Can property practitioners still cold call? Here’s what the new rules say

“Every day of the working week, I get at least one call from an estate agent who wants to know if I'm interested in selling my property,” says Reddit user rattlensqueak. “Who spontaneously decides to sell a house because somebody called up to suggest it?”  

“It's like if a minibus taxi slows down on the far side of the road to ask if you want a ride in the opposite direction to the one you’re walking in,” they add. 

If you have ever spent an afternoon dialing through a phone book or database to build your listing pipeline, that sentiment might feel a little uncomfortable — and perhaps a bit too familiar. For years, cold calling has been a staple in many property practitioners’ toolkits. 

But with tighter direct marketing regulations, a new national opt-out registry, and stricter compliance requirements now in place, unrestricted prospecting calls are no longer business as usual. 

New Consumer Protection Act regulations are in effect     

The latest changes to South Africa’s Consumer Protection Act (CPA) regulations mark a significant shift in how businesses can approach direct marketing. Gazetted in April 2026 and effective from 15 April, the amendments strengthen existing consumer protections around direct marketing and electronic communications and introduce a more formal system for managing consumers’ preferences. 

The Act’s framework gives consumers greater control over how businesses contact them. At the centre of the new framework is the principle that consumers should be able to prevent unsolicited marketing before it happens, rather than having to repeatedly ask individual businesses to stop contacting them. 

For property practitioners, this brings cold calling and other prospecting activities into sharper focus. If you are calling homeowners, sending SMS or WhatsApp messages, emailing prospective clients, canvassing neighbourhoods, or using outsourced lead-generation services, your activity may fall under the definition of direct marketing. That means the responsibility is no longer simply about having a good prospecting strategy. Instead, practitioners and real estate businesses must also ensure that their databases and outreach methods comply with the new requirements. 

The changes apply to businesses and individuals engaging in direct marketing, meaning real estate businesses and property practitioners who actively prospect for sellers, buyers, landlords, or tenants need to take note. It is also worth remembering that the CPA changes do not replace existing obligations under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Businesses using direct marketing still need to comply with POPIA where applicable.

Before you get in touch, know the rules 

The good news is that the new regulations do not ban prospecting by phone, but they do place clearer compliance obligations on businesses engaging in direct marketing. Key requirements highlighted by Lauren De Oliveira from Best Agent include: 

• Register with the National Consumer Commission (NCC): Real estate businesses acting as direct marketers must formally register with the NCC and renew their registration annually. The process requires company registration details, VAT information, supporting compliance documentation, tax clearance and BBBEE documentation, along with the prescribed registration fees. 
  
  
• Cleanse your database every month: Marketing databases must be checked against the National Opt-Out Registry monthly. If a consumer has registered a pre-emptive block, their details need to be removed from your active marketing lists. This applies even if you collected their details previously or have contacted them before.   
  
  
• Honour opt-out requests immediately: If someone tells you they do not want to receive marketing communications, you cannot simply leave their details on your prospecting list for the next campaign. Their request must be honoured immediately, and their details removed from your database. 
  
  
• Keep your own do-not-contact records: Your real estate business should have a clear process for recording consumers who have asked not to be contacted, so they are not inadvertently contacted by another practitioner or included in a future campaign.    
  
  
• Identify your business clearly: Direct marketing communications should clearly identify who is making the contact and provide the real estate business's relevant contact details and physical or electronic address. Prospecting should not be anonymous or misleading. 

The message for property practitioners is simple: don’t treat compliance as an optional extra. A well-managed prospecting process is a must to help you maintain professional standards. It also builds trust with potential clients and keeps your business on the right side of the regulations.

Where cold-calling non-compliance can lead 

Taking a “wait-and-see” approach or assuming nobody is checking up on cold calls can potentially turn into a costly mistake. The new framework gives the National Consumer Commission mechanisms to investigate non-compliance and take enforcement action. Here is what happens when non-compliance gets flagged: 

Complaints to the NCC: Any consumer who receives an unsolicited contact after registering a pre-emptive block, or after asking a real estate business directly to stop, can lodge a formal complaint with the NCC. The Commission has the authority to step in and investigate your business’s direct marketing practices and records. 

Issuance of a compliance notice: If the NCC identifies non-compliance, it can issue a formal compliance notice requiring the business to take corrective action. 

Referral to the National Consumer Tribunal: By failing to adhere to a compliance notice, the matter may be referred to the National Consumer Tribunal for enforcement. 

Severe administrative fines: This is where non-compliance becomes a serious business threat. The National Consumer Tribunal can hand down administrative fines of up to R1 million or 10% of your business’s annual turnover, whichever amount is greater. 

Cold calling may look different under the new rules, but it is not disappearing completely. With the right processes in place, practitioners can continue prospecting while making sure their approach is compliant, professional, and respectful of consumers’ preferences.