PRIME MINISTERS PETITION UPDATE

By now all of you who supported our online petition on the Prime Minister's web site will have received a reply from the Prime Minister's office. For the sake of amusement we have re-printed it below.

A 'sole agency' contract gives a single estate agent the right to sell a client's property and charge commission, even if the property is sold through another estate agent during the contract period, or if the property is sold, after the sole agency agreement has ended, to a purchaser originally introduced by the sole agent during the contract period.

The Government recently consulted on the statutory definitions of contract terms contained in the Estate Agents (Provision of Information) Regulations 1991. The consultation, which closed on 1 February 2008, set out alternative versions of the terms 'sole agency', 'sole selling rights' and 'ready, willing and able purchaser', which we believe will make them clearer and easier to understand. We are currently reviewing the responses. We did not consult on changing the meaning of the term or dispensing with it altogether.

Anyone who thinks that they:

a) understand it or b) think its useful 

please send your answers on a postcard to PO Box 666 (no stamp required, dark forces will ensure it will get there).

And another thing....

Of more relevance is the recent court case in which a vendor was sued by Foxtons for a commission they said they were due for introducing a successful buyer. The court rejected Foxtons claim because the vendor had already paid Hamptons who also introduced the same buyer, albeit after Foxtons. The court felt that in order to have earned their commission Foxtons needed to show they had introduced the sale not just the buyer. Click the link below for more details.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/property_and_mortgages/article4016567.ece

This ruling is a bit of a landmark and in some way establishes a new basis for estate agency contracts in that in these circumstances, the seller does not now face paying two commissions despite what it says in the agent’s contract. We wonder how a sole agency agreement would fare in the courts in view of this decision?

While writing we would like to take the opportunity of emphasizing that if you have the means, this is the best property market we have seen for investment buyers in over a decade. Don’t miss out; find out exactly how our service can give you the edge you need to secure your financial future through property.

Regards

Choices Acquisitions

01342 840000