National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team

The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team protects consumers and businesses by enforcing the Estate Agents Act (1979) and the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

Funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC); letting agency regulation (covering England) is led by Bristol City Council and estate agency enforcement (across the UK) is operated from Powys County Council. The team work closely with local authorities who have local enforcement responsibilities.

The team is primarily responsible for the regulation of estate agency work in the UK and letting agency work in England, specifically:

• overseeing the operation of relevant estate and letting agency legislation
• issuing prohibition and formal warning orders to those found unfit to engage in estate agency work in the UK
• approving & overseeing the UK’s consumer redress schemes, Ombudsmen, and Alternative Dispute Resolution entities in the estate agency sector
• issuing guidance and advice for the public, businesses and enforcement authorities on estate agency work in the UK and relevant letting agency work in England.

More information on the National Trading Standards Estate and Lettings Agency Team, including advice for estate agents and consumers, is available here www.ntselat.uk

Improving material information on property listings

National Trading Standards is working with property portals and industry groups to make it as easy as possible for estate and letting agents to provide basic essential material information.

By publishing more material information, we believe there is an opportunity to increase confidence for tenants and buyers and to facilitate swift, well informed decisions about property transactions.

Find out more about our work here.