Home Buying and Selling: A Consumer Guide

The PCCB in February posted on its website a new guide to home buying and selling: Who does what in the home buying and selling process (www.propertycodes.org.uk/consumerguide). It aims to explain clearly the roles of estate agent and conveyancer, as well as home information pack provider, and is designed to raise awareness of the choices that are available to the public and the standards which they should expect from property professionals. The new guidance replaces that previously available on the Board's 'Contact the PCCB' web page. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and "Which?" have both welcomed this initiative as fulfilling the need for a basic guide on this subject and to accompany the OFT's press release issued today about its Market Study into Home Buying and Selling (http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2010/18-10), the OFT has referenced the Guide via its "Guidance for Consumers" in its Home Buying and Selling pages. The market study and accompanying research reports can be found at www.oft.gov.uk/homes

The web-based guide has been prepared with the support of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) and The Property Ombudsman (TPO). It does not pretend to be comprehensive in its coverage. For example, it does not explain the role of mortgage lenders nor that of property surveyors, but it seeks to place HIPs into a wider context than did its predecessor. We hope that the guide can be extended to include other relevant professional services in due course, and we are happy to make available this material from which others such as consumer bodies may wish to develop their own advice. The next step will depend on how far those using the guide come to value its contents and propose improvements, and the PCCB will encourage constructive feedback as part of its monitoring role.

The Board takes the view that improving standards within the industry, including securing full compliance with the Search and HIP Codes of Practice, requires a mix of active enforcement and heightened consumer awareness and involvement. Our programme of regular monitoring, inspection and compliance support addresses the first of these requirements. This new consumer guidance tackles the second requirement. It provides prospective home buyers and sellers with a clear explanation of what is needed when it comes to selecting professional advice and in choosing the right products and supplier. It emphasises the benefits of choosing quality backed products and, by inference, the services of Code subscribers. It encourages consumers to ask questions of their advisers and to explore options. In this way, it looks to develop a mature and informed market where consumer and industry interests are brought together more effectively.