False EPC discovered during purchase

Doozergirl

I can't believe that an EPC would genuinely affect an offer. Most people couldn't put it lower on their list of reasons to buy a home. Did you raad the EPC if the marker was wrong?

Then you seem to be suggesting that you didn't actually try to knock the vendor down in any way whatsoever or that no negotiation took place.

Your survey would also highlight areas for improvement, which can be negotiated on.

Plus some houses are just going to be lower rated than others.

And then the fact that many EPC assessors can't tell the difference in build types and energy saving light bulbs seem to hold a disproportionate amount of value.

And the house would have been valued according to the rating - no different to any other house that looked the same from the outside.

Miss_Samantha

Advertising using a fake EPC is false advertising and fraud.

Doozergirl wrote: »

I can't believe that an EPC would genuinely affect an offer.

An EPC is an indication of the quality and build of the house: insulation, walls, windows, etc. in the same way as a survey.

As such it is perfectly reasonable to use it, among other inputs, when assessing a property.

Doozergirl

Miss_Samantha wrote: »

Advertising using a fake EPC is false advertising and fraud.



An EPC is an indication of the quality and build of the house: insulation, walls, windows, etc. in the same way as a survey.

As such it is perfectly reasonable to use it, among other inputs, when assessing a property.

It might be perfectly reasonable but most of those things go with general maintenance and the period of the building and are perfectly visible to the naked eye. Estate Agents and surveyors were valuing and assessing for years before EPCs.

A C rating is hardly something to write home about.

If a house needed a new boiler, there would be suggestion at survey. New windows would be immediately obvious. If a house needed loft insulation people wouldn't be recommending a price reduction, nor if it had incandescent bulbs.

ReadingTim

At 6 weeks in, you're unlikely to have exchanged contracts, therefore you're free to revise your offer or even walk away if you feel you've been so fundamentally wronged by the meaningless box ticking exercise of the EPC. Besides, you don't say whether the 'E' rating relates to the current, or potential performance - it might be that the EA quoted the potential rating, whereas the current owners are prepared to pay a little more in running costs to avoid those horrible compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

So, your call - post-survey negotiation is perfectly acceptable, but if someone tried to justify a price drop off the back of an EPC, I'd tell them to jog on. Only less politely.

theartfullodger

Brighteye:

Were you given an EPC with a "C"? If so was it a forgery or have you just found another EPC with a "E"? Or do I conclude the agents simply put "C" in place of "E" on advert. If the latter .....

It would be nice if ALL agents, ALL the time on ALL properties never get ANYTHING wrong but, come on guys be real, everyone makes mistakes and it's up to the purchaser to check these things: Bet agent's terms say this (Blimey, I'm defending an agent who did a bad thing....).

Unless, of course, you go look and find this agent makes the same "tiny little slip.." on several of his current properties....

Miss_Samantha

martindow wrote: »

It wasn't really a false EPC was it? The agent's details gave the wrong rating. At the bottom of their details there will be a disclaimer regarding any errors and the onus is on the buyer to check room sizes, council tax bands, EPC ratings or anything else written there.

Those disclaimers aren't worth anything legally. Otherwise there would never be any fraud or false advertising, would it?

Doozergirl

Miss_Samantha wrote: »

Those disclaimers aren't worth anything legally. Otherwise there would never be any fraud or false advertising, would it?

Let's sue the EA.

Or perhaps if the EPc was so important to the offer, the OP could have asked for and read the document before offering rather than 6 weeks later?

Miss_Samantha

Doozergirl wrote: »

Let's sue the EA.

Or perhaps if the EPc was so important to the offer, the OP could have asked for and read the document before offering rather than 6 weeks later?

No need to be on the defensive.

If the error wasn't an honest mistake then no disclaimer will save them.

If it was an honest mistake then I assumer the liability to the buyer would depend on how, when, or just if the buyer was expected to pick it up.

Surrey_EA

Miss_Samantha wrote: »

Advertising using a fake EPC is false advertising and fraud.

With the information provided by the OP, it is impossible to determine whether a fake EPC was used, or whether it is an innocent error.

Miss_Samantha wrote: »

An EPC is an indication of the quality and build of the house: insulation, walls, windows, etc. in the same way as a survey.

As such it is perfectly reasonable to use it, among other inputs, when assessing a property.

Have you ever been at a property when an EPC has been produced? I'm not sure that many people would suggest they are on a par with a survey.

Miss_Samantha

It should also be noted that the agent must have given a full copy of the EPC to OP.