Anger as would-be buyers told to pay up to £60 for copy of seller-funded home report

A NUMBER of estate agents and surveyors are cashing in on home reports by charging buyers for electronic copies, even though the cost of the documents is borne by the sellers.

Charges of up to 30 for electronic copies and 60 for hard copies of home reports, introduced on 1 December last year, have been reported. One leading provider is responding to customer complaints over the charges by dropping them as of Tuesday.

Under the regime, almost everyone putting a property up for sale in Scotland must pay for a home report containing a single survey (including a valuation), an energy report and a property questionnaire.

While most solicitors, estate agents and surveyors levy no charge for sending the reports to would-be buyers on request, several charge for both electronic and hard copies. The typical charge for an electronic copy is 10, while hard copies tend to be about 20.

While charging for the reports is not illegal, a spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said any charges should not be more than the reasonable cost of producing and sending a paper copy.

She added that anyone with concerns about the issue should contact their local authority's trading standards department.

Scotsman reader Douglas Cook, a brand manager from Edinburgh, was referred by his solicitor to a third party when he requested a home report. The provider asked him to pay 10 for an electronic copy or 20 for a hard copy of the report, which Cook refused to do.

"Trading Standards told me that companies are allowed to make a reasonable charge, but it agreed that 10 for an e-mail and 20 for a hard copy was not reasonable," he said

Consumer Direct Scotland, which refers complaints to trading standards officials, has received a number of representations in the past six months concerning estate agents that have either refused to provide a home report or levied high charges for hard copies of one.

Feedback from customers unhappy with paying for e-mailed reports has begun to have an impact, however, with home report supplier Onesurvey dropping its 10 electronic copy charge from Tuesday.

Scott Brown, head of estate agency at Warners in Edinburgh, said that, while charging was not against the law, it contravened the principles of home reports. "The idea was to give buyers access to more information and more transparency," he said. "Anyone who charges should have to disclose it to the seller upfront."

Brown pointed out that where a buyer was considering two properties but had to pay for a report on one of them, the sale process was likely to be prejudiced, making the fee counterproductive for the agent seeking to secure a sale.

The Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre – and its Glasgow counterpart – encourages its members "to act within the ethos of the guidelines laid down by the Scottish Government, which suggest fees should not be charged to view a home report".