About this form
Form 1 is the Council for Estate Agencies’ prescribed agreement between a seller of residential property and the estate agent they appoint to market it. It is the non-exclusive version: the seller may appoint other agencies at the same time, and may sell the property themselves. Its wording is set by the regulator, so an agency completes the particulars and schedules rather than redrafting the terms.
When you need it
- A private residential owner asks you to market their property for sale and has not agreed to work with you alone.
- A seller wants to keep the option of listing with more than one agency.
- An existing exclusive appointment has expired and the seller wants to continue on an open basis.
How to complete it
- Identify the property precisely, including the unit number where the property is strata-titled. An address that matches more than one unit is the single most common source of later dispute.
- Record the seller’s particulars as they appear on their identification, not as they are given verbally.
- State the commission and, importantly, what it is calculated on and when it becomes payable. A percentage with no stated base is not a complete term.
- Set the start and end dates of the appointment. An agreement with no end date is not open-ended in the way people assume.
- Complete the estate agent and salesperson particulars, including the salesperson’s own CEA registration number — not the agency licence number, which is a different register.
- Have the seller sign before you begin marketing, and give them a copy.
Common mistakes
- Using Form 1 where the seller has actually agreed to an exclusive appointment. Exclusivity does not arise from intention; it arises from using Form 5.
- Writing the agency’s licence number into the salesperson’s registration field. They are separate registers and the fields are not interchangeable.
- Starting to market the property before the agreement is signed.
- Leaving the commission basis blank on the assumption it is understood.
Legal basis
Prescribed under the Estate Agents (Estate Agency Work) Regulations. CEA publishes the current forms and accompanying guidance. Read the issuer’s guidance.
Questions
- Can a seller appoint more than one agency using Form 1?
- Yes — that is precisely what distinguishes it from Form 5. A non-exclusive appointment does not prevent the seller from engaging other agencies, or from finding a buyer themselves.
- Does Form 1 apply to commercial property?
- No. The prescribed agreements cover residential property. There is no CEA prescribed form for a commercial sale mandate, which is why this library links to none.
- Can the agency add its own clauses?
- An agency may add particulars and schedules, but the prescribed terms themselves are set by the regulator and are not to be altered. If you are unsure whether an addition alters a prescribed term, take advice before using it.