Undervalue Property & The Law

curious_george_4

Hello I have just been reading posts regarding the sale of property under market value

If the situation arose, I.e. you were selling/buying a property privately, and the seller some how ended up selling for considerably below market value. Can UK law protect the seller in any way?

If so what would be the qualifying criteria? E.g 50% below market value?
What rights does can seller call upon?
What timeframe would the seller need to react in?
Is anyone aware of UK test cases?

BitterAndTwisted

I'm trying to but I really don't understand your question. In a capitalist economy something is only worth what somebody else is prepared to pay for it. Are you saying that a property was bought but has now been valued at a fraction of what was paid for it? I wonder why the buyer thought it was so valuable in that case.....

sonastin

I interpret the question the other way round... the person who sold the house feels that they weren't paid enough and sold for too low a price?

No there is no protection in law. The protection comes from basic common sense - if the price isn't high enough, don't sell. If you don't know how much to sell for, do some research before the sale goes through. The sale won't be overturned later because the seller regrets not asking for more.

G_M

I sold an old bike on ebay last month. 12 quid.

Let me know when you find the answer 'cos I'm sure it was worth more. Even the rust had scrap value.

PasturesNew

If it is as sonastin read the question, this question was (sort of) raised by somebody a few months back here, who had uncovered evidence that their sale had been engineered by an EA + mates to flip it for profit, along with falsification of documents etc.

I also recall from the papers, a few years back, some people in Plymouth, Devon, moaning that their repossessed houses were sold in London at auction, then immediately put back on in a Plymouth auction and sold for a lot more.

For me, the query in #1 was way too confusing for me to get my head around and I have no idea what the situation/question is.

PasturesNew

PasturesNew wrote: »

If it is as sonastin read the question, this question was (sort of) raised by somebody a few months back here, who had uncovered evidence that their sale had been engineered by an EA + mates to flip it for profit, along with falsification of documents etc.

.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2626021

bris

The OP needs to give a bit more detail on this. There is nothing to stop a parent selling cheap to their kids etc, maybe there is other children disputing this? Is the seller a vulnerable person who was deliberately duped by a solicitor, EA or other proffesional person into beleiving the house was worth considerably less than it really is, this could be fraud. Unless the OP tells us the whole story though we will never know.

AnnaV

bris wrote: »

The OP needs to give a bit more detail on this. There is nothing to stop a parent selling cheap to their kids etc,

No, but when it comes to capital gains tax and you are selling to a relative, you will be taxed on the market value NOT the sale price. Same goes for stamp duty...

CloudCuckooLand

Caveat venditor applies.

The time to act would be before completion. Preferably before exchange of contracts, of course.

nobblyned

Think there would be some contractual protection if an EA was conspiring with a buyer against you as they would have been employed to act in your interest.

Failing that, no.