Beware buyers: This estate agent misleads customers on important legal matters, which cost me considerable time, energy and money. I viewed an apartment with the Seven Dials office of Mishon Mackay (Hove). I asked specifically whether the apartment's hardwood floor (with which the agency advertised the flat) were legally sound in terms of the lease. I stressed that this is important as my partner has strong allergies and I am looking for a place with hard wood flooring. I was aware that more and more flats are being sold with hard wood flooring even though this is not allowed per the lease. The agent claimed that the hard wood floors were all fine in terms of the lease. I consequently made an offer on the place. But once my solicitor got insight into the legal details, it turned out that the lease mandates that all floors need be carpeted. This is stated in a central place in the lease agreement and cannot be missed. Mishon Mackay nevertheless tried to pressure me into buying the flat. According to them, the clause "all floors need be carpeted" does not mean that all floors need be carpeted. But that is of course not true. My solicitor was very clear: the hardwood floors are in direct breach of the lease and need be changed once anyone complains about noise. Mishon Mackay then failed to get retrospective consent from the landlord for the hardwood floors. All they got was a short email saying that the floors are ok as long as no one complains, but that a court would likely decide against the current state of the flat. Mishon Mackay then tried to portray this as a normal thing, stating that they could not have possibly known about the details of the lease. This is both of course untrue as well. Other agencies that I have been dealing with either told me that the floors need be carpeted or looked into the lease details before confirming whether the floors need carpeting or not. I finally decided to pull out of the sale because I never made an offer on a property that is in clear breach of the lease. In the course of this I lost money for a homebuyer report, legal searches, and a mortgage application, let alone my headache over this and wasted time. And all this simply because of the dishonesty of Mishon Mackay that seem to privilege a quick sale over legally sound procedure.NegativeQuality, Professionalism, Value