Not true.
Sole Agency contracts (which are the most common form) do NOT prevent
homeowners from selling themselves, either using newspaper advertising or
online advertising.
The Office of Fair Trading rather muddied the water on this by issuing
guidelines in December 2005 suggesting that if you use an online 'property
retailer', you may incur additional fees from your agent if the property is
sold privately. However, this was misconstrued by much of the press as
meaning
you cannot sell privately alongside an agent, but the truth of the matter is
that the OFT guidelines merely tried to set out what the law has always said
(the Estate Agents Act 1979 which pre-dates the internet) without changing
the
law or introducing any new ruling.
The OFT guidelines said that if you use an online service which *says*
it is not an estate agent, but actually *provides an estate agency service*,
this will conflict with a sole agency agreement. Well, yes - this is fairly
obvious really. The key here is that to
use an online service alongside an estate agent without incurring commission
in
the event of a private sale, you must check that the online service provides
NO
agency services.
Because there are hundreds of property websites that despite their
claims to the contrary *are* providing estate agency services, consumers do
need to be careful who they choose - this is the real essence of the OFT's
guidance.
What is classed as an 'agency service' has no strict legal definition (although
the OFT attempt to provide a guide), but these would be typical examples of
what a court may view as 'agency work':
- Operating a register of buyers
- Fielding property enquiries on
behalf of vendor
- Arranging viewings
- Handling negotiations and
passing on offers
- Erecting for sale signs with the company telephone
contact number (instead of
the vendors number)
- Visiting the property and taking photographs on
behalf of the vendor
- Preparing property particulars on behalf of vendor
For more information on the
legalities of using an online private house sales website alongside an agent
(without incurring liability for the agent's commission), see:
Sole Agency
information Other
References: Office of Fair Trading
website - Guidance on "Property Retailers" and estate agency:
Internet Property Retailers
OFT Press release issued December 2005:
http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2005/228-05
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