Are estate agents always honest about house size measurements?

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noelÓm

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Online ads for houses will generally include a measure of internal floorspace in sqm. If the ad also include a BER number, you can find an alternative floor size estimate from the BER register. This was presumably estimated by whomever did up the BER cert.

If I look at listings in my area, I frequently see discrepancies between the figure listed in the ad and the figure listed in the BER cert. In a small number of cases, the estate agent's estimate will be lower. But in most cases, they will have the higher estimate. Sometimes it is way higher (15%+).

Does anyone know of a legitimate reason why there might be a difference?
 
noelÓm said:
Does anyone know of a legitimate reason why there might be a difference?
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It's not a high brain power career:)

The estate agent in the house I bought took 12% off the true square area though incompetence, bringing it under the 100sqm level so it didn't appear in some online searches and alerts.
 
I have no experience of estate agents overall house size measurement, but their room measurements can definitely be way off.

When I sold my own place, estate agent threw up an ad with a copy and paste job from another sale. It bore very little resemblance to my property.

I think properties are selling themselves recently so some estate agents are lazy around details. I regularly see ads on Daft with obvious incorrect details eg: an open fireplace where there is none, or incorrect aspect given for the garden. I imagine size measurements can be incorrect too.

Never trust an estate agent ads 100%
 
noelÓm said:
Does anyone know of a legitimate reason why there might be a difference?
Click to expand...
Estate agents will only make a quick assessment, their brochures and website T&Cs clarify that information should not be relied upon. They usually use ultrasonic measuring devices and make estimates based on observations of awkward spaces.

Again for the BER, the DEAP software has guidance for assessors in how they should calulate the floor area, what should and should not be included.
 
Estate agent measurements are usually measured at the widest point of the room, so the actual floorspace could be considerable smaller once chimney breasts or other uneven room shapes are taken into account
 
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