3 Bed Advertised as 4

user1977

If you just mean it's a single-skin brick wall, although that's viewed as undesirable (and some mortgage lenders won't like it), it was also pretty commonplace in the past - not sure it necessarily amounts to anything unlawful just because they didn't draw your attention to it (assuming they even realised).

GDB2222

sammyjammy said:

Louscorp said:

GDB2222 said:

RogerBareford said:

Louscorp said:

I am in the process of purchasing a house for which I have had a RICS 3 survey. The house is advertised as a four bedroom but the survey has revealed that the fourth bedroom which is part of an extension is a converted shed and can only be considered an ancillary space. Would this be classed as unlawful/false advertising? Many thanks

When you viewed the property presumably you saw the room described as a fourth bedroom and were happy that it looked good enough to be a bedroom otherwise you wouldn't have proceeded further. So i don't really see why you feel this is an issue now?

If it’s substandard construction, the whole of that part of the property might need tearing down and rebuilding. That’s a big cost. Or it might need a lot of insulation, which reduces the space and still costs. It might be damp or very cold, and costly to heat. 

Many people would not spot that themselves just by looking round, but it certainly affects the property value. 

The question is whether the estate agent should have known, and that is a matter for the ombudsman.

Thank you! This is exactly the case; on viewing it looked like a regular room and we weren't aware of the thickness of walls/lack of correct insulation, meaning possible issues regarding damp/temperature regulation etc 

To be fair if you thought that then how would the Estate Agent know any different, its your buyers that have tried to hoodwink you not the EA in my opinion based on what you've said.

You mean sellers, not buyers, but it's a fair point. That's why I suggested going to the Ombudsman. They can look into all the details, and hear both sides of the argument.

For example, the agents may know the style of house on the estate, so probably knew that this was an extension. That might have put them on their guard to check the construction. Or, there might be obvious clues to a reasonably experienced eye. 

The Ombudsman service is free, and it seems a reasonable case to refer to them. The OP needs to complain to the estate agent first, and the chances are that they'll get a brush off. But, you never know, the agent may offer something reasonable. It's by no means clear the Ombudsman will find in the OP's favour.

RelievedSheff

RS2OOO said:

Not a day goes by where I don't spot a listing that clearly has less bedrooms than the number quoted, but I suspect there are occasions where even the most astute eye can be fooled. I particularly liked a recent one with floor plan labelled "Walk in Wardrobe" directly off a bedroom, but since it was 6'6" x5'6" and big enough to shoehorn in a single bed the EA saw fit to describe it as a 3rd bedroom.

If it wasn't for floor plans I could imagine there would be a lot more wasted viewings.

Would be interesting if OP would be willing provide a link to the property.

The house for sale opposite ours is listed as a 4 bed house. It originally was a 4 bed house, 2 doubles and 2 singles, but the vendors have put fitted wardrobes in one of the single bedrooms (due to lack of space to do so in the main bedroom) so you now can't fit a single bed in there. The EA has still listed it as a 4 bed though. 

RS2OOO

RelievedSheff said:

RS2OOO said:

Not a day goes by where I don't spot a listing that clearly has less bedrooms than the number quoted, but I suspect there are occasions where even the most astute eye can be fooled. I particularly liked a recent one with floor plan labelled "Walk in Wardrobe" directly off a bedroom, but since it was 6'6" x5'6" and big enough to shoehorn in a single bed the EA saw fit to describe it as a 3rd bedroom.

If it wasn't for floor plans I could imagine there would be a lot more wasted viewings.

Would be interesting if OP would be willing provide a link to the property.

The house for sale opposite ours is listed as a 4 bed house. It originally was a 4 bed house, 2 doubles and 2 singles, but the vendors have put fitted wardrobes in one of the single bedrooms (due to lack of space to do so in the main bedroom) so you now can't fit a single bed in there. The EA has still listed it as a 4 bed though. 

I think that one is borderline acceptable.

I've seen one (actually viewed it) where partition wall between single beds 3 and 4 had been removed to make it a master bedroom, therefore technically now a 3 bed, but still advertised as 4.

And another where the room off the lounge (often referred to as a "garden room") for all intents and purposes was a part single skinned brick and 50% glazed conservatory, yet listed as a bedroom. It had French doors into the garden. To go toilet you'd have to go through lounge towards front of house, then into dining room, through hallway and up stairs.

eddddy

sammyjammy said:

To be fair if you thought that then how would the Estate Agent know any different, its your buyers that have tried to hoodwink you not the EA in my opinion based on what you've said.

