Local Estate Agents Take 2

[Ganapati]

This is why I don't trust some of the local estate agents. There is a house for sale that I recently viewed. It appears that the vendor was going to split the house into 2 flats, and accordingly put in a bathroom and kitchen on the first floor of the house as well as the ground floor. I remember saying to the estate agent it was on with at the time...Hmmmm...what a good price for this. The new owner could turn it into 2 flats and make quite a good return on their purchase (though not me since I was looking for a house). The estate agent hemmed and hawed and muttered quietly, with the right planning permission of course. As it turns out, the vendor did not get planning permission, and in fact, the council has put a moratorium on flat conversions...(so basically, whoever buys the house will either have to live with 2 kitchens, or rip one out). The estate agent never said a word about this (I found out from a nosy neighbor who was looking at the house when I was and said "what on earth were they thinking embarking on this without proper permission?). I have since seen the price of this house drop about 50K, and gone on with at least three other agents. NOT A ONE has mentioned how the house is actually configured in their marketing. They market it as a 4 bed house, not a three bed house with an extra kitchen that needs ripping out. And they wonder why they get such a bad name!

[Jeremy]

To be honest I don't think that's too bad, whoever views the house will quickly notice that one of the "bedrooms" is in fact a kitchen. And it's only a weekends work to rip a kitchen out.

[Ladygooner]

Perhaps this is one way of getting round the HIPs requirement on 4 bed houses?