CONTRACT TERMS

 

1. ABOUT US
NREA Holdings Ltd T/A Neil Robinson Estate Agents is a company incorporated in England under company number 10962058 whose registered office is at Lesscent House, 405 Wigan Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, WN4 0AR. We are members of the dispute and compensation scheme operated by The Property Ombudsman (www.tpos.co.uk) and our registration number is: T05343.

 

2. OWNERSHIP

By signing this Agreement you confirm that you are a sole or joint owner of the Property; that you have the authority of any co-owner to instruct us to sell the Property; and that you are authorised to give us instructions to enable us to progress a sale.

 

3. AGENCY

If you have selected in the Particulars to appoint us on a sole agency basis then clause 3.2 below applies. If you have selected in the Particulars to appoint us on a non-exclusive agency basis then clause 3.3 below applies.

 

3.1 Services
Whether our appointment is as a sole agency or a non-exclusive agency we will provide our usual services as an estate agent to facilitate the marketing and sale of the Property. Those services include a market appraisal to recommend an asking price to you (although the asking price is ultimately your decision), preparing the sale particulars for the Property including photographs, advertising the property including listing on internet property portals (or as we otherwise determine to be most advantageous for your property), arranging viewings for potential buyers introduced by us, and progressing the sale transaction with any prospective buyer introduced by us; and in addition we will provide those further services stated in the Particulars. Please note that the asking price recommended to you is for marketing purposes only and is not a valuation. During the course of marketing the Property we may recommend that the asking price is revised due to market conditions and/or the level of interest in the Property.

 

3.2 Sole Agency
A sole agency means that for the exclusivity period stated in the Particulars NREA Holdings Ltd is granted the exclusive right to market and sell the Property. You will be liable to pay the Commission to us, in addition to any costs or charges agreed to be paid as set out in the Particulars, if at any time during the period of our sole agency unconditional contracts for the sale of the Property are exchanged with a buyer introduced by us; or a buyer with whom we had negotiations about the Property during that period; or with a buyer introduced by another estate agency during that period. The sole agency will be for the initial period set out in the Particulars and will then continue until either party gives to the other one week’s notice in writing to expire no earlier than the end of the initial fixed period of the sole agency. The initial period of the sole agency starts from the first day that marketing is allowed. Please be aware that there may be situations where you are liable to pay two fees to two different estate agencies. This could happen if: (i) you have already instructed another estate agent to sell your Property at the time you instruct us; or (ii) you have given us a sole agency and you then instruct another estate agent during our sole agency period; or (iii) a buyer introduced to you during our sole agency period, or with whom we had negotiations about your Property during this period, purchases through another estate agency (but we will not have the right to be paid commission if the other estate agent introduced that buyer more than 6 months after the date that we ceased to be instructed). In addition, if a buyer introduced to you during our sole agency period who does not use an estate agent purchases the Property directly from you after the date we ceased to be instructed then our Commission and our other costs as set out in the Particulars will continue to be payable. In these terms a buyer ‘introduced by us’ refers to: (i) any person who has become aware of the Property as a result of any action taken by us, whether directly or indirectly, including without limitation by our erection of any sign board, distribution of particulars, publication of information about the Property online or in any hard copy form, and/or any communications or correspondence in any medium between any person representing us or instructed by us and any other person or entity; or (ii) any person with whom we have had negotiations or discussions about the Property. Our sole agency Commission is specified in the Particulars. If you do instruct another estate agent during this sole agency period (with or without informing us) then our Commission will be our standard commission rate payable for a multiple agency of % (including VAT) in place of the sole agency rate specified in the Particulars.

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Sole Agency is our default service, and be the basis on which we accept instructions to market the property, unless previously agreed in writing.

3.2.1 Exclusivity Period
Where Sole Agency is entered into, the exclusivity period shall be 16 (sixteen) weeks from the date your property is listed and made available on the market.

 

3.2.2 Withdrawal of the property following the Exclusivity Period
Following expiry of the exclusivity period, you may serve notice to withdraw the property from us by giving us two weeks notice in writing. If no sale has been agreed on the property, there will be no charge (No Sale, No Fee)
 

3.2.3 Withdrawal of the property within the Exclusivity Period
If you decide to withdraw the property from the market we may make a charge for out of pocket expenses of £400+VAT. In certain mitigating circumstances, we may waive this fee at our sole discretion.  

