Property sellers 'lie' to speed up sale Published: 21/08/2008

One in four homeowners hoping to sell their property has lied to prospective buyers in order to speed up the process, according to a new survey.

Research showed that sellers try to boost the chances of a sale by lying about problems in the house or under-representing crime levels in the area.

A survey carried out by Homeserve found that the boiler is the top of the list when it comes to features of a house to lie about.

Around eight per cent respondents admitted to lying about the boiler, while the same number lied about nightmare neighbours or parking problems.

Faced with long waits for sales in the current property climate, sellers are taking to lying to speed up the chance of a sale.

Commenting, Jon Florshiem, chief executive of Homeserve Membership, said: "Buyers should take note of this worrying research.

"In the current housing market it has become increasingly difficult to sell property and unfortunately a worrying number of desperate sellers are resorting to hiding problems rather than paying money to have these problems rectified.

"Buyers should thoroughly inspect the property before making an offer – ask sellers to move furniture, lift floor coverings and check that heating, water and electricity is in working order."

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