Are letting adverts frequently misleading?
One tenant who thinks they are – in London at least – found that three-bedroom flats advertised on the likes of Rightmove and Zoopla in fact have two bedrooms.
To make a third bedroom, the sitting room would have to be converted.
And that, says Katie Morley who has been looking for somewhere with her two flatmates, is not acceptable.
“Most adults paying a big chunk of their salary on rent want a proper home – not one room to eat, sleep and socialise in. For that reason communal living space is essential – not optional,” she says.
She also points out that a two-bedroom flat may be unaffordable for two sharers.
In one example, she worked out that if three people were to move in (converting the lounge into a bedroom), they would pay £733 a month, or £8,796 a year, each.
But if two people moved in they’d pay £1,110.50p a month, or £13,326 a year. That means they would need to be earning £60,000 a year each.
Morley says that “thousands” of London homes are being misleadingly advertised as having three bedrooms when they have two, or four when they have three.
It’s commonplace, she says, and it’s a trend being propelled by landlords and agents.
She believes: “In this day and age it should be illegal to misleadingly advertise rental properties and encourage tenants paying market rent to go without a living room or a kitchen.
“Sneaky practices as demonstrated by these examples are masking London’s escalating housing crisis. When young professionals with good jobs are being cattle herded into box rooms in run-down hovels with no communal living space, there is something very wrong with the system.
“A clear minimum standard for renting must be enforced without delay.”
The story in the Telegraph is here
Consumer Protection anyone? This is taken from TPO codes of conduct for Letting Agents – it’s pretty much the same for the PRS.
Published Material and Information about a Property
You must by law comply with the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 require you to disclose any information of which you are aware or should be aware of in relation to the property in a clear, intelligible and timely fashion and to take all reasonable steps that all statements that you make about a property, whether oral, pictorial or written, are accurate and are not misleading.
All material information must be disclosed and there must be no material omissions which may impact on the average consumer’s transactional decision and where information is given to potential tenants or their representatives, it is accurate and not misleading. In particular you must accurately describe whether the property is being let as furnished, part furnished or unfurnished and whether facilities are shared so that prospective tenants are not misled as to what fixtures, fittings etc will be included. You must be diligent in compiling the particulars.
All non-optional fees that will be charged to tenants for the setting up of a tenancy must be disclosed in advertisements as directed by the Committee of Advertising Practice.
All advertisements must be legal, decent, honest and truthful in accordance with the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing.
So yes Katie, it is illegal. Unless your Letting Agent isn’t part of a redress scheme, but then they’re acting illegally anyway.
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phone and ask is there a separate living room before viewing perhaps? or read the property details.
Dont think they are being forced to rent anything. What they are really saying is that rent is too high and the only way we can move in is if we have another person move in.
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I think what the lady is saying, is that rents are too high and that is in part due to properties being advertised (and therefore priced) as having one bed more than they do, forcing 3 people to live in a 2 bed place with no communual area, 4 in a 3 and so on.
As a result, if you want a central space for all occupants you will have to pay the premium on having one bed more in your property.
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Try searching for a one bedroom property and see all the studios and bed-sits clutter the listings….
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How large does a kitchen/diner have to be, before it counts as a combined kitchen/diner/living room?
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