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3.3 Multiple Agency
A multiple agency means that NREA Holdings Ltd is granted the right to market and sell the Property but you are free to appoint other estate agents who may also market and sell the Property. You will be liable to pay Commission to us, in addition to any costs or charges agreed to be paid as set out in the Particulars, if at any time unconditional contracts for the sale of the Property are exchanged with a buyer introduced by us during the period of our agency or with a buyer with whom we had negotiations about the Property during the period of our agency. Our agency will continue until the Property is sold (although we will cease to market the Property once contracts are exchanged for the sale of the Property) or 7 days after a written notice terminating our agency is given by either party to the other in writing. You will be liable to pay the agreed Commission to us in addition to any other costs or charges agreed if, at any time during the period of this Agreement or within 6 months of termination by you of this Agreement, another estate agent is instructed and unconditional contracts for the sale of the Property are exchanged with a buyer who was introduced by us during the period of our multiple agency or with a buyer with whom we had negotiations about the Property during that period.

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4. EXISTING PROSPECTIVE PURCHASERS

If the Particulars show that you currently have any person who has shown an interest in purchasing your Property then we shall not be entitled to Commission if any such person purchases the Property unless we negotiate direct with that person on your behalf in connection with the sale of the Property.

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5. COMMISSION

Our commission or fixed fee, is as set out in your Welcome Email. Where commission is calculated as a percentage of the contract selling price then it is inclusive of VAT and if the contract selling price is higher or lower than the price at which the Property is marketed (asking price) then our commission will be correspondingly higher or lower.

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No Sale, No Fee Clause
5.1 - If, at the point of instruction, the vendor instructs us to market the property within 8% of our appraisal figure, and the asking price either remains the same or is subsequently reduced, and no sale is agreed on the property, then the vendor may withdraw the property from the agency without charge by giving 14 days notice after expiry of the sole agency period. If the vendor withdraws the property within the sole agency period, then the agent may charge out of pocket expenses of up to £300 + VAT at the prevailing rate.

5.2 - If, at the point of instruction, the vendor instructs us to market the property at a price of more than 8% above our appraisal figure, and no sale is agreed on the property, if the vendor withdraws the property, the agent may charge out of pocket expenses of up to £500 + VAT. If the vendor subsequently reduces the price of the property to within 8% of our original appraisal figure, then this will trigger a new sole agency period, with applicable terms and charges as per section 5.1

5.3 - If a sale is agreed on the property and the vendor subsequently withdraws from the sale, the agent may, in its sole discretion, make charges to the vendor based on the latest point to which the current sale, or a previously cancelled sale, has progressed, and will be calculated based on the following percentages of the agreed fee
 

(i) Survey - 20% 
(ii) Mortgage offer - 30% 
(iii) Searches - 50%
(iv) Enquiries - 70%
(v) Ready, Willing and Able purchaser - 100%

5.4 - At our sole discretion, the above charges will apply if the buyer withdraws from the sale, and the vendor subsequently decides not to remarket the property with the agent. If the vendor has entered into a Reservation Agreement which covers estate agency fees, which are then recoverable from the buyer, then any recovered fees will be offset against those owed to the agent by the vendor.

5.5 At our sole discretion, a charge equal to that of the Ready, Willing and Able purchaser will be made if the vendor is either unable to proceed with or refuses to accept and proceed with, an acceptable offer from a purchaser who is in a position to proceed with a purchase for reasons that were not disclosed at the point of instruction. These include, but are not limited to

 

(i) Failure to disclose the need to apply for probate
(ii) A sale to a third party agreed prior to, or during, the period of our Sole Agency
(iii) Acquisition or Potential Acquisition by a vendor of their co-vendor's share of the property

(iv) You do not own the property

(v) You do not have the right to sell the property due to a legal notice or other form of prevention of sale

 

​6. COSTS AND CHARGES

If you have selected any services for which a separate charge is made in the Particulars then that charge is to be paid by you before the relevant service is provided and we will invoice that charge to you accordingly.

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7. PAYMENT OF FEES

By signing this Agreement you authorise us to submit our invoice to your solicitor or licensed conveyancer following exchange of contracts, for payment immediately upon completion, for our Commission and costs and charges in accordance with this Agreement, provided that there is sufficient balance of the proceeds of sale to settle our invoice in full. If any amount due to us remains outstanding you must pay us directly.

