BARRY Cowen, Fianna Fáil's spokesperson on issues of housing, has voiced his concerns on fake bids interfering with the stressful process of buying a house.
Cowen has launched a bill today, dubbed the Property Services Regulatory Authority (Amendment) (Bidding Transparency) Bill 2017, which plans to put a 10 day statutory timeline for the PRSA to declare the existence of other bids with the estate agent involved with the property.
"This bill is designed to ensure that the practise of non-existent bids being used to drive up house prices is ended by opening up information on the bid during the process, and not afterwards as is effectively the case at present.
The bill will work by a step by step process, with "failure to adhere to the proposed law would result in a Class A fine of €5,000... Estate Agents will have to provide the PSRA the details confirming the suspect bid and the PSRA will then confirm it to the complainant. Failure to provide the information will result in a hefty fine and further investigation."
According to the Fianna Fáil website, The national average price for a house retails at €241,000, which is an astounding 8.9% higher than 2016.
In the report of the new bill, Cowen says "dishonest practises such as fake bids are only worsening the situation. While not a silver bullet to all the challenges in the housing market, it will shed light on the process, provide transparency, and ensure that all parties are operating fairly.
"It will help put an end to exploitive practises and create an even playing pitch for all would be home buyers."
