The DMCC Act 2024: What It Means for Property Marketing

The DMCC Act 2024 means property marketing must now be accurate, complete and substantiated — or the CMA can penalise it directly. The Act reforms UK consumer-protection law and, from April 2025, lets the Competition and Markets Authority investigate and fine misleading or unfair practices through its own decisions rather than the courts. For anyone marketing property to consumers, the long-standing duty not to mislead has not changed in principle — but the enforcement behind it has changed dramatically. This guide explains what the Act covers, what "material information" means, which practices are banned, what compliant marketing looks like, and what the penalties are.

This is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice — seek independent professional advice.

What the DMCC Act 2024 is

The substance of the consumer rules will feel familiar to anyone who knew the old 2008 regulations: traders must not mislead consumers by action or by omission, must not behave aggressively, and must not engage in a list of practices banned outright. What is new is the enforcement architecture. Previously, the CMA generally had to go through the courts to secure penalties for consumer-law breaches. Under the DMCC Act it can make its own decisions and impose fines directly, with court oversight by way of appeal rather than as the first step.

For property, that shift matters because property is a sector where the consumer is making one of the largest financial decisions of their life, often on the strength of marketing materials. The Act raises the cost of getting that marketing wrong.

CMA enforcement powers from April 2025

The consumer-protection enforcement regime under the DMCC Act came into force from April 2025. From that point, the CMA gained the ability to:

• Investigate suspected breaches of consumer protection law using formal information-gathering powers.
• Decide cases and impose penalties directly through administrative decisions, rather than having to litigate each one first.
• Require businesses to change their conduct and to put things right for affected consumers.
• Penalise non-compliance with its directions, and penalise the provision of false or misleading information to the CMA itself.

In short: the rules that property marketers were always supposed to follow are now backed by a regulator that can act quickly and impose serious financial consequences. April 2025 is the practical line in the sand — marketing that might once have drawn a warning can now draw a penalty.

Material information: the heart of property marketing compliance

In a property context, material information typically includes facts a reasonable buyer or tenant would want before they commit. The exact list depends on the property, but it commonly covers:

• Tenure — whether the property is freehold or leasehold (and, for leasehold, the lease length).
• Price and the conditions attached to it — including any fees, deposits or requirements that affect the real cost.
• Ground rent and service charges for leasehold property, and any known increases.
• Known defects and material issues — structural problems, flooding history, cladding status, restrictions and similar.
• Tenancy status where relevant — for example whether a property is sold with a sitting tenant.
• Anything else that would affect the consumer's decision — the test is the impact on an informed decision, not a fixed checklist.

The simplest way to think about it: if a fact would change whether, or on what terms, a reasonable consumer would proceed, it is probably material — and burying it or omitting it is a risk. Disclosing material information up front is not just compliant; it builds the trust that gets serious transactions over the line.

Banned and high-risk practices in property marketing

The DMCC regime prohibits misleading actions, misleading omissions and aggressive practices, and lists certain practices that are banned in all circumstances. The table below maps the common property-marketing pitfalls to the compliant alternative.

A note on valuation language specifically. Phrases like "below market value" are only meaningful — and only defensible — if there is a transparent methodology behind them. The credible approach is to anchor any discount to a proper valuation, such as a RICS Red Book valuation supported by comparable evidence, and to explain how the figure was reached rather than asserting it. A claim you can show your working on is a claim you can stand behind.

What compliant property marketing looks like in 2026

Pulling the principles together, compliant marketing under the DMCC Act has a recognisable shape:

The penalties for getting it wrong

The reason the property industry has paid close attention to the DMCC Act is the scale of the enforcement powers behind it. For breaches of consumer protection law, the CMA can impose financial penalties of up to 10% of a business's global annual turnover. Separate penalties apply for failing to comply with the CMA's directions and for providing false or misleading information to the CMA during an investigation, and individuals can be exposed in certain circumstances.

Beyond the headline figures, there is the reputational cost. A public finding that a property business misled consumers does lasting damage to trust — and trust is the entire basis on which investors and sellers decide who to work with. The financial penalty is recoverable; the credibility is harder to rebuild.

Who's behind L&M

Verifiable sources cited in this guide

Frequently asked questions about the DMCC Act and property marketing