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You agree to notify us as soon as possible if

(i) you agree to sell the Property to any buyer,

(ii) you exchange contracts to sell the Property to any buyer, and/or

(iii) you complete the sale of the Property to any buyer.

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If for any reason completion is delayed or does not take place within 6 weeks of exchange then our fees shall become payable with immediate effect. If the Property is exchanged, or part-exchanged, with other premises or for any non-cash consideration, our Commission and fees will be calculated on the asking price for the Property shown in the Particulars.

 

If the Vendor is a company then the disposal of or dealing with some or all of the shares in that company in any manner will be deemed to be a sale of the Property and our Commission and other costs and charges will be due and payable within 14 days of the date of that share transaction.

 

If more than one person signs this Agreement as Vendor then liability for payment of our fees will be joint and several which means that we may require any of those persons to pay the full sum due to us. If any amount due to us remains outstanding for more than 14 days after the completion date or more than 6 weeks from the date of exchange, whichever is the earlier, we reserve the right to charge interest at 4% above the base rate of Barclays Bank PLC from time to time from the date that amount first became due to us until the date of actual payment.

 

If a sale is agreed to a purchaser whom we have introduced to the property and you subsequently withdraw from the sale, we reserve the right to make a reasonable charge for services provided of up to the fee stated, plus out of pocket expenses. If the purchaser is ready, willing and able to complete the purchase, then the full fee will be payable.

 

8. FOR SALE BOARD

Subject to any local authority restrictions, bye-laws, conservation areas or relevant covenants relating to the Property, we will erect a For Sale board unless specified otherwise by the Vendor. You must inform us in writing if any restrictions which apply to your Property prevent the erection of a board. We are not liable for any breach of covenants or legislation if we are not informed of any applicable restrictions. To ensure compliance with the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007, you agree not to allow the display of any other estate agent’s board whilst our board is displayed. You also authorise us to arrange for the removal of any other estate agent’s board currently or subsequently displayed without our consent at the Property. If there is a current board from another estate agent displayed at the Property you must arrange for its removal before our board can be displayed. Where we are appointed under a non-exclusive agency then we will only be able to erect a For Sale board once any other estate agent¹s board has been removed. Any For Sale board erected belongs to us and it is your responsibility to ensure that it is safe and secure and preserved for collection once the Property is sold or our appointment otherwise ends.

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9. ACCURATE PROPERTY DESCRIPTIONS

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) and the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 (BPRs) require us to ensure that any representation or description made about any of the properties we offer for sale is factually correct if it is to be included in the sale particulars, or in any advertising, marketing or other publicity that may be undertaken. You must ensure that all information provided to us by you or by anyone else on your behalf is correct. This includes making statements that might give the wrong impression about your Property, or omitting facts about matters such as access, noise, or rights of way. We are legally required to ensure that the sale particulars contain certain information including the number and size of rooms and the asking price. We will send you two sets of sale particulars for your Property and to ensure the accuracy of those sale particulars we will require you to sign one copy, making any necessary amendments, and return it to us. We will not be able to provide these details of the Property to any prospective buyer until you have signed and returned one copy. When you sign the details you are giving us written confirmation that all fixtures and fittings included with the Property are in full working order. If that is incorrect you must inform us in writing. If during the marketing of your Property the approved particulars become incorrect for any reason you must notify us immediately in writing. If we become aware at any time that any information or material that you have provided to us infringes the intellectual property rights or other rights of a third party then we shall immediately stop using that information or material and you will be fully responsible for any losses or costs that we may suffer arising out of your infringement of those third party rights

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10. ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE (“EPC”)

An EPC must be provided to all prospective buyers when your Property is marketed prior to the first viewing and with any written details. We will prepare an EPC on your behalf at your expense if you have selected this option in the Particulars or you can provide us with a current valid EPC before marketing commences. If you have requested us to prepare an EPC at your expense then by signing this Agreement you acknowledge that you are aware that the EPC is not prepared by an independent third party but by the agent acting on your behalf. On payment of our fee and the provision of the EPC, the ownership of the EPC will belong to you. If you have requested us to prepare an EPC and the cost in the Particulars is marked as ‘Nil’ or ‘N/A’ or left blank then this means that the cost of the EPC is included within our sales commission and will be provided at our expense. However if you withdraw your instructions to market the Property for any reason you agree to pay us our standard cost for preparing an EPC of £99. On payment of our fee and the provision of the EPC, the ownership of the EPC will belong to you.

