House buying process in UK - why exchange takes so long

marmage

Hi everyone

I'm struggling to understand the logic with the house buying system in the UK. I'm baffled by why it may take at least 4 weeks? (please correct if timing is wrong) between offer to exchange of contracts. There is no guarantee during that period of a definite deal, yet you're expected to pay for non-refundable fees such as for the survey and solicitor disbursements. Also I assume it would be unethical to make offers on additional properties at the same time. So you do more or less end up putting both financial and mental energy into this one property. Yet the whole thing may not go through!

Has anybody got experience of purchasing property in other countries? In Australia for example there appears to be more certainty in the system - I think contract exchange is early on and then there's a 'cooling off period' afterwards where surveys, checks etc are done.

I'm sure there is a good reason for our system - pros more than cons hopefully?

SmlSave

The local land search takes 3 weeks in Swindon and 5 weeks in Wiltshire currently, if you are getting a mortgage then this search is a requirement.

The mortgage offer can sometimes take weeks to appear.

These two basic requirements can often take 4 weeks from receipt of the contract pack

Add in a person in the chain who is slow to reply.......

SmlSave

If you want certainty in your purchase/sale in the UK then go to auction or another country

dgtazzman

I know in The Netherlands, once a price is agreed a contract of sale is formed. It does usually contain clauses to disband it if the buyer fails to secure a mortgage or a survey picks up issues, but outside of that it becomes legally binding after 3 days of it being signed.

The UK system has, unfortunately, a large amount of uncertainty.

G_M

marmage wrote: »

Hi everyone

I'm struggling to understand the logic with the house buying system in the UK. I'm baffled by why it may take at least 4 weeks? (please correct if timing is wrong2 weeks to 2 months?) between offer to exchange of contracts. There is no guarantee during that period of a definite deal, yet you're expected to pay for non-refundable fees such as for the survey and solicitor disbursements. Also I assume it would be unethical to make offers on additional properties at the same time. So you do more or less end up putting both financial and mental energy into this one property. Yet the whole thing may not go through!

Has anybody got experience of purchasing property in other countries? In Australia for example there appears to be more certainty in the system - I think contract exchange is early on and then there's a 'cooling off period' afterwards where surveys, checks etc are done.
so if there's a 'cooling off' period, then the 'contract' is not binding and the same issues arise as you have mentioned above

I'm sure there is a good reason for our system - pros more than cons hopefully?

There are indeed different ways to do it, but however you do it you need to account for

* buyers to have a chance to check the legals
* buyers to have a chance to check the property
* buyers to get their finance in place
* buyers to find a buyer for the property they need to sell at the same time
* the buyer of the buyer to do all the above
* the seller of the seller to do all the above

If a binding, irreversible agreement/contract was reasched in, say 5 days, the aove could not be done, so either

* the agreement must have some 'cooling off' period
* or the agreement must be reached later once all the above is achieved

G_M

dgtazzman wrote: »

I know in The Netherlands, once a price is agreed a contract of sale is formed. It does usually contain clauses to disband it if the buyer fails to secure a mortgage or a survey picks up issues, but outside of that it becomes legally binding after 3 days of it being signed.

The UK system has, unfortunately, a large amount of uncertainty.

Have you read some of the posts on this forum about surveys? Every single survey has 'issues'. So is there some definition as to the severity of a survey issue that allows a buyer to back out? Can you just imagine the number of arguments this would generate?

"The survey shows there are cracked tiles on the roof so I'm not proceeding."
"The paintwork is weathered."

:T

Thrugelmir

marmage wrote: »

yet you're expected to pay for non-refundable fees such as for the survey and solicitor disbursements.

Who do you think should pay these costs then if not the purchaser?

marmage

I'm not disputing the costs or the system - am only trying to understand what is behind it and can only do that by asking others experience. Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

£500 is unfortunately a lot of money for some of us, it doesn't come by so easily. I'm only wishing there was more of a certainty that I wouldn't lose this money into the black hole.

csgohan4

3 months is around the average for a mortgage buyer. Cashbuyers obviously slightly quicker.


I think anecdotally, it's the conveyancer that takes the longest. Legals and queries bouncing to and fro. Ping pong emails and nothing gets done.

agrinnall

marmage wrote: »

Hi everyone

I'm struggling to understand the logic with the house buying system in the UK. I'm baffled by why it may take at least 4 weeks? (please correct if timing is wrong) between offer to exchange of contracts.

I think you mean England/Wales (not sure about NI) rather than the UK, Scotland has an entirely different and generally much quicker system.

It's never taken more than about 6 weeks from offer to settlement when I've bought and sold in Scotland, but I've just bought in England for the first time and it took 11 weeks 2 days to get from offer to completion.

kleapatra

SmlSave wrote: »

The local land search takes 3 weeks in Swindon and 5 weeks in Wiltshire currently, if you are getting a mortgage then this search is a requirement

And West Dorset local searches are currently taking a minimum of 12 weeks!:mad::mad: