Last Updated: August 11th, 2026
If you sold a property before spring 2026 and you sell another one now, you will notice the paperwork looks different. On 30 March 2026 a new version of the TA6 property information form became mandatory, replacing the versions that came before it. What surprises most people is the direction of the change. After a long consultation, the Law Society made the form shorter and simpler rather than longer. Here is what the TA6 asks you to disclose, what was taken out, what was added, and why a shorter form does not mean a smaller legal responsibility.
The TA6 is the form every seller of a residential property in England and Wales completes about the home they are selling. It is not a survey and it is not something your solicitor fills in for you. It is your own account of the property, in your own words, covering the things a buyer could not reasonably discover for themselves by looking round or reading the title.
Your conveyancer sends the completed form to the buyer’s solicitor as part of the contract pack, once an offer has been accepted. The buyer’s solicitor reads it alongside the title documents and the conveyancing searches, then raises enquiries about anything that looks unclear or incomplete. It is one of the first documents to leave your file and one of the most closely read, which is why it repays a little care. Our guide to what a conveyancer does for the seller sets out where the form fits into the wider job.
Two features of the TA6 are worth understanding from the outset. First, it is a live document. If any of your answers change between completing the form and completion of the sale, you must update it. Second, it is not simply an administrative exercise. Answers given carelessly or untruthfully can expose you to a claim from the buyer after the sale, which we return to below.
The Law Society made the TA6 sixth edition, and an updated TA7 leasehold information form, mandatory for firms accredited under its Conveyancing Quality Scheme from 30 March 2026. Gorvins Residential is a CQS accredited practice, so we use the new forms on all new instructions.
The change applies to transactions where the solicitor was instructed on or after that date. If your conveyancer was already instructed and you had completed an earlier edition of the form, that version can generally continue to be used for that transaction, so there is no need to start again mid sale.
The background matters, because it explains why the form moved in the direction it did. The fifth edition, issued in 2024, had expanded considerably in order to capture the material information categories being promoted at that time for property listings. It was not well received. An independent consultation gathered views from more than 1,200 solicitors, licensed conveyancers, estate agents and sellers, and the message was that the expanded form was long, confusing and prone to producing errors. The Law Society responded by convening a working group of residential conveyancers who met weekly for several months to redraft it.
The result is a form with 15 sections, ten fewer than the fifth edition, and a structure much closer to the older fourth edition that most conveyancers and repeat sellers will recognise.
The sections removed from the TA6 were, broadly, the ones added to the fifth edition to satisfy material information guidance for property listings. They include council tax, asking price, tenure, ownership and charges, physical characteristics, building safety, restrictive covenants, coastal erosion, accessibility, and whether the property sits in a coalfield or former mining area.
It is important to read that list correctly. Those subjects have not stopped mattering. They have simply moved back to the parties best placed to deal with them. Instead of asking you to summarise them, the transaction now handles them where they belong:
The Law Society also introduced a separate, optional material information form. It is not compulsory for CQS firms, and it is designed for conveyancers who are instructed by a seller before the property is listed. If you instruct us early, that is the route by which upfront information can be gathered.
Alongside the trimming, a small number of new questions were introduced to reflect features that are now common in modern homes and that buyers and lenders ask about. These include whether the property has an electric vehicle charging point and whether it has a heat pump.
Two other improvements will make the form easier to complete accurately. The explanatory notes have been rewritten with clearer signposting and more useful examples, and additional “not known” options have been added where a seller genuinely cannot be expected to know the answer. That last point is more significant than it sounds. Guessing on a legal form is a poor idea, and having a proper way to say that you do not know removes the temptation.
The heart of the form is unchanged. You are being asked about the things you know from living in the property. The areas covered include:
Some of these questions catch people out. Sellers regularly forget that replacement windows need paperwork, which is exactly where a FENSA certificate becomes relevant, and that a conservatory or a loft conversion may need a building regulations completion certificate. Others assume a resolved neighbour dispute does not need mentioning. It does. If paperwork genuinely cannot be found, there is often a solution, and our guide to indemnity policies explains one of the more common ones.
Two further points to raise with us early. If you have solar panels, the ownership and lease arrangements behind them need to be documented properly. And if there is or has been Japanese knotweed at the property, that must be disclosed, along with any treatment plan and guarantee.
This is the point we most want sellers to take away. The Law Society has been clear that the underlying legal position is materially unchanged. Making the form shorter did not reduce your duty of honesty.
If you answer a question inaccurately, or leave out something you knew, a buyer who suffers loss as a result may have a claim against you for misrepresentation after completion. That can mean damages, and in serious cases it can mean an attempt to unwind the sale. Deliberately concealing a known problem to get a sale over the line is a false economy, because the problem tends to surface anyway, usually once the buyer has moved in and has every reason to pursue it. Our guide on managing a conveyancing dispute covers what happens when things go wrong.
The safer approach is straightforward. Answer honestly, use the “not known” option where you truly do not know, tell us about anything you are unsure how to describe, and let us advise on how it should be presented. In our experience a disclosed issue handled properly is far less likely to derail a sale than an undisclosed one discovered late.
If you are selling a flat or any leasehold property, you will also complete the TA7 leasehold information form, which was updated at the same time. It covers the matters specific to leasehold ownership, including your landlord and managing agent, service charges and ground rent, the building’s insurance, any major works planned or recently carried out, and the notices and consents required under your lease.
The TA7 usually depends on information held by your freeholder or managing agent, which is a common source of delay in leasehold sales. If you are selling a leasehold home, tell us early so that we can request the management pack at the first opportunity. Our comparison of freehold and leasehold ownership explains the differences that drive these extra requirements.
The practical steps are simple, and doing them early saves weeks later.
Our conveyancing checklist is a useful companion to this, and if a term on the form is unfamiliar, our glossary of conveyancing terms is a good place to start.
At Gorvins Residential, our conveyancing team acts for sellers across Stockport, Manchester and the wider North West every day, and we guide clients through the TA6 and TA7 forms as a matter of routine. We will tell you what each question is really asking, help you find the paperwork that supports your answers, and advise on how to deal with anything that does not have a tidy answer.
Done properly, the property information form is not a hurdle. It is one of the best tools a seller has for building a buyer’s confidence and keeping a sale on track. You can read more about how we handle selling a property, or see how the forms fit into the conveyancing process as a whole.
If you are preparing to sell and want the paperwork right from the start, call Gorvins Residential on 0161 930 5350 and we will get your file moving.
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