 

11. APPOINTMENTS AND PERSONAL SAFETY

We will always inform you of an appointment for any prospective buyer to view your Property. If, at any time, you are contacted directly by any person, who has, or who claims to have, been introduced by us to your Property directly or indirectly as a result of our marketing of it, you should inform us immediately. You should not allow access at that time to that person unless we have contacted you and arranged a mutually convenient appointment. We will try to check that the person is genuine and arrange an appointment if a viewing is required.

 

12. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INTEREST

The Estate Agents Act 1979 requires that we declare to prospective buyers if you or any of your relations work for, or are associated in business with, NREA Holdings Ltd. You accordingly confirm to us that you have disclosed any such relationship of which you are aware in the Particulars.

 

13. CLIENT MONIES AND OTHER MONIES RECEIVED

We do not hold client monies. We do not collect deposits from potential buyers at the time of making an offer or otherwise. We may earn interest or commission for services offered to you while acting on your behalf. If we recommend a third party to you, such as a licensed conveyancer or a mortgage broker, then we will disclose to you at that time the fact that a referral arrangement exists with that third party and the amount of any referral fee to be paid to us. Any monies received will be retained by us and will not be off-set against any fees, commission or other charges that are payable by you.

 

14. COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

If you have any problems with the services received from us or from any of our agents which you are unable to resolve directly, then please write to NREA Holdings Ltd, Lesscent House, 405 Wigan Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, WN4 0AR. Your complaint will be acknowledged within 3 working days of receipt and a full investigation undertaken. The formal written outcome will be sent to you within 14 working days of our acknowledgement to you. This reply will also confirm that you are entitled, if dissatisfied, to refer the matter to The Property Ombudsman to review (see clause 15 below).

 

15. THE PROPERTY OMBUDSMAN

We do our best to make sure that you will be satisfied with our service but if you have any concerns we operate a formal complaints procedure. We are a member of The Property Ombudsman Service, abide by its Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents, and cooperate with and accept any decision of the Ombudsman in any investigation under its consumer redress scheme. By signing this Agreement you consent to us providing any information regarding the sale of your Property and how you can be contacted if the Ombudsman asks us to do so. Full details of The Property Ombudsman Scheme are available upon request and at https://www.tpos.co.uk/consumers . Please note that if you do wish to raise a matter with TPOS you will need to do so within 12 months of the date of the formal written outcome that we have provided to you.

 

16. MONEY LAUNDERING

The Money Laundering Regulations 2017 require us to conduct customer due diligence (known as ‘know your customer’ or ‘KYC’) and to comply with these requirements we need to verify the Vendor’s identity and the Vendor’s right to sell the Property, and we need to understand the reason for the sale of the Property. Once a buyer is identified we also need to carry out similar KYC checks in relation to the buyer. We do this by obtaining proof of identity and residence in the form of a passport or photo card driving licence and a utility bill addressed to you at your current address in the last three months prior to marketing the Property on your behalf. You can either send us original documents which will be copied and then returned to you or copies of the documents which have been certified by a solicitor as genuine. If you cannot supply any of the above documents for any reason then please contact us to discuss alternative ways that your identity can be verified. In some cases we may need to carry out checks or make searches with third parties and/or overseas to identify you properly and if we do so we may need to make an additional charge for costs which exceed the costs of our standard KYC checks and any such charge will be notified to you separately and is not included in the Particulars. Current legislation may also require us to disclose certain information about you to the relevant government authorities or agencies in certain circumstances. We cannot advise you of any request made or inform you of this disclosure. By signing this Agreement you agree to us taking such steps as may be required for us to comply with such legislation.

 

17. DATA PROTECTION

We will collect and use certain information about you in connection with the provision of our services to you. This will include sharing certain of that information with professional service providers and with buyers that we introduce. Full details of the personal data that we collect, the purposes for which we use it and related matters including your data subject rights are contained in our Privacy Policy which is available at www.neilrobinson.co.uk. We comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation in relation to our processing of your personal data. If you do not wish your information or your Property details to be used for the marketing of products or services or in our advertising literature after completion of a sale, please contact us at the address shown at the start of this Agreement.

 

18. TERMINATION

We may terminate this Agreement with immediate effect upon giving written notice to you if at any time you, (which includes your servants, agents, and any other authorised person acting on your behalf):

● provide instructions to us, or you fail to provide instructions to us within a reasonable time of a written request from us, the effect of which would be to place us in breach of any of our legal obligations or in breach of any Codes of Practice to which we are subject; or

● do not meet our KYC requirements so that we cannot comply with our obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations; or

● you discriminate against or abuse any employee or other person acting on our behalf or any third party.

