Property Particulars: Difference between revisions

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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.
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==
==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:  
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
*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
*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.
*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.  
*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'.


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.


Learn more about leasehold property and buying a freehold.


Property Particulars Essentials #5: A picture of the property
*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).


They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and this is certainly true when you're selling your own home. Most potential house buyers will reject details which don't have at least one picture of the property. It's also a good idea to include photographs of the key rooms such as the kitchen, living room and main bedroom, the garden and any other rooms which you think may tempt in the house buyers.
*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. .


Aim to produce your details digitally on a computer so that you can produce both paper-based and electronic versions. This means that you can email the details and make selling your own home that bit quicker. Pictures can be taken with any camera, although a wide angle lens helps when you're taking pictures of confined spaces, but don't overdo the wide angle as this can also create a misleading picture.


This is the moment to think about investing in a digital camera. Treat the cost - you can buy a camera which will do the job for around £150 - as a marketing expense and remind yourself that you will have the use of it long after you have sold your own home.
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.


The other alternative is to use photographic prints and scan them in to your computer. If you don't have a scanner, you can take them to a photographic shop, including those based in larger chemist shops, and have them put onto a CD which you can then download onto your computer.
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.


Property Particulars Essentials #6: The brief description
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.  
 
Anyone who has ever gone property hunting knows that you need to plough through endless details very quickly. This applies whether you're browsing the sell your house websites or peering through estate agents' windows. 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).
 
Keep these initial details brief, although it's always worth putting in any big selling point, such as a south-facing garden or ensuite bathroom, or a new combi boiler or kitchen fittings. Use numerals when you're referring to the number of rooms because these are quicker to read than words. Also remember to include whether your property has any restrictions on it, such as it being a listed building.
 
Property Particulars Essentials #7: Free yourself of estate agent jargon
 
Keep your property details simple and free of flowery estate agent language and catch phrases. Go through your details and check your use of adjectives. In property details adjectives such as 'delightful' or 'unique' (and don't use that one unless the feature is truly unique!) clutter up what you're trying to say and add nothing to the overall impression you want to create.
 
Property Particulars Essentials #8: The location of the property and a brief description of the area
 
Locate the property by reference to its nearest towns, major roads, train and London Underground stations. For example, a property in the Clifton area of Bristol could be described as being in 'north-west Bristol; two miles from the centre of the city; half a mile from Clifton Down station; two miles from Junction 3 on the M32 and seven miles from Bristol airport'; whereas a country property could be described as 'standing back from the B1135 between the market towns of Dereham and Wymondham, which has a regular train service to Cambridge'.
 
It's not necessary to go into enormous detail here about the area.
 
Property Particulars Essentials #9: The dimensions of the rooms
 
House buyers expect to see the dimensions of the rooms on the details and because not everyone is familiar with metric measurements, it's a good idea to include both metric and imperial. If you decide to have a floor plan drawn up (see below), this will provide you with all the room measurements you need. If you decide to do your own measuring, all you need is a good-quality measuring tape and two people, or one person, and a sonic measure which takes accurate measurements using a sonic beam. A basic sonic measure which is adequate for measuring properties costs around £30.
 
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.
 
Property Particulars Essentials #10: The floor plan
 
It's not essential to produce a floor plan, but it does help house buyers, not only before they view the property, but also afterwards, when it acts as a useful aide-mémoire. Not everyone is at ease reading a floor plan, so if a viewer shows interest in your property, it's a good idea to sit them down with the floor plan and take them through it, which will help them retain important information about how the spaces and any unusual changes of level work.
 
Floor plans cost between £50 and £100 to get drawn up, less if you already have architectural drawings of your property, and most firms offering this service can arrange to have one drawn up in a couple of days. Floor plans include all the room measurements, so if you do decide to have a floor plan drawn up, you won't need to measure the rooms yourself.
 
If you decide to get a floor plan drawn up, make sure that you ask for the area of the house, both in metric and imperial measurements. If you opt to measure your own property, you can produce a rough approximation of the floor space by adding up the area of all of the rooms you have measured and adding 20 per cent for 'circulation' space, i.e. hallways and staircases. By all means quote this figure in your property details, but with the caveat that it's an approximate figure.
 
Property Particulars Essentials #11: The area of the property
 
These days house buyers are sophisticated and some like to compare property prices using the cost of each square foot or square metre of space. By establishing a baseline for property prices in a particular area using this measure, house buyers can easily work out if a property is cheap or expensive for the area. For example, if the average price per square foot in your area is £200, the selling price of a 1,500-square-foot house should be £300,000. It follows that a similar-sized house on the market at £280,000 is either cheap or needs work, and another on the market at £325,000 is either in very good condition or is overpriced


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

Latest revision as of 19:09, 20 February 2017

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[edit]

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[edit]

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.

References[edit]

Other Useful Websites[edit]

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[edit]

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