The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has announced that it is to consult on a proposal to repeal the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991. (
Under the Act it is an offence for an estate agent to make any statement (usually in the sales particulars) which would mislead a potential buyer or which is simply untrue.
The Act covers matters such as location, views from the property, measurements and size of rooms and garden and structural matters.
There is therefore a considerable degree of overlap between the Act and the Regulations - and indeed the powers of Trading Standards under both are very similar.
This has lead to calls for the Act to be scrapped and for customers of estate agencies to rely on their rights under the Regulations instead.
However, whilst the two sets of rules do indeed provide similar protection to consumers, it should be stressed that the protection is not identical, and added to which there has been, over the years, a considerable amount of case law flowing from the Act which gives Trading Standards and the Courts a degree of guidance as to the interpretion of the Act which simply is not available under the Regulations, given that they are relatively new.
We can only hope, if the Act is repealed, that Trading Standards and the Courts will continue to apply the same standards of enforcement which have been available to consumers under the Act. If not, the days of "compact and bijou" may make a return!
If you would like to have your say on the consultation, it is open until 5th April 2011
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