A practice among estate agents of not divulging to prospective buyers the size of bedrooms in properties which are for sale has been condemned as reprehensible by the Director of Consumer Affairs, Ms Carmel Foley.
Ms Foley called on the professional associations of which estate agents are members, including the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute (IAVI), to ensure members abided by "proper codes of practice" when dealing with the public. If members were found to breach these codes "disciplinary procedures should be brought to bear on them", she said.
Ms Foley's comments came following complaints from callers to the Marian Finucane Show on RTÉ radio this week about the way they were treated by estate agents and builders.
One woman caller, a first-time buyer, said she wanted to buy a two-bedroom apartment on Dublin's Clanbrassil Street. It cost more than €300,000 but the estate agent, who confirmed that the master bedroom was a double bedroom, said there was "no way" he could tell if the second bedroom was a single or double.
She was advised by the agent to pay a €10,000 deposit and then have her solicitor write to the vendor's solicitor for those details, she said. She gave up on the deal but said she was given the impression by the agent that plenty of others would buy without asking such questions.
On the show yesterday, Mr Alan Cook, chief executive of the IAVI, said buyers should be told whether they were getting double or single bedrooms. However, he said, agents "are specifically instructed" by some builders not to tell people the size of bedrooms.
Ms Foley said it was an example of how the market, when demand outstripped supply, could be very ruthless. "I consider it reprehensible to withhold this information," she said.