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Steven Cross
Agents have agreed that warning prospective inner-city property buyers about the potential for noise shouldn't be their responsibility, according to a poll.
According to the latest Real Estate Business straw poll, 65.6 per cent of the 465 voters believed agents are not responsible for warning buyers about noise issues, while 34.2 per cent claimed they were.
The results come after Sydney City Council put together a proposal for selling agents to supply audio of street noise to potential buyers interested in inner city living.
Speaking with Real Estate Business, Adrian Wilson, principal and sales director at Sydney-based Wilson Property Agents, claimed the proposal is needless.
“Noise levels change constantly from hour to hour and throughout the evening, a recording won’t give you an accurate representation” he said. “Also, different noise levels are acceptable to different people. It’s a very subjective thing.
“Next thing we’ll be being asked to test air and water quality, which is obviously not the agent’s responsibility.”
Mr Wilson said people are generally smart enough to not move to the city if they want peace and quiet.
“People who are purchasing or renting in the city are pretty astute and aware of the environment - they don’t expect a country style ambience,” he added.
Grant Ashby, from Sydney Cove Property, agreed with Mr Wilson, adding that taking the step to move to the city shouldn’t be taken lightly.
“If you can buy in the city, you need to be fairly educated on how much money you can spend on a property, so it’d be ludicrous to not check things like noise out for yourself, rather than relying on a recording. That’s just common sense," he said.
“People will ask if it’s noisy, and we say, ‘Yes, it’s the city’. Some people experience noise from cafes or pubs while others experience it from the main roads ... but it’s unpreventable.
“Things like clubs going past certain hours can be an issue for residents, but that’s nothing to do with the selling agent.”
But selling principal Michael Lowdon, from Ray White Residential Sydney CBD, believed while it’s important to address the potential for noise, it shouldn't be a requirement.
“We sometimes point it out; if you’re looking at a property down-low near the street, you’re going to get traffic noise, so it is a part of our job," he said. "But going as far as to implement this as regulation is just [going] too far.
“I’ve even had situations where one side of a couple will comment on the noise during an inspection, but the other will usually say, ‘It’s a city, what do you expect?’ So they’re very much aware of the environment.”
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