Dwellon has worked with buyers and sellers across England and has had extensive discussions with estate agents, conveyancers, mortgage lenders, brokers, trading standards officers and local authority planners. These conversations have reinforced the view that the current process is not working well for consumers.

One of the central problems is timing. Key technical information such as planning history, enforcement records, flood risk or drainage constraints is usually revealed very late in the conveyancing process. By that stage, buyers often feel committed and are reluctant to walk away even when serious issues emerge. This leads to stress, mistrust and, in some cases, legal disputes under the Misrepresentation Act.

Dwellon’s position is that material information should be available upfront, at the point a property is marketed. This allows buyers to decide whether a property is genuinely suitable for them before viewing, and it gives sellers the opportunity to understand and address any issues early on. It also reduces the likelihood of aborted transactions and wasted costs on both sides.

A key theme in our consultation response was the role of estate agents. While agents play an important part in marketing property, they are not regulated and their fee is usually linked to achieving a sale. Expecting them to prepare or interpret complex technical material information creates an inherent conflict of interest. Even where agents are experienced and well intentioned, they should not be placed in a position where negative information could affect their ability to secure a sale.

For that reason, Dwellon strongly believes that technical material information and its interpretation should be prepared by independent, regulated professionals with appropriate expertise in planning and building control, and with no interest in the outcome of the transaction. There is no reason why this information cannot then form part of the property listing in a clear and accessible format.

Much of the information buyers need already exists within local authority records, land searches and environmental datasets. It is not overly difficult or prohibitively expensive to obtain. What is missing is early access, proper analysis and clear explanation in a way that ordinary consumers can understand. Providing this information upfront would lead to better decisions, fewer fall throughs and greater trust in the system.

It is also important to recognise that most sellers are also buyers. Improvements to transparency and accuracy therefore benefit people on both sides of the transaction. Where sellers are developers or housebuilders, upfront disclosure is even more important, particularly where works have not been completed in accordance with approved plans or conditions have not been discharged.

Dwellon understands that reform of the home buying and selling process is long overdue. The mandatory introduction of upfront material information represents a genuine opportunity for the Government to create a system that is fairer, more efficient and fit for purpose. If implemented correctly, these changes would lead to better informed consumers, smoother transactions and increased confidence in the property market as a whole. Let's see what comes of this!