The world of estate agents in the UK has seen a change in recent weeks. Up to now all estate agents were overseen by the Trading Standards Authority, which governed all estate agency practices to ensure both buyers and sellers were well represented.

Since 6 April 2025, the role of overseeing estate agents has switched to the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA), which will now decide whether consumer protection laws have been breached. They will also have direct enforcement powers, with the ability to use fines and redress against those agencies that don’t meet the required standards. 

To help you understand a bit more about what’s happening, we thought we’d highlight some of the areas that the CMA will now cover, giving you an insight into the work the industry does to protect you and your money.

The Role of the CMA

The CMA is responsible for promoting competition and protecting consumers. Their aim is to give UK consumers – whether they’re buying a house or a microwave – the confidence that their interests are protected.

In addition, the CMA works to give fair-dealing businesses the confidence to grow and invest on a level playing field, safe in the knowledge that competitors in their markets are unable to gain an advantage by breaking the law. 

Under the Government’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act), the CMA can now decide whether consumer protection laws have been infringed. If this is the case they can order redress to those consumers affected and sanction businesses that don’t comply.

Going forward the CMA will independently exercise consumer protection in the property market, with the aim of building consumer trust and deterring poor agency practices, while supporting agencies that provide a high level of customer service.

What it Means for Estate Agents

The DMCC Act means that property agents must comply with the legal requirements regarding material information – that is all of the information that may influence a decision on house viewing or purchasing. 

It also requires agents to behave fairly and diligently in their dealings with consumers – for example, a breach could be if they act unfairly, mislead clients or behave aggressively towards them.

At Cardigan Bay Properties we’ve worked hard to meet and exceed the current regulations and will continue to do so with any future changes. All of our team works to our core value – ‘treat others as we would want to be treated’. As a result we have achieved exceptional five-star reviews since we started in 2021, and we continue to work hard to deliver a first-class service to all of our buyers and sellers.

The Future of Commercial Practices

At present the guidance from the CMA is not 100% finalised, so it is not yet clear how any new guidelines will replace or enhance the existing rules. While the estate agency world has no statutory Code of Conduct or Practice, it may be difficult to establish consistent standards of professional diligence, however we hope that the new changes will continue to evolve the market and set even higher standards.

For our part, we will continue to work to the highest levels, putting our clients first at every stage of the buying and selling process, while working to the guidelines outlined by the CMA going forward.

What is Currently in Place

At present the guidance includes a general ban on any conduct that ‘contravenes requirements of professional diligence’, meaning that it governs the approach an agent uses and how they treat buyers and sellers, as well as specifying strict requirements for material information that must be provided. 

To help you understand what is currently in place to protect you in your home buying and selling, we wrote a blog which you can read in full here.

In summary, it outlines the importance of material information. This is defined as ‘information which the average consumer needs, according to the context, to take an informed transactional decision’. This means that material information is anything that may impact your decision to view, make an offer on or buy a property – positive or negative. Making it known from the very start of the marketing process means that potential buyers can make a well-informed decision about the property.

The current guidance means that every estate agent must present a specified range of information about all of the properties they list. This information ranges from building safety and flood risk to planning permission for the property itself and its immediate locality. 

While we don’t know what the new CMA guidance will involve, it is likely to build on what is currently in place. We’ll be monitoring developments and will keep you informed.