Advertising Rent with phrase 'in excess of'

[LittleMissSunshine]

Hi

I have a question which hopefully someone can help with.

I have to move within the next couple of weeks so have started to look around for new house to rent. Now I came across the following and would like your view on this.

On the internet site of a certain agency they advertise a large group of properties for around £650. I though yay, well within my price range. However there was one problem. It says in the extra text - offers in excess of.

Now my understanding from this is that they would take any offer over the price advertised. Calling them they state that these houses will not go for under £750 to £795.

That now seems to me a huge difference. Asking them why they do this, they say its there way of working.

To me it seems to be at the least misleading, especially as the difference is so big. I would expect something like £50 as fair, but thise is between 100 and 150 more. :o

Can someone shed their light on this? Can an agency do this? And should they need to accept any counterproposal from me, maybe meeting in the middle?

The problem is that due to the largely increased price I am not within the 3year shortfall and i guess a lot of others who will go for these properties will come across the same.

Any help and advise is largely appreciated.

LMS

[MrShed]

Before anyone says anything, yes I am back apologies for my abscence!

The letting agent is under no obligation to let it to any one person/negotiate on rent/etc. What they are doing is misleading, but not unlawful(ie it is not false advertising, as they have said it is "in excess of"). A very common marketing tactic in all industries I'm afraid - not a lot youi can do!

[Esio Trot]

Renting is different and less regulated than house purchases.

I have often put on offers when buying property below the "offers in excess of" figures. I do this in writing, also sending a fax and printing off the message sent confirmation. Estate Agents hate this, but are legally bound to forward all offers to the seller. I always put my reasons for the lower offer and my position and have twice made a purchase below the "excess of" figure.

Renting is a free-for-all. There are no regulations on price - until a tenancy is in place.

[LittleMissSunshine]

Thanks for the replies. I would say they are misleading and therefore breaking some laws regarding advertising. I would think that in exces of means I can do an offer, not them saying this is what the price is.

But than I have found over the last months that landlords/agencies have their own laws, so probably what they do is right.

I guess i have to try to secure a place through another agency, which will be a struggle as this particular agency holds a very dominant market share of available 2/3 bedroom houses in my city. And therefore making it practically impossible for certain people to get hold of them.

Anyway, thats me ranting. Better spend my time househunting again

LMS

[LittleMissSunshine]

Just to give an update on this. I have contacted the local Trading Standards about this as I was just wondering if what this agency does is within the lines. I always do appreciate the advice here, but sometimes want to know from independent experts to know what is right or wrong.

The person I spoke to is going to investigate this issue as according to him it is at least misleading. But he had to look into it as its a complicated case. (as there might be more to it than just misleading)
So as soon as I have an update I will post another message.

LMS

[jampot]

Perhaps they have a blanket advertisement which covers a number of properties within certain price bands...

'Price starting from...' is common enough in advertising, and perhaps they sometimes DO have properties around the £650-£700 which are marketed alongside the ones which they currently have.

When pricing something up, there is no contract being formed. In general (non-property) terms, it is purely an 'invitation to treat' ie it asks you to make an offer. This is true even for goods on shelves, although it is largely assumed that the 'offer' you make is the price marked on the shelf, which is then automatically 'accepted' by the seller.

I don't personally think that it is particularly misleading, and certainly not illegal.

Houses and flats are generally rented out at the 'market price' and whilst one agent with a monopoly may have an unfair advantage, if all houses were priced above what people were prepared to pay, then the landlords would be lowering the prices and changing agents, as they wouldn't be finding tenants.

[LittleMissSunshine]

Hmm i do understand that when it says "in excess of" you should be able to make any offer which is reasonable and within market value. However in this case the agent clearly stated what price they wanted and did not give me the option to offer a price.

For example, they advertise a 3 bedroom house for £650 and say in text "offer in excess of". Of course this attracks a great deal of attention as who doesnt want to get a house for that price!!!! Based on the line "offer in excess of" i assume that you can than make a proposal, saying Ok i am willing to pay £700 for the house. And you start negotiating to get a price fair for both parties. Of course the risk is than a bidding war between tenants, but you know that will happen.

Like i said however, in this case, the agent said, we want at least £795 for the property. So my respons than is why advertise about £150 under the market value, ask people to offer, dont get the change to offer. Why not put the house on the market for say £750 and get a bidding going on. Because with this agencies request for earning 3x the annual renting price, there is a great difference between people being able to afford £650 and £795!! So they attrack a great number of people interested in the house, but dont know they fall through until they get through the referencing. And that is another thing that i think is unfair and stressful for people who are looking for a place to rent. And completely unnecessary if they upfront are more open about the price they are looking for.

I just found a house through another agency. They said to me the price is £795, I said my budget is £750, so we agreed on £775, even though the agent said the landlord would agree on £750 but it was better for both parties to meet halfway. I think that is a fairer way of dealing.

At the meantime I am still waiting for a reply from Trading Standards and see what they have to say about it. I dont expect much of it, but to get some clear guidance in what can and cannot be done is good to know.