Property market is rife with illegal practices, programme claims

CONSUMERS operating in the property market could be falling foul of unethical and in some cases illegal practices due to a lack of regulation in the sector, a Prime Time Investigates programme claimed last night.

The programme, shown on RTE One last night, made a number of claims regarding business methods that could leave those buying or selling their home out of pocket.

In the programme ‘Buyer Beware’, Primetime Investigates outlined some serious problems encountered by buyers, sellers and householders, including: bidding against themselves as estate agents make up fake prices to push up the price of a property, fake bidders being used in auctions, high fees being charged for services by property management agencies and ‘gazumping’, where sellers renege on a sale agreement and then sell for a higher price.