It's the time of year for fresh starts when many think about moving house – but your dream home can turn into a nightmare.
Estate agents often get a bad press and sometimes they deserve it, as reader Kevin found out.
He bought a one-bedroom flat in central London for £695,000 in June 2017 after spotting it in the window of an estate agent.
He was given a brochure and the agent took him on a tour. Kevin liked what he saw so arranged a mortgage via a broker.
As part of the mortgage application he handed over details of the property, including all the room dimensions.
Last year, Kevin decided to sell up so he arranged for a different agent to value the property.
The agent took measurements and valued the property – to Kevin’s horror – at £675,000.
He had been expecting it to have increased, not fall by £20,000, so he demanded an explanation.
There were various reasons but one factor was that the overall size of the flat was 265sq ft less than he had been told by the original agent.
Kevin commissioned a surveyor to carry out measurements for a second opinion. He came up with slightly different measurements but they were still 258sq ft less.
It was clear Kevin had overpaid for the flat, which had been valued from incorrect measurements, therefore misleading the mortgage company, albeit unintentionally.
Kevin is pursuing a claim against the first estate agents.
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 govern how estate agents should operate.
And it appears to me that under these laws, the agent is going to be liable for these inaccurate measurements because that information led Kevin to buy the flat. What’s more, if it emerges the agent did this intentionally, they could face a jail sentence.
This is not an isolated incident, as highlighted in a detailed report last year by surveyors Spec.
It is a major issue so it is essential that you make sure measurements are spot on. You want to make money selling your home, not be hit with nasty surprises.
You can see more advice from Dean on theconsumerlawyer.blog
