Square footage of house smaller than advertised

[EarthSight]

I went to see a house recently and had to put in an offer much quicker than I would have otherwise, due to the estate agent telling me on Monday morning that the place had already received an offer over the weekend after it was listed on Friday afternoon. The area is pretty (countryside) but very deprived and far away from main centres of work (I'm at the bottom of the ladder practically in terms of affordability). It surprised me that not only someone got a viewing on the weekend (when they are almost always fully booked on Saturday you're booking the same week). Instead of viewing the place once or twice again and scrutinising a bit more before making an offer, I went ahead and made an offer.

In the viewing I thought the place felt smaller than their advertised sq meters, but thought it might just be me. However, since then I've found out that the place is about 16% smaller on the EPC than advertised on Rightmove. I knows EPCs can be wrong at times, but I'm inclined to believe this one's accurate due to my experience of viewing houses of a similar size. I would look pass 2-3 meters, but this is 15 sq meters in a house that's already small.

I now feel like a mug because I made the offer (the exact asking price) partly on the listed square footage, and the estate agent is pressing me to move with the memorandum of sale. I asked them to explain the discrepancy, at which point they sounded a bit awkward and said that when they put properties on Rightmove it generates the sq footage based on nearby properties. I could understand if there was a much larger house nearby, but it's in a row of identical sized terraced houses....so I think that's a bit odd. They didn't apologise but in my view it is their responsibility as the estate agent to manage their own listings and display accurate information, and not inaccurate one which might mislead buyers.

I could renegotiate, but I don't want to be seen as someone who would deliberately gazunder a seller and risk the estate agent not being cooperative with viewings in future.

Any thoughts?

I've recently heard of that. Thankfully it's not needed at this time as I haven't pressed ahead yet.

What's unacceptable is that after I pointed out to estate agent that their floorpan is significantly higher than the EPC, they made no apology or commitment to address this on their advertisement. Surely this is something they can edit to 'must check with estate agents' at the very least as I've seen this on Rightmove before, when you normally see a sq footage figure on the top of the page, just under the main photo. It's still there, even now.

It's unacceptable to get the dimensions so badly wrong! They have advertised a house and it's not an accurate description by the sounds of it. I would also be suspicious of this other offer - same thing happened to us and I never really believed them. It suited them to have 'another offer' and force us into a decision.

Like a pp I have no idea what square footage my house is, and have no idea what is a big or small value. I just walked around the house when viewing and looked at the rooms and thought "would my stuff fit in here".

Surely the square footage number on the advert is to save time for people (who know about square footage!) who want a certain amount of space, so they can discount too small houses without bothering to view them.

Surely if you've physically viewed a house then the square footage number is irrelevant? You've seen the rooms, and you've seen the space available and surely your offer was based on what you saw with your eyes not some number on a website?

One of the main reasons I went to see the house in the first place was the advertised square footage. That is likely to draw viewers, at the very least, and possible offers.

I do not want to be in a position in future where I cannot get many viewings because unlike the current situation, I will have made sure that the estate agents have presented accurate information.

they have been corrected by you, so they have an obligation to correct it on the site/advert, or at least check it. Personally, I would get it in writing. Start emailing about the issue and get it on record incase you want to pursue them later. Obvs, dn't tell they that's what you're doing.

it all depends on how much you love the house. I would make a lower offer in an email and explain why. If I really wnated the house, but not prepared to pay much more per square feet, then i'd post a letter to the owner and tell them what's happened too.

Otherwise, I'd walk away and report it to the PRS

100% this. If a house feels small, measure it on second viewing.

Pull your offer if it's not the right house for you. Estate Agents aren't on your side.

There's usually something in the very small print on the floorplan that says the measurements are approximate and not to rely on them.

I can understand if they were off a bit, but 15 sq metres off is not "approximate". It's way off

It's actually more like 24 - 25 sq feet of a discrepancy. Before I was looking at their stated overall sq feet compared to the expired EPC, which likely took the garage into account (later demolished). However, when I manually added up the current liveable spaces / room sizes this evening, that's when I found out that it's more like 24 - 25. I say 'more like' because I have to made an estimate due the fact that the extension size is missing off their pdf brochure and the Rightmove listing. I think it's odd given how important a kitchen is, and that every other room was measured and provided.

OP, email them. get the conversation over in email. reduce your offer if you like/love the house. otherwise, walk away if it will bother you every month when you pay your mortgage.

It sounds to me as you will never really be happy in this house as this square footage discrepancy will always niggle you. You say the location is not great for you. The only reason I would proceed is if it is really the only affordable property for you, if not keep looking. Good luck whatever you decide.

Buy it if you want or dont

square footage is an art rather than a science
my flat has been sold twice and rented 20 times and the measurements have never been the same

do you want to buy it
is it big enough for your needs (and space arrangement is massively more important than sq ft)

So a large cupboard of difference?

Measurements on space are the entire space, including hallways, not just the rooms. I've just put it in a converter. 24sq feet is 2.23 sq metres. A typical hallway where I live is 1 metre wide. So 2.23 sq metres is easily taken up if you have a 2 metre long hallway.

If you like the house and want it, stick with it.

If you’re slightly on the fence now, withdraw your offer as it stands and offer lower based on the discrepancy. See how that goes and how you feel.

If the whole thing has pissed you off so much that it no longer feels exciting and positive, withdraw and on to the next.

One thing I would say, remember it’s the EA at fault here not the sellers. When we bought this place I remember the EA turned up late, slopped around the house in scuffed ballet flats checking her watch constantly, then left us to it with the owner due to being late elsewhere! I was so unimpressed. But - they hadn’t misrepresented the details to be fair.

Wait wait wait. Is it 25 sq meters or 25 sqfeet?
25 square is the size of a decent living room. 25 square feet is the size of a large cupboard or a downstairs toilet. If in feet then that's surely within any error for measurements (especially if you guesstimated the kitchen) and that's why the EA is shrugging if off because they are baffled at why you are making a big deal over nothing.

Christ. Buy it or don’t buy it. Reduce your offer if you feel like it. It doesn’t need to be that deep.

25sqft is just a rounding difference.

OP, I'm a bit sceptical re: 15-25 sqm missing in a terrace house! How is it possible - its a size of a whole large room???

I think you also need to check what areas you are comparing: Net Internal Area (sum of all living spaces) or Gross Internal Area (measured on the inside of the external wall and includes all internal partitions, stairs etc). You need to compare like for like - and GIA is always larger than NIA.

I now feel like a mug because I made the offer (the exact asking price) partly on the listed square footage

You physically visited and viewed the house. Why would the on-paper square meterage influence your offer to this extent? But the solution is easy, withdraw or revise your offer.

If you have cold feet about the house it’s perfectly ok to withdraw your offer at such an early stage. Just tell the EA you’ve realised from the EPC the house is smaller than their details suggested and also you’ve realised the house felt smaller than you expected at the viewing.

They may try and talk you out of withdrawing but just repeat you’ve changed your mind about the property.

You’re being sensible thinking about resale. Just because some people on here don’t care about square footage, lots of buyers will.

You need to be really clear whether it's a difference in square metres or feet as you've used both but it makes as considerable difference which one you mean.

Square footage may be based on the external dimensions of the whole building and then multiplied by the number of floors.

There seems to be confusion here about whether it's square feet, or square metres.

2.2 square metres is a very small area - it's 1 metre x 1 metre. Or, in imperial, c.39 inches x 39 inches. The size of a large bathmat.