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Add PropertyPhil Spencer – why Material Information is more important than ever
It’s hardly a typical transaction but a case about a London villa with a moth infestation has highlighted how important it is for agents to get the whole ‘material information’ issue right.
In case you hadn’t heard about it, a purchaser couple won a High Court claim against the vendor of a Notting Hill mansion which was sold for a cool £32.5m. It turned out to have an infestation which at one point involved the purchasers having to kill some 100 moths a day.
The judge sided with the purchaser and suggested the vendor “knew there was or may have been a serious infestation of moths requiring removal of all the natural insulation in the house and had received and read at least two reports from a pest control company.”
The purchasers won what were described as “substantial” damages and the consequences of the case will undoubtedly set alarm bells ringing for agents concerned at how pre-contract enquiries should be answered – and what is regarded as Material Information.Before it reaches a courtroom
This example is one of extremes of course: an ultra-expensive property with a highly unusual problem creating a vast amount of publicity.
But more typical properties with more familiar issues about rights of way, flood risk or planning consent are just as fraught with potential problems for agents and vendors alike – and that’s what the introduction of Material Information requirements is supposed to bring to light, long before it reaches a courtroom.
Yet it seems many properties are still marketed without all Material Information included in their details.
An audit in November by a property industry supplier found no fewer than 133,000 homes listed on the major portals allegedly lacked complete material information. And that was on a test of only two aspects of Material Information – there are about 25 in all.
Read the full article at Letting Agent Today
