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About time buying/selling in England changed....
martin1959
Posts: 363 Forumite
I am sure I am not alone in thinking that the way property is bought and sold in England is outdated and not user friendly...
It is too easy for a buyer or seller to pull out for no reason, and can cause untold problems for the other party....
My suggestion, which would not prevent this, but would at least give some consolation, would be as follows...
The vendor, as opposed to having a worthless energy report, has to have an independent survey carried out on the property, at the vendors expense. The survey must be less than six months old and would be available to any interested purchasers.
When an offer has been agreed, both parties lodge 1% of PP with their solicitor.
If either party then chooses to pull out, for anything other than search related, that was not known at the time of offer, then their 1% is paid to the aggrieved party.
Whilst it will not stop gazumping and buyers pulling out or offering a lower price just before exchange, it will give some compensation. It will also save time as any issues with the property will be known at offer, and not 4 weeks later when the survey is done.....
I am sure people on here will have many other thoughts as to what could be done, although I am sure we will all agree that SOMETHING should be done to change the current antiquated system.
It is too easy for a buyer or seller to pull out for no reason, and can cause untold problems for the other party....
My suggestion, which would not prevent this, but would at least give some consolation, would be as follows...
The vendor, as opposed to having a worthless energy report, has to have an independent survey carried out on the property, at the vendors expense. The survey must be less than six months old and would be available to any interested purchasers.
When an offer has been agreed, both parties lodge 1% of PP with their solicitor.
If either party then chooses to pull out, for anything other than search related, that was not known at the time of offer, then their 1% is paid to the aggrieved party.
Whilst it will not stop gazumping and buyers pulling out or offering a lower price just before exchange, it will give some compensation. It will also save time as any issues with the property will be known at offer, and not 4 weeks later when the survey is done.....
I am sure people on here will have many other thoughts as to what could be done, although I am sure we will all agree that SOMETHING should be done to change the current antiquated system.
20 plus years as a mortgage adviser for Halifax (have now retired), and I have pretty much seen it all....:D
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Comments
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In your opinion, what is wrong with the current system that requires these changes?0
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martin1959 wrote: »If either party then chooses to pull out, for anything other than search related, that was not known at the time of offer, then their 1% is paid to the aggrieved party.
I can see lots of wriggle room about what was "known at the time of offer". I suspect that in practice you'd need to have a fully-fledged contract agreed, like we (theoretically) have in Scotland at an early stage.
However, I can see the sense in having a survey up front. Home Reports aren't universally liked in Scotland but my experience is generally positive.0 -
martin1959 wrote: »The vendor, as opposed to having a worthless energy report, has to have an independent survey carried out on the property, at the vendors expense. The survey must be less than six months old and would be available to any interested purchasers.
You mean a sort of Report on the Condition of the Home (RCH), the kind of thing that might be included in a Pack of Information about the Home (PIH)?Let's settle this like gentlemen: armed with heavy sticks
On a rotating plate, with spikes like Flash Gordon
And you're Peter Duncan; I gave you fair warning0 -
In your opinion, what is wrong with the current system that requires these changes?
A friend of mine has been trying to move into her new home since October last year!
The first one fell through but the one she moves into next Saturday has taken 2 months from acceptance of offer to completion.
In the US, you can put in an offer, get it accepted and move in all within a fortnight.0 -
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In Guernsey, you normally have two weeks in which to sign your conditions of sale and place your deposit - this is usually subject to finance and survey - you get your survey done within this time and finalise your mortgage.
If you pull out after the conditions of sale have been signed then you lose your deposit. If the seller pulls out after conditions have been signed, they have to pay you the equivalent of your deposit and you get your deposit back.
Works well and there's no gazumping!0 -
In your opinion, what is wrong with the current system that requires these changes?
It takes too long, and it is too easy for either party to pull out, leaving the other party to start again, perhaps after several months.
It allows one party to 'blackmail' the other by either reducing their offer just prior to exchange, or threatening to pull out if the purchaser does not increase their offer.......
The Scottish system is far more logical. Probably one of the only benefits of living in Scotland!!20 plus years as a mortgage adviser for Halifax (have now retired), and I have pretty much seen it all....:D0 -
Problem with the survey idea is that if there is something wrong with the property that is not on the survey then the buyer has no comeback - after all they didn't pay for the survey so the vendor is the surveyors clientI am a Mortgage Adviser
You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.0 -
What you describe can be more or less achieved today, if the buyer and seller agree...
- The seller could arrange a survey before marketing their property which could give the buyer some level of comfort before making an offer.
- The seller and buyer could then enter into a pre-contract deposit agreement. Essentially, if one party backs out without good reason, they then lose their deposit to the innocent party.
But very few people bother with these agreements. Probably because of the difficulty of defining "good reasons" at the outset. And then, when somebody backs out, arguing about whether their reason falls within the defined list of "good reasons".0 -
What is the difference in Scotland please? I think I have gathered that once an offer is accepted it becomes legally binding. Is that the case?
And are there drawbacks to the system there? If not, would it be a good system to implement in England?Father Ted: Now concentrate this time, Dougal. These
(he points to some plastic cows on the table) are very small; those (pointing at some cows out of the window) are far away...
:D:D0
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