Property Particulars

A property (or 'sales') particulars are a informal document used during the sales process for any property, and are most often collated by the selling agent. Even though most of the information they contain is now repeated on the web, they are still often used to create an estate agent 'window card' (normally a printed glossy card version of the particulars) because of the ease of distribution in face to face meetings.

Legislation Covering Particulars

While these are informal documents (ie not part of the legal contracts of sale) they are still regulated under consumer protection legislation. Previously they were covered in a specific piece of legislation - the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991 (PMA), which made it a criminal offence for estate agents to make false or misleading statements about properties being offered for sale. However, this was repealed in 2013 and there are now two other pieces of legislation which regulate estate agents and other businesses involved in property sales and lettings: the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) and the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 (BPRs).

The new Regulations offer far more protection to individuals against misleading sales particulars and advertising than the PMA, prohibiting all traders from using unfair commercial practices in their dealings with individual consumers. Specifically estate agents are prohibited from engaging in commercial practices that are unfair to sellers, buyers, potential sellers or potential buyers of residential property.

What They Should Cover

As well as being required by law to be accurate, there is a list of what a property particulars should include:

• Address Information: The address of the property with the full postcode

• Contact Details: If using an agent, this will be their contact details, however, if you are selling the property yourself this must be your own contact details

• Price & Tenure: It is normal to include an indicative or desired price, although this will be subject to negotiation. the PP must also include the nature of tenure on offer (ie is the property 'freehold' or 'leasehold'). This applies only in England and Wales; in Scotland, the concepts of leasehold and freehold don't apply as all property is simply owned.

• Leasehold Details: If the property is leasehold (England and Wales only), indicate when the lease was granted and for how many years. The important date is not the date on which the lease was signed, but the date which the lease runs from; for example, a lease signed on 28 April 1990 might actually run from 25 March. The lease will say something along these lines: 'a lease granted for a term of 125 years from 25 March 1990'.

• Photographs: It is normal to present a selection of photographs of the interior and exterior of any property. Remember these are sales tools but must conform to the consumer protection rules above.

• Text Description: The brief description should focus on what the house buyer needs to know quickly is whether the property is detached or semi-detached or terraced; how many bedrooms it has; how many reception rooms and bathrooms it has; and how big the garden is; whether there is a garage or off-street parking; and whether it's freehold or leasehold; and for flats which floor it's on (unless it's on the fifth floor and there is no lift when this information is better omitted).

• Location: The location of the property, position on a map and a brief description of the area. Locate the property by reference to its nearest towns, major roads, train and London Underground stations. .

Dimensions: This should include the dimensions of all key spaces and rooms and because not everyone is familiar with metric measurements, it's a good idea to include both metric and imperial. If your room is an odd shape, it's permissible to show the longest or widest dimension but this must be mentioned, adding after the measurement a phrase such as 'at the widest' or 'into the bay', as appropriate.

Floorplans: The floor plan is a visual short-cut to the layout of the property but must be kept simple and graphic as many people do not intuitively read architectural layouts or drawings.

Measured Area: The area of the property is increasingly important and buyers are increasingly calculating the cost of each square foot or square metre of space.

Other Useful Websites

https://www.tpos.co.uk/news-media-and-press-releases/all-news/tag/Property%20Particulars

http://www.lawpack.co.uk/landlord-and-tenancy/property-guides/articles/article1612.asp

References

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