Property Mis-description Act

Georgie-gina_2

We are about too complete the purchase of our new property, but have just discovered the following.
The lounge has been incorrectly measured in the property details, it is around 2 feet shorter than the description.
It also states that the bathroom suite is White, but it is pink.

My question is, who do we complain too (if we do)?
Should I complain before the sale is complete?
What would I gain by complaining?

Thanks

alanobrien

I dont think this is that rare.

When we sold our house last year the buyer had a survey done as you do. The survey made reference to and asked questions about an extension we had built.
Fine you may think except we had no extension on the house.

The description of the house we bought was mostly ok but mentioned a bidet in the bathroom which was clearly not there........not that we cared.

Inaccuracy is rife i am sorry to say, not sure you would gain much by complaining except maybe some inner peace?

Ian_W

Hi Georgie-gina,
The people who police the property mis-description act are your local council trading standards dept. Perhaps give them a call and seek advice rather than make a formal complaint at this stage. Not sure whether there is any civil redress but EAs can be prosecuted and heavily fined under the act I believe.

flossy_splodge

I'm bemused. Did you not view the property before buying? If so, did you not notice the colour of the suite???

Wickedkitten

flossy_splodge wrote:

I'm bemused. Did you not view the property before buying? If so, did you not notice the colour of the suite???

Same thing I was going to ask. I mean, I can see about the size of the lounge, but it should be pretty obvious what colour the bathroom suite is.

Georgie-gina_2

Yes, of course we realised the colour of the bathroom. We just wondered what powers the mis-description act could enforce.

Jorgan_2

I don't think the you will get any thing for the colour of the suite, however the mis-measuring of the room sounds like a breach of the PMA. The agent has made a statement which is 'false to a material degree'.

Try to speaking to the agents concerned before going to Trading Standards.

bylromarha

Georgie-gina wrote:

We are about too complete the purchase of our new property, but have just discovered the following.
The lounge has been incorrectly measured in the property details, it is around 2 feet shorter than the description.
It also states that the bathroom suite is White, but it is pink.

My question is, who do we complain too (if we do)?
Should I complain before the sale is complete?
What would I gain by complaining?

Thanks

Have you asked the EA where they measured to? It could be that they measured into a bay or something similar?

You and I could both physically measure the same room and get 2 different answers depending on the layout of the room

missk_ensington

Correct me if I'm wrong to those who know about this sort of thing, but is the OP not best seeking legal advice on the quiet, because there's a chance you can take them to court after the sale for Misrepresentation (obviously you'd have to crack on you didn't notice the errors until you'd moved in) But then they could say you're surveyor should have noticed it, or that its your responsibility to check details like that.

I do know that my Mum discovered after she moved into her house that the previous owner had entered into litigation with the neighbours and had a nasty court case. When this person sold to my mum she didn't declare it on one of the forms that asks about any disputes. My mum found out and sued them for mis-rep and got about £5,000 back off the vendor.

Find out who's fault it is- where there's blame....!

Georgie-gina_2

Thanks for the help.
My main concern is that we had brought carpets for the property, now they are the wrong size.

flossy_splodge

I'm sorry to be harsh but you have got to be crackers to buy carpets for a house you are not yet in full ownership of and therefore presumably taking estate agents measurements from the sheet. I am astounded ANYONE would do such a thing. Did you not have access to someone who's bought and sold before to help you know what and how to do things? A bit of commonsense missing I think!