Internal Square Footage - Why are garages still allowed?

Safe'n'Sound

The estate agent is advertising a house as 2,200 sq/ft but it's more like 1,800 and that's pushing it. Can they do this and get away with it? Surely it's against some sort of EA advertising rules. I'm guessing they've added the double garage and some more on top for fun. This is going by a simple total internal area calculation from far wall to far wall without taking unused space out, so I'm being generous. The garage is not furnished, no access door but does have a ceiling light. The EPC says very close to 1,800, so why don't all EA's stick to the same format. Confusing at best, illegal advertising at worst.

AdrianC

Makes a change for the internal floor areas to be mentioned at all, so a 20% discrepancy is almost good...

Look, the ad is to get you to view. Your offer is based on your viewing. By that stage, who cares what wet-finger figure the EA came up with on the ad - you've looked, and you're happy the arrangement and size of accommodation suits your requirements.

eddddy

You can tell the estate agent that there is an error in the description, and hopefully they'll correct it (or clarify that it includes the garage).

If they refuse and/or you think they are intentionally inflating floor areas to mislead people, there are routes for complaining to the regulators - if you feel strongly enough.

davidmcn

There are various methods for calculating floor area and I'm not aware of any of them being mandated for marketing houses. 

eidand

this is why I always go to the EPC register website and get the area from there, plus other things as well

AdrianC

eidand said:

this is why I always go to the EPC register website and get the area from there, plus other things as well

You trust the EPC assessor that much?

dimbo61

Do as must research as possible.
Look at the floorplan of the property.
It's great having a big hallway but not so good if it takes space from the lounge or dinning room.
How big are the bedrooms.
10m2+ is a good size for a double bedroom.
6.5m2 is single bedroom minimum.
Study the EPC and check everything you can when viewing ! 
Number of sockets, location, condition of fusebox and type.
Does the kitchen layout work, garden size and direction 

eidand

AdrianC said:

eidand said:

this is why I always go to the EPC register website and get the area from there, plus other things as well

You trust the EPC assessor that much?

a lot more than EA measurements ....

AW618

Why don't you just look at it?

AdrianC

eidand said:

AdrianC said:

eidand said:

this is why I always go to the EPC register website and get the area from there, plus other things as well

You trust the EPC assessor that much?

a lot more than EA measurements ....

That's not the most ringing vote of confidence I've ever heard...

But it IS a great demo of exactly why it's the impression of space that's more important than the absolute numbers, as Dimbo says about hallways, and why you'd be a fool to rely on the numbers without checking them yourself if they're THAT important...

eidand

AdrianC said:

eidand said:

AdrianC said:

eidand said:

this is why I always go to the EPC register website and get the area from there, plus other things as well

You trust the EPC assessor that much?

a lot more than EA measurements ....

That's not the most ringing vote of confidence I've ever heard...

But it IS a great demo of exactly why it's the impression of space that's more important than the absolute numbers, as Dimbo says about hallways, and why you'd be a fool to rely on the numbers without checking them yourself if they're THAT important...

agreed, I do my own measurements as well, but the EPC is useful read, up to a point