The bedroom that we cannot call a bedroom
‘Converted the attic to a suite’
AN estate agent has been admonished for advertising the attic room in a house for sale as an extra bedroom.
The house in Artane, north Dublin, was advertised as having four bedrooms, but one of them was an attic conversion.
The complainant told the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) they found it ‘misleading as the house was advertised as having four bedrooms, but one of these bedrooms was an attic conversion that the complainant did not consider was compliant with planning, building or fire regulations’.
However, estate agent Ronan Crinion, of Movehome, in Drumcondra, Dublin, said the attic room had been used ‘for years’ by the family selling the house on Chanel Road.
The ASAI agreed with the complainant and the agent Movehome in Drumcondra, Dublin, was ordered to remove the ad from property website Daft.ie.
In its finding yesterday, the ASAI said: ‘The advertisers expressed surprise that a complaint had been lodged as they said no one had expressed concern to them at viewings of the property, nor had anyone written to them concerning the attic bedroom.’
The agent said the dimensions of the room were 4.89m x 3.13m and the ceiling height was above two metres ‘which they believed was sufficient to call the room a bedroom.
‘They also advised that the room had been used as a master bedroom for some years’, according to the ASAI report.
However, the listing was still on the myhome.ie website yesterday as a four-bed home although it is marked as ‘sale agreed’ and has the disputed fourth bedroom.
When it was pointed out to the estate agent yesterday, Mr Crinion said that he would change the details.
The house sold a year ago for ‘around €530,000’, but the sale has not yet completed because of legal problems about ownership of the land the house is built on.
However, the estate agent’s details clearly show the attic room as a bedroom including a picture of the bed and ensuite shower room.
Mr Crinion said: ‘We reached an agreement on it [the sale] by the time that complaint came in and the purchaser of that didn’t dispute it because we called it a three/four bedroom because the vendor of that property lived in that room for many, many years after converting it.
‘He converted the attic because they’re beautiful three-bedroom 1950s houses with generous proportions and very high ceilings so he converted the attic and turned it into a suite.’
When the complaint was first made the agent did not think it was serious but will ‘respect the decision’. He said the issue of listing attic rooms as bedrooms ‘is quite common’.
Mr Crinion said the dispute had not affected the sale which he expects to complete ‘in the next couple of weeks’.
‘We had strong interest in it and went early last year. We would never be misleading because we sell property all day, every day.’
Housing campaigner David Hall, head of the mortgage-to-rent group iCare Housing, thinks the ruling will have ‘consequences’ for property advertising. ‘Also there’s a safety issue here that has to come first: it’s not appropriate to advertise something where you photograph a room that essentially is a potential fire hazard.
‘There are basic rules around attics and it’s a major issue,’ he said.
‘From our perspective as a social-housing organisation, we have to close up attics. They can only be used for storage.
‘Houses that were using attics as an extra room upstairs, it’s not a bedroom when it comes to current standards.
‘One person said to me: “We haven’t really had an outbreak of attic fires, it’s quite a crude rule to completely close off that”. But ultimately there are other hazards involved.
‘But I think it’s deceptive to be trying to advertise a property, especially when bedrooms are a critical part of the property and puts it in a different category. You are trying to cheekily add to the price for what is not a full bedroom.
‘Just because somebody has €300,000 [to spend] does not mean they are not vulnerable.
‘It doesn’t mean they won’t fall for stupid, deceptive advertising.’
Property website Daft.ie, which carried the ad, did not respond for comment.