{"id":4823,"date":"2013-02-11T15:28:01","date_gmt":"2013-02-11T14:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=4823"},"modified":"2013-02-12T12:31:01","modified_gmt":"2013-02-12T11:31:01","slug":"statutory-changes-to-estate-agents-act-could-seriously-threaten-property-purchasers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=4823","title":{"rendered":"Statutory Changes to Estate Agents Act Could Seriously Threaten Property Purchasers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced in September of last year a Government consultation on potential changes to the Estate Agents Act 1979 (EAA) and on repealing the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991 (PMA). Following that consultation, a response document was produced laying out the Governments intentions for the two acts. The consequence, industry stakeholders fear, will be reduced protection for vulnerable consumers making the biggest investment of their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Estate Agents Act has been criticised for its 30 year old definitions of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEstate Agent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEstate Agency Work\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, which have never been adapted to reflect the great changes in Estate Agency with the invention and increasing use of the internet. In particular, the rise of the internet has lead to increasing numbers of private \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcintermediaries\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that introduce private buyers and sellers to each other, without getting involved in any other aspect of the process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As it stands, these intermediaries can be affected by both the acts, despite not being estate agents, which restricts what they can and can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say, burdens them with regulations and, most importantly, produces uncertainty. Views are divided on the current legal position of such organisations and the true extent of the EAA in particular.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Government seeks to encourage innovation in a market which they found to be surprisingly stagnant and homogenous by reducing this uncertainty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Repealing the PMA and changing the EAA will make sure that no truly intermediary bodies will be caught by the legislation. From an innovation standpoint, this might free up the market and allow new enterprises to break in. However, from a consumer standpoint, any property purchasers looking to buy privately could be exposed to organisations operating without legislative control.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Adverts produced by the intermediaries will not be content controlled, which could mean some adverts are misleading. Should these changes go through, it will never before have been more important to get a survey before purchase to reveal what you are truly getting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clive Browne MRICS, Chartered Surveyor and Director of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brightonbuildingsurveyors.co.uk\">Right Surveyors Sussex<\/a>, a member of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">propertysurveying.co.uk<\/span><\/a>, commented:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to make businesses promoting private house sales exempt from the EAA could see thousands of property purchasers committing to the biggest investments of their life, without really knowing what they are buying.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153With the proposed changes looking certain to become a reality before the year is done, it has never been more important for home buyers to commission their own, independent survey on the property they plan to purchase. Without restrictions on property descriptions, people, particularly those buying from far away, could be led to believe a property is in good condition, only to find that thousands of pounds worth of remedial works are required on occupation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;Purchasers should also be encouraged to submit their offer subject to survey. My clients often re-negotiate their initial offer price because of defects identified within my survey report&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8212;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you are purchasing a property, particularly through a private intermediary, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hesitate to talk to your local surveyor about how he or she can assist.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><b>\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/\">http:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\">[contact-form][contact-field label=&#8217;Email&#8217; type=&#8217;email&#8217; required=&#8217;1&#8217;\/][contact-field label=&#8217;I liked this article&#8217; type=&#8217;checkbox&#8217;\/][contact-field label=&#8217;I did not like this article&#8217; type=&#8217;checkbox&#8217;\/][contact-field label=&#8217;Comment&#8217; type=&#8217;textarea&#8217;\/][\/contact-form]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced in September of last year a Government consultation on potential changes to the Estate Agents Act 1979 (EAA) and on repealing the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991 (PMA). Following that consultation, a response document was produced laying out the Governments intentions for the two acts. The consequence, industry &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=4823\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Statutory Changes to Estate Agents Act Could Seriously Threaten Property Purchasers&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"folder":[],"class_list":["post-4823","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Statutory Changes to Estate Agents Act Could Seriously Threaten Property Purchasers - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=4823\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Statutory Changes to Estate Agents Act Could Seriously Threaten Property Purchasers - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced in September of last year a Government consultation on potential changes to the Estate Agents Act 1979 (EAA) and on repealing the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991 (PMA). 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