EA probably exaggerated Gross Internal Area

johnathan45

Unfortunately in the UK, the floor area is still not widely used. In about 50% of the listings in my area they aren't even mentioned.
The difference may not be due to malice. There is no standardized software for measuring this. The official RICS guideline may be a bit complicated for the average estate agent to comply with:

https://www.rics.org/de/products--services/data-products/bcis-construction/forms-documents/


Gross Internal Floor Area is the area of a building measured to the internal face of the perimeter walls at each floor level, which includes:

Areas occupied by internal walls and partitions
Columns, piers chimney breasts, stairwells, lift-wells, other internal projections, vertical ducts, and the like
Atria and entrance halls with clear height above, measured at base level only
Internal open sided balconies, walkways, and the like
Structural, raked or stepped floors are treated as a level floor measured horizontally
Horizontal floors with permanent access below structural, raked or stepped floors
Corridors of a permanent essential nature (eg fire corridors, smoke lobbies, etc)
Areas in the roof space intended for use with permanent access (BCIS)
Mezzanine areas intended for use with permanent access
Lift rooms, plant rooms, fuel stores, tank rooms which are housed in a covered structure of a permanent nature, whether or not above main roof level
Service accommodation such as toilets, toilet lobbies, bathrooms, showers, changing rooms, cleaners’ rooms and the like
Projection rooms
Voids over stairwells and lift shafts on upper floors
Loading bays
Areas with a headroom of less than 1.5m
Pavement vaults
Garages
Conservatories (BCIS)
And excludes:

Perimeter wall thickness and external projections
External open-sided balconies, covered ways and fire escapes
Canopies
Voids over or under structural, raked or stepped floors
Greenhouses, garden stores, fuel stores and the like in residential property
Open ground floors and the like (BCIS)

sal_III

I doubt that you will have much luck dropping the price based on allegedly inflated size. You are not paying per sqft, you are paying for the whole property was seen.

As others have already noted - there isn't a single standard for measuring.

The only place where the sqft number actually matters for a flat is the lease - as your portion of the service charge is likely based on that.

[Deleted User]

You arent all of a sudden buying a smaller property. Its the same property you decided was good value for money based on research of similar properties.

If you offered based on the estate agents requested price then more fool you, always ignore the listed price and offer what its worth. nothing more.

Doozergirl

The energy assessor has measured our GIA as less than than I, and that RICS guide, would.

The EPC excludes the internal walls and, I suspect, a large cupboard.

Different people are going to measure the same thing differently. I doubt that the developer built mirror image apartments differently.

Compare the room sizes.

I wouldn't be accepting any reduced offer based on someone's measurement. You saw the place, stood in it and would have mentally compared it to other properties.