 

You may terminate this Agreement by giving us not less than two weeks’ notice in writing, except that if we have been appointed as sole agents then you may only give notice to terminate our appointment after the end of our exclusivity period. You also have certain statutory rights to terminate this Agreement within the first 14 days. Please see the Schedule.

 

19. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

We do not exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for breach of any terms implied by the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. We shall not have any liability in respect of any indirect or consequential loss or damage that you may suffer or incur, which shall include any and all loss of revenues, loss of profits, loss of anticipated savings, loss of goodwill, loss of use, loss of contracts, loss of reputation, or loss due to damage to data. We do not accept responsibility for any damage or loss (i) arising out of or in connection with the placing and erection of the 'For Sale’ board at the Property, or (ii) caused by a prospective buyer visiting the Property. Subject to the above exclusions, our aggregate liability to you in respect of any and all causes of action that may arise, whether in tort (including negligence), breach of contract or otherwise under this Agreement shall be limited to the higher of the price you have paid for our services or £1,000. You agree that it is your responsibility to ensure the safety of any prospective buyer visiting the Property, and we do not accept any liability in this respect. Due to the nature of our services, we do not guarantee that you will receive viewing requests or offers to purchase, or that you will complete the sale of the Property. We will not be liable for any losses, claims, damages, costs or expenses suffered or incurred by you or any other person should the Property not sell either at all or on the terms that you expected.

 

20. GENERAL

There is no intention to give any rights under this contract to any third party except as expressly set out in this Agreement. Any variation of the Agreement will only be valid if confirmed to you in writing and signed by an authorised signatory or authorised representative of NREA Holdings Ltd. We may assign our rights and obligations under the Agreement provided that your rights are not affected. This includes the right to assign the benefit of the right to receive any Commission or other costs and charges from you. We are not responsible or liable for the acts, omissions or failures of third parties unless it is due to our negligence or our breach of contract or our omissions.

 

21. NOTICES

If either party delivers by hand any notices or documents to the other party by 5pm on one day to the last known address of the other party; those documents or notices will be deemed delivered on the next working day (which excludes Saturdays Sundays and Bank Holidays); or if any documents or notices are sent by registered or recorded delivery post they will be deemed delivered upon proof of delivery being obtained; or if sent by ordinary first class post addressed to the other party at the last known address of that party, two working days later. The address for service for each party is the address specified in the Particulars.

 

22. LAW AND JURISDICTION

This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and, subject to clauses 13 (Complaints Procedure) and 14 (The Property Ombudsman), we agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

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23. LIABILITY AND INSTRUCTIONS

By signing this Agreement you agree:

● to be personally liable to pay all fees specified in this Agreement;

● to accept all the terms contained in this Agreement;

● to advise us immediately if any aspect of the sales particulars is or becomes incorrect at any point in the future; and

● that you have authorised your solicitor to forward to us any information held by the solicitor which is required to enable us to act on your behalf.

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24. SCHEDULE NOTICE OF THE RIGHT TO CANCEL

If you entered into this Agreement otherwise than whilst attending our business premises, you have the right to cancel this agreement within 14 calendar days (‘the cancellation period’) from the date of this Agreement by giving us a notice in writing. If you have asked us to start to provide our services within the cancellation period by selecting that option in the Particulars then: (a) if you have made any payment in advance for services that have not been provided, we will refund these amounts to you; and (b) if you cancel this Agreement and we have already started providing services prior to your communication of the notice of cancellation to us, then you will pay us any costs reasonably incurred in providing those services, and this charge will be deducted from any refund that is due to you or, if no refund is due to you, invoiced to you. For the avoidance of doubt, if any payment has been made for a property listing or similar advertisement which has already been placed then that service will be deemed to have been fully provided and no refund will be made. If you decide to cancel this Agreement during the cancellation period you must do so in writing by sending your own notice with a clear statement of your cancellation within the cancellation period by delivering it, or by sending it by first class post, to NREA Holdings Ltd, Lesscent House, 405 Wigan Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, WN4 0AR or by electronic mail to neil@neilrobinson.co.uk. Your Cancellation Notice takes effect as soon as it is posted or sent. If you would like to know more about your rights you can contact your local Trading Standards Office or Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

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