I guess it's worth mentioning that the Property Ombudsman expects estate agents to be experienced property professionals - who should notice things that the average buyer and seller wouldn't.


For example, in another case the buyer didn't notice/realise that the absence of a dropped kerb meant it was illegal to access a parking space. The Ombudsman says the Estate Agent should have realised that, even if the buyer didn't.

So the estate agent had to pay 25% of the cost of dropping the kerb.

See: https://www.tpos.co.uk/news-media-and-press-releases/case-studies/item/an-undropped-kerb-misleading-action


(But as I said previously, the Ombudsman would consider the facts of each case individually.)

badger09

RelievedSheff said:

RS2OOO said:

Not a day goes by where I don't spot a listing that clearly has less bedrooms than the number quoted, but I suspect there are occasions where even the most astute eye can be fooled. I particularly liked a recent one with floor plan labelled "Walk in Wardrobe" directly off a bedroom, but since it was 6'6" x5'6" and big enough to shoehorn in a single bed the EA saw fit to describe it as a 3rd bedroom.

If it wasn't for floor plans I could imagine there would be a lot more wasted viewings.

Would be interesting if OP would be willing provide a link to the property.

The house for sale opposite ours is listed as a 4 bed house. It originally was a 4 bed house, 2 doubles and 2 singles, but the vendors have put fitted wardrobes in one of the single bedrooms (due to lack of space to do so in the main bedroom) so you now can't fit a single bed in there. The EA has still listed it as a 4 bed though. 

I honestly don't see that being a major problem. I bought & subsequently sold a fairly new 4 bed detached in the late 1980s/early 90s. It had 2 decent sized doubles, smaller double and a large single but initial owners had installed 2 walls of fitted wardrobes in smallest bedroom so no room for anything but a fold up single. 

Descriptions were clear 'Bedroom 4 currently used as dressing room' and photos showed true picture (no online selling then ) 
Would have been easy to remove wardrobes but they were still there on its subsequent sale. 

phoebe1989seb

Indeed, where do you draw the line?

We sold a very old house that had two actual bedrooms upstairs (one with an ensuite bathroom we had added), but a whopping five *reception* rooms plus kitchen, conservatory and two shower rooms on the ground floor.

The previous owners had used two of the receptions (one had a small kitchenette that we removed) plus one of the shower rooms as an annexe for elderly parents. 

When we purchased it in 2007, it was marketed as having three bedrooms and annexe *potential*. I don't think there was a floorplan at that time.

It suited us to use all the ground floor rooms as reception spaces as we had lots of bookcases, sofas etc having downsized from a larger house, but when we sold our EA suggested marketing the property as having five bedrooms to give the widest possible appeal. Our floorplan was annotated as having (for example) "study/bedroom 3" and "music room/bedroom 5". Even allowing for that, there were still two reception rooms plus conservatory.

Our buyers had three kids - which increased to five within a couple of years of purchase 😉 - and intended using several of the ground floor living rooms as bedrooms. When they put the house back on the market a few years later it was the same layout, but advertised as a five/six bed with the former dining room dressed as a bedroom too. They had upgraded the conservatory to a proper extension and had their dining table in there.

BikingBud

in_my_wellies said:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116919776#/floorplan?activePlan=1&channel=RES_BUY

On the basis of this description my house now has 7 bedrooms!

Should be sold as 78 sq metre bungalow. And the buyer can then decide if that is sufficient for their needs or do they need >120 sq metres. After all installing stud walls to split a bedroom that is 5m*6m is not too stressful.

eddddy

phoebe1989seb said:

Indeed, where do you draw the line?

We sold a very old house that had two actual bedrooms upstairs (one with an ensuite bathroom we had added), but a whopping five *reception* rooms plus kitchen, conservatory and two shower rooms on the ground floor.

The previous owners had used two of the receptions (one had a small kitchenette that we removed) plus one of the shower rooms as an annexe for elderly parents. 

I'm not sure where the problem would be in this case.

The estate agent could simply say something like this in their property details (and verbally) :

"The property can be configured to have between 2 and 5 bedrooms. 2 bedrooms are upstairs, the remainder are downstairs. There's also scope to use part of the house as an annex" or whatever.

Nobody would be misled - so there's no problem.