InfoTrack: TA6 The calm after the storm
When the Law Society introduced the 5th edition of the TA6 Property Information Form, it was presented as a step towards greater transparency, efficiency and even business opportunities. It became one of the most contentious topics in recent conveyancing history. The timing and intention were understandable. Material Information had been debated by Conveyancing industry bodies for decades. It already had a regulatory home in the Consumer Protection Regulations (CPRs) that are applied to Estate Agents, then in November 2023 the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) waded in with ‘clarity’ on that Material Information actually meant.
On the surface it shouldn’t have been so troublesome, defining what Material Information would be helpful, and encouraging it to be gathered and shared as early as possible in the home buying and selling process sounds like a no-brainer. As I type it now, it still sounds like a very good idea. However, these were directions and details that came from outside of the legal profession, when The Law Society included these elements in 5th Edition of the TA6 in an announcement in March 2024, they became a problem for conveyancers. Questions piled up and conveyancers piled on. They were not happy, at least a lot of them weren’t, and they were very vocal about it. The backlash reached such intensity that it prompted a vote of no confidence in the leadership of The Law Society. The motion was defeated with a tally of 207 votes against, 123 for, and 20 abstentions.
Whose form is it anyway?
Throughout this period, I heard impassioned arguments and counter arguments about liabilities and misrepresentation, whether this would speed up or slow down conveyancing, if this was an opportunity or a burden, and whether the data, if it could be collected, could be relied upon. I’m not a lawyer so never pretended that my opinion on these things should count for much, but I am an expert on how businesses innovate and grow – which means change. One thing I did recognise was something that ultimately everyone came to agree on, the conveyancers charged with using the forms had not bought in to the change. While rejecting the premise for the challenge to the TA6 5th Edition the folks at Chancery Lane stated, “we can see that more engagement with practitioners was and is needed to ensure that the new edition of TA6 has wider support within its user community”.
Soon after a consultation was launched. It was met with a healthy dollop of scepticism, which was perhaps unfair, but predictable. It seemed to me that the consultation work was carried out professionally, thoroughly, and sincerely, which is all you can really ask for. However, before the results could be brought into the light, things changed again. In April 2025 Trading Standards withdrew their Material Information Guidance. In case you’re interested, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2025 now supersedes the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (the CPRs I mentioned earlier) and enforcement of these regulations has shifted from NTSELAT to the Competition and Markets Authority.
Temporarily homeless?
So, ironically, Material Information appears to be without a home once more, but perhaps not for long. On 5th October the government announced proposals for “the biggest shake-up to the home buying system in this country’s history”, which includes, that’s right… “detailed material upfront information packs”. A week later, having concluded their consultation with “more than 1,200 solicitors, licensed conveyancers, estate agents and sellers”, The Law Society announced the new 6th Edition of the TA6, which does not include questions based on the NTSELAT guidance. It also stopped working on a separate Material Information Form, but has not ruled out introducing one in the future.
The newly released 6th edition represents a return to safer ground, and it would appear common ground. The vitriol that met the changes in 2024 has been notably absent. The Form reverts largely to the structure and logic of the familiar 4th edition, removing the “upfront data” requirements that caused such disruption. Normal service seems to have been restored. The same arguments about the modernisation of the conveyancing process and the role of upfront information persists. I think we can hope that the uncomfortable experience of the 5th Edition will mean that future changes are managed differently. It is clearly an emotive topic though and real change also required boldness.
What’s changed?
As I said, the questions referring to Material Information have been removed. The structure has also been rationalised with 15 sections in total compared to 25 in the 5th Edition. Those removed referred to:
- Council tax
- Asking price
- Tenure, ownership and charges
- Physical characteristics of the property
- Building safety
- Restrictive covenants
- Coastal erosion
- Accessibility
- Coalfield or mining area
The Law Society have also increased options for homeowners to answer ‘Not Known’, as well as taking steps to make the phrasing of questions and the associated guidance more accessible to the lay person. These changes are something I’m particularly pleased to see.
At InfoTrack, we have made a digital version of every TA6 Form available free of charge within eCOS, our client onboarding solution since 2019. The Forms are used by hundreds of thousands of our client’s clients every year and we know from our support teams just how frequently people struggle with the questions. The TA6 6th Edition is available to our clients immediately. Firms can continue to use the 4th and 5th Editions until March 2026, but that is the deadline when The Law Society will withdraw the earlier versions.
As has been the case with every version apart from the 5th Edition, we expect conveyancers to migrate quickly and relatively easily to the new version well before then. This change is not dramatic, and at this point that in itself is valuable. It brings conveyancing back to a point of equilibrium, where firms can focus on the client experience. With that in mind if you are not currently including digital TA Forms in your client onboarding, I highly recommend that you do so, regardless of how the regulations may shift we all want to gather the relevant information as cleanly and quickly as possible to get on with the job of helping people move home.
Author: Sam Jordan, Chief Operating Officer, InfoTrack UK
Kindly shared by InfoTrack
