Buying a flat - Incorrect floor space advertised

flatLondon

I am a first time buyer and I placed an offer for a flat 3 months ago. We are close to exchanging contracts and I just got access to the official floor plan. It turns out that the actual internal floor space area is about 10% lesser than the area advertised by the estate agent.

I confronted the estate agent and his response was that "they have a disclaimer on their floorplan and since you have seen the flat a couple of times, you should have been comfortable with the layout."

I have obviously spent money on the solicitor, paid the lender to perform a survey (who did not measure the internal floor area!) not to mention the countless hours researching and planning refurbishments for this flat. I feel cheated!

My question is - a) Should I try to renegotiate the price? Has anyone had success in a similar scenario? b) Do I have any recourse in getting back the money I have spent on the solicitor and survey, if I pull out of the deal?

Dan-Dan

No , to both

Johnandabby

So if you didn't see the floor plan at all, you would have been happy with it? Surely it's about the flat itself, not the floor space area.


The floor area would also have been on the Energy Performance Certificate for the flat.


Personally, I can't see how you could renegotiate - if I was the vendor I would just say that you've seen the flat and that's it. If the exact floor area was that important to you, you could have measured up yourself...

Annie1960

The disclaimers used by EAs are not worth the paper they are written on.

What do you want to achieve? Do you wish to pull out of the purchase because the property is smaller than advertised?

If so, you might want to go through the EA's formal complaints procedure (put everything in writing, not email, but a written letter). If they don't answer you satisfactorily, then complain to the Ombudsman. You will need to find out which ombudsman your EA is registered with but here is the info for TPOS.

http://www.tpos.co.uk/downloads/TPOE27-1%20Code%20of%20Practice%20for%20Residential%20Estate%20Agents%20(Effective%20from%201%20August%202011).PDF



Edit: Here is the Trading Standards link for EAs.

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/advice-business-ftbussum7.cfm

PasturesNew

You went to see it and you were happy with how it looked. Floorplans etc are a "new thing". In the UK homes are sold on an "X bedrooms" basis and the contract isn't thought of in terms of £/sqft.... although I do appreciate that this calculation might have swayed your decision if you were relying on it.

I can see how that might happen and how you might rely on it.

However, the bottom line is that the EAs details always have a disclaimer saying "we think this is right, but it's up to you to check everything for yourself if you want to buy it".

So, you've really [a] no room for renegotiation and nowhere to plant any "blame".

I'd suggest you request another viewing and take a tape measure and measure it and look at it and decide if it's really what you want to buy.

G_M

You saw the property and decided it was big enough for you.

If specific measurements were importat to you (eg could your super-king-size bed fit into the 3rd bedroom) you should have taken a tape measure (£1.18 ) and checked.

flatLondon

Thanks for your responses.

Before I made the offer for this flat, I was considering a similar property in the same building, the advertised floor space for which was 10% smaller than the one I made an offer for. I made an offer for this flat because it was advertised as a larger flat and my offer price was higher relative to value of properties sold in that building.

I understand that floor space is not the only factor that determines price, but all things equal, larger floor space should command higher prices. No?

I want to still buy the flat, but I may want to sell in the future and would likely not get a price in proportion to the price I paid.

My issue is that the estate agent falsely advertised and I am having to pay for it.

Sparx

The point is you wanted the flat before you even saw the floor plan. Now you have the floor plan and the actual dimensions slightly differ, for some reason you think you could get some money back? You was obviously happy with the size and space as the EA already said (shock!) so why do you care now?

Mallotum_X

Estate agent details all carry a disclaimer to say these are approximate measurements. Being within 10% is approximately right. Whilst it's annoying to realise the measurements were wrong, there is no one to blame apart from yourself for not checking earlier.

I know this is not what you want to hear but you really have no come back on anyone.

Your choices now are to accept the deal or pull out. I doubt many sellers would be prepared to negotiate now.

flatLondon

Sparx wrote: »

The point is you wanted the flat before you even saw the floor plan. Now you have the floor plan and the actual dimensions slightly differ, for some reason you think you could get some money back? You was obviously happy with the size and space as the EA already said (shock!) so why do you care now?

Yes, because I would have offered a lower price (or would have gone for another property) if I knew the actual dimensions were smaller.

agrinnall

As you haven't exchanged it's entirely up to you whether you want to go ahead, renegotiate the price, or pull out altogether (although if you end up not buying then you stand little chance of recovering any money spent to date).