Consumer Protection Regulations and how they affect property descriptions

For many years the statement "Buyer Beware or Caveat Emptor" prevailed over property descriptions and the way that houses were sold.

As recently as 2014 the Consumer Protection Regulation Act 2008 was updated and Estate Agents as well as their clients were brought under the remit of the Act.  

In practical terms this did away with Caveat Emptor "Buyer Beware" and replaced it with "Make Buyer Aware".  This means that if there is a known issue with a property that has been brought to the attention of an agent or seller, then they must inform the buyer so that they can make a considered decision.

Agents and Sellers have a duty of care to buyers to make sure that anything which may make them make a different transactional decision are brought to a buyers attention, so as to help them avoid un-necessary expense if a transaction is later aborted due to known information coming to light.

For example if a property has known structural issues these should be declared as part of the sale descritpion.  However, some items do come to light that a seller or agent doesn't know about at the time; and indeed this is to be expected as searches and surveys play a role later in the transaction process. 

If something comes up that scares off a buyer and the house is re-marketed, the specifics of a new known issue should be relayed to a new buyer at the earliest opportunity.

For information and advice on what questions to ask when selling or buying a property, please call our office in Honley.  We will be delighted to assist you.