Inaccurate floorplans?

road68

We've recently had an offer accepted on a flat in Battersea, attracted in part by what we percieved to be good value on a £ per square foot basis (under the local average). We had an offer accepted under asking, were gazupmed and forced to up our offer significantly but the £ per square foot metric was something we took comfort in that we were still getting an OK deal.

However... our mortgage valuation has just come back and shows a square meter size of 102 (1095 sq ft) vs. the agents plan of 112 (1216 sq ft)... a pretty significant difference!

Does anyone know how accurately the surveyor looks at size when doing a mortgage valuation (not a full survey) and is this likely to be more / less trustworthy than our agent (Foxtons!!!) estimate?

The other "gazumper" was a cash buyer who didnt need a mortgage so we're not in a fantastic bargaining position. I'm torn between thinking we like the flat anyway and it shouldn't matter and worrying that we've been ripped off, and may have a nasty shock when we come to sell and if a different agent produces a smaller plan....

HELP PLEASE!

ACG

You have posted this before havnt you?

Im sur ei read similar to this in the last week or so.

The estate agent will usually put a disclaimer on their ads saying the sizes are estimates and they can not be held accountable if wrong and they suggest doing your own measurements.

Presumably you have visited the property, is it big enough for what you need/want? If yes then the actual figures shouldnt matter, if not then pull out as even if you got it at a bargain... it still wouldnt be big enough.

I dont know anyone who has bought a house off the measurements, its either been location, look or potential.

ILW

Residential property is seldom valued by floor area in the uK.

road68

First time poster! But I'll try to find the previous one!

It's definitely big enough for what we need (I've used my own individual room measurements for planning out furniture etc!) my main concern I guess is onward sale down the line ... we've already upped our offer once (by 5% when we got gazumped) and this makes it feel like again the property is getting more expensive ... My heart says stick with it but want to make sure that wouldn't be totaly irrational!

I've read the trend is for more and more buyers to go on £ per square foot these days so worry we'll suffer (or be forced to sell with Foxtons!) down the line!

Appreciate your thoughts (both ILW and ACG) - thank you!

Vetyver

Snap!

At least your surveyor did their own measurements though, instead of just going with the Agent's floorplans, which is more than I can say for my case.

ACG

You will always find people whos heart rules their head. So as long as the property is decent enough in a nice enough area my theory is that it will always sell.

road68

Vetyver wrote: »

At least your surveyor did their own measurements though, instead of just going with the Agent's floorplans, which is more than I can say for my case.

Very useful reading your thread! What have you decided to do? I see we have the same worry about resale. I know the flat is big enough for what I need but we had an eye to investment potential and I worry about this affecting it ...

Vetyver

road68 wrote: »

Very useful reading your thread! What have you decided to do? I see we have the same worry about resale. I know the flat is big enough for what I need but we had an eye to investment potential and I worry about this affecting it ...

Tbh, I'm still working it out. I'm grateful for all the replies yesterday as they all give food for thought but I can't help but be concerned about resale - after all, this is the biggest purchase of our lives, bar none, and we have to protect our investment!

Also your post has confirmed that it IS something that people worry about, and I'm not the only one looking at sq footage as a basis for value...

dominoman

I had the same problem as you. In my case it wasn't the valuer who found the discrepancy in floorplans (our valuer was useless). We found it because me and my girlfriend remeasured every room by hand.

In our case the difference was around 15% but unfortunately we can't do much about it. We made the offer on what we saw, and I know that if we try to negotiate the seller will pull out.

The problems of a booming market. Thanks a bunch Osborne!

Penelopa.Pitstop

According to the agent's floorplan my flat was 95m2, according to ECP certificate it was 97m2 and according to surveyor it grew to 112m2. But it was still the same good sized 2 bedroom flat.

So as long as it's good sized and you think everything will fit, I don't see a huge difference. It would be a huge difference in continental Europe where you often pay based of the price of 1m2 size not number of bedrooms.

I'm from Europe so I look at the size of the property in m2, not the bedrooms number. I wouldn't buy 4 bedroom house that is the same size as my 2 bed flat but British people would buy it and woudn't see any problem with it.

donfanatico

Penelopa.Pitstop wrote: »

According to the agent's floorplan my flat was 95m2, according to ECP certificate it was 97m2 and according to surveyor it grew to 112m2. But it was still the same good sized 2 bedroom flat.

So as long as it's good sized and you think everything will fit, I don't see a huge difference. It would be a huge difference in continental Europe where you often pay based of the price of 1m2 size not number of bedrooms.

I'm from Europe so I look at the size of the property in m2, not the bedrooms number. I wouldn't buy 4 bedroom house that is the same size as my 2 bed flat but British people would buy it and woudn't see any problem with it.

Finally, someone with sense!

I also dont understand the British obsesisons with number of rooms. I too am from Europe and we buy per SQM.

That's why people here put up a wall to make a 2 bed into a 3 bed and get more cash form this without really adding any value :eek:

ONly in good old BLighty!