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Is it true that estate agents have to pay if their details were wrong?

16 replies

lecce · 09/02/2013 09:02

We have just moved into our new house and discovered that, despite the estate agent's details stating that there is a radiator in the loft conversion, there isn't. In fact, there is no heating up there at all.

Luckily, it doesn't really matter as we only need it for storage and the occasional guest at the moment, but in the future it may become a 'den' for the dc or an office for dh, so some heating will be needed. And, regardless of that, the details were wrong.

I mentioned this to a colleague and they said that we ought to 'sue' the agent as they have misinformed us. Seems unlikely to me but thought I would look into it. We only viewed the house once and it was fully furnished, besides, you don't really look around checking basics like that do you - or should you?

It hasn't made us regret our buy, whatever happens, but, since the agent was not exactly a joy to deal with and they have made a mistake, I thought I would check this out.

Thanks.

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gregssausageroll · 09/02/2013 09:09

Um no, you should have checked when you viewed and queried it with your solicitor when dealing with missives.

It is likely that the sales schedule will have a disclaimer on it. All mine do.

Suing an ea over a radiator is utterly ridiculous.

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gregssausageroll · 09/02/2013 09:10

And yes you should check. You should always view a house more than once. If heating is important on your list then you should be checking.

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specialsubject · 09/02/2013 10:22

the knee-jerk 'sue them' reaction from your colleague is just comical. There is a disclaimer on the details about 'no responsibility for errors'.

Yes, you should have checked, thoroughly. Lucky that nothing else came up given that you only viewed once; e.g. a nightclub next door that you didn't see in the daytime, a parking problem, being on the route from the pub, etc etc..

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lecce · 09/02/2013 12:41

Alright, alright, I said I didn't think it likely to be true!

We didn't view twice because it was incredibly cheap due to being sold as part of a part-exchange with a building company. We had already missed out on it once and, when it came back on the market we were scared of missing out again.

We did, however, visit the area several times so think we would have sussed out any nightclubs, pubs etc. Tbh, no matter how many times you view, there could be things that do not become apparant until you move in. We viewed our last place 3 times and there still turned out to be multiple bits and bobs to be done that we hadn't noticed.

Anyway, I will very happily put all thoughts of sueing out of mind and get on with enjoying our new home.

Thanks for the advice Grin.

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Elansofar · 09/02/2013 19:12

Google the ' property misdescriptions act'. this is the law for estate agents to follow when providing particulars upon which buyers will rely.

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Elansofar · 09/02/2013 19:13

I meant to add I think it's England and Wales that act but would have to google it myself!

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VBisme · 09/02/2013 19:16

Wow the estate agents were in there very quickly weren't they.
Double check the wording, they are likely to have covered themselves, but it's bad form to lie.

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gregssausageroll · 09/02/2013 19:22

What evidence do you have that the EA lied? After all particulars are given to the client to approve before they a made available to the public.

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Eurostar · 09/02/2013 19:32

Shoddy and lazy rather than lying I'd have thought. If the agents are a member of TPO, you can try a complaint, it sets out what you have to do first here www.tpos.co.uk/make_complaint_sales.htm

If they are shown to be at fault of inefficiency and you have been inconvenienced, you may stand a small chance.

How about your surveyor by the way, did your survey not point out there was no heating in the loft? Were there building regs actually in place for the loft?

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lecce · 09/02/2013 20:02

greggs Well, my evidence is that the particulars say that there is a radiator up there and there isn't - it's pretty black and white really Hmm. However, I agree with the poster who says it's more likely to be due to incompetence rather than lying. I know details are checked by vendors before being published but, as I said, this was sold by a building company as part of a part-exchange. My impression of the building company (also shared by our vendors) is that they didn't give a flying fuck about anyone involved in the transaction. They were the EA's clients, not the previous owners of the house.

The surveyor didn't mention it but I guess it's pretty common not to have heating in lofts - my undertstanding is that it adds a lot to the work that boiler has to do and lots of people don't bother and use an electric heater of some sort. Building regs are all in place, yes.

As I said, it's no biggy really, I just wondered whether it was true.

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gregssausageroll · 09/02/2013 20:10

Shakes head. Really. My god.

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Nospringflower · 09/02/2013 20:16

I'm in Scotland and we've always had something that gives you 7 days to point out any faults so if for example the cooker wasn't working you can claim for it to be fixed. Presume it would apply to noticing a radiator was missing Grin

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lecce · 09/02/2013 20:17

What's that in aid of?

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lalalonglegs · 09/02/2013 20:27

There could well have been a radiator up there but it might have been an electric one that can just be lifted off the wall and carried away. Does the brochure specify that the radiator is connected to the GCH?

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maxmillie · 09/02/2013 21:28

the theory is that you dont need radiators on the third floor as heat rises.

two of my children are in bedrroms on a third floor loft space (not a conversion though) and, whilst it would be a touch cold for me in the winter, they are absolutely fine and its only cold on very icy nights.

i think you are quibbling over a v v minor issue here (portable heater for a month or two, hot water bottle, extra blanket)

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lecce · 09/02/2013 21:35

Thanks, maxmillie that's very useful to know. I'm not really quibbling, as I've said we're still thrilled with the house and, whatever the response on here had been, I doubt very much we would have ever tried to sue - honest! We are far too lazy and lackadasical - as evidenced by not noticing the issue on the viewing!

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