Should we lobby for change in the house buying and selling processes..the present system is PANTS!

phebe3

So....once again a chain collapses.  This time, my daughter...due to move in two weeks, and her buyer has pulled out.  No reason why.  And the agent omitted to tell my daughter for two weeks...daughter found out when solicitor mentioned it. Which leaves her and her husband in %$£*"!  ...as their mortgage was agreed..at the lower rate..on the amount they sold their house for. Which they are not sure they will get now.  They have also paid a lot of money for a full building survey on the house they thought they were buying.   Also leaves the people they are buying from in a mess as they can't move into the (empty)property they are going for unless they sell their house.

Time and time again I hear this happening....and it has happened to us an every member of our family, to friends, and relatives....buyers pulling out, chains collapsing, causing stress and in many cases leaving people out of pocket.  It seems ridiculous that when we book a holiday, which costs a fraction of the price, we have to pay a deposit which we lose if we cancel said holiday.  And yet when we agree to buy a house /are selling our properties, then the chain can collapse up until the v very hour the contracts are signed, and the keys in your hand.  Last time one of our offspring moved we were literally in the van, loaded up with all their belongings, waiting to hear if they could move into the house they were buying on that day, as they had to get out of the one they had as the buyer said he wouldn't have it unless he could move in on that day.  (we'd have had a very crowded house if they'd not got the house they were buying on that day!) 

The system seems a mess and needs sorting out....any ideas/ways to lobby?

CSI_Yorkshire

When you book a holiday you sign the contract, which includes the deposit that you lose.  Entirely different situation.

Don't exchange and complete on the same day, that's just asking for stress.

How do you suggest holding people to contracts that don't yet exist?

Grizebeck

CSI_Yorkshire said:

When you book a holiday you sign the contract, which includes the deposit that you lose.  Entirely different situation.

Don't exchange and complete on the same day, that's just asking for stress.

How do you suggest holding people to contracts that don't yet exist?

I dont understand the attraction of exchanging/completing on same day if in a chain, no issue if no chain and house is empty

phebe3

But ....you have paid for searches, paid for solicitors services etc and then potentially lose the house...this happened to us and friends. ..and we have