The NCA today welcomed assurances from the IAVI and IPAV that its members will report and publish accurate sales prices for properties sold through private treaty or withdrawn from auction. This will enable them to comply with the Consumer Protection Act 2007.

However, Ann Fitzgerald, Chief Executive of the National Consumer Agency, also sounded a note of caution. "We are pleased with the assurances from the IAVI and IPAV," she said. "But I would warn estate agents who aren't members of these bodies that the law also applies to them. There is also an onus on newspapers not to publish information which they know to be inaccurate."

She also addressed the issue of timing. "When issuing information on sale prices, estate agents are also obliged to do so in a timely manner" she said. "It is not acceptable to publish the sale price of a particular house long after it has been sold as the market may have moved in the interim and that sale price will no longer be applicable."

Ms Fitzgerald also issued a call to consumers. "If in the future any consumers have reason to believe that sale prices are reported inaccurately we would ask them to make contact with the NCA immediately," she said.

Ends.