Is it illegal for estate agents to false advertise?

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

What on earth are you hoping to achieve? If you don't think it's a 3 bed house, offer accordingly. Are you hoping that the EA will drop the price, readvertise it and then you can buy it more cheaply? That's not how things work. The house is worth what people are prepared to pay for it.

Help1234

No my concern is firstly, people were filling my posts will incorrect information that some simple research could have prevented. They would be wise to do some research before posting inaccurate information in the future.
Secondly, the EA is committing an offence. I won't be going for this house now but what about future houses I like that might be listed by this estate agent? What lies will they tell about them? The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 is there for a reason.

davidmcn

Help1234 wrote: »

the estate agent listing a house as "3 bedrooms", when the loft room is considered the third bedroom and has no building regulations is considered a breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

That seems a remarkably unqualified piece of legal advice. Do you have a cite?

Help1234

I contacted these directly: http://www.nationaltradingstandards.uk/work-areas/estate-agency-team/

societys_child

Many houses have perfectly safe attic bedrooms, which don't have PP or BR, mainly because it wasn't required all those years ago. Not sure what TS are doing about it?
Anyway good luck with your search.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Help1234 wrote: »

No my concern is firstly, people were filling my posts will incorrect information that some simple research could have prevented. They would be wise to do some research before posting inaccurate information in the future.
Secondly, the EA is committing an offence. I won't be going for this house now but what about future houses I like that might be listed by this estate agent? What lies will they tell about them? The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 is there for a reason.

All sorts of lies, possibly. And just as many honest mistakes. You never accept anything an Estate Agent says in the advertising as fact. Never. Ever. That's why house purchases require a solicitor.

Surrey_EA

Help1234 wrote: »

Just to let you all know - the estate agent listing a house as "3 bedrooms", when the loft room is considered the third bedroom and has no building regulations is considered a breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

You are partially correct.

As has been pointed out more than once, it depends on when the conversion was carried out.

Building regulations came in to force in the early 1980's, therefore if a conversion was carried out before then it will not have any building regs approval, but that does not necessarily mean it is structurally unsound.

Estate Agents often have to rely on the information provided to them by the property owner, and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that sometimes you will come across a property owner who is economical with the truth.

teneighty

Help1234 wrote: »

I contacted these directly: http://www.nationaltradingstandards.uk/work-areas/estate-agency-team/

Interesting link, I was especially surprised to see the article about portal juggling. That is rife, or at least it was last year when I was actively searching and I thought it was dodgy.

Anyway back to the case in hand. Obviously I have no legal training but surely you would have to show intent. The estate agent would have to have intended to deliberately deceive people that the property had a third bedroom and not just a "loft room" rather than it just being a simple mistake?

teneighty

Surrey_EA wrote: »

Building regulations came in to force in the early 1980's, therefore if a conversion was carried out before then it will not have any building regs approval, but that does not necessarily mean it is structurally unsound.

I wonder where that myth come from? I see it quoted a lot on these forums.

When I started work we used the 1976 Building Regulations. Prior to that it was the 1965 regulations I think. We had copies of building regulation/building byelaw applications going back to the 1930's.

Surrey_EA

teneighty wrote: »

I wonder where that myth come from? I see it quoted a lot on these forums.

When I started work we used the 1976 Building Regulations. Prior to that it was the 1965 regulations I think. We had copies of building regulation/building byelaw applications going back to the 1930's.

This is what I have always been told by solicitors.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/55

Perhaps I should have worded it better. As I understand it, completion certificates were only widely used from the early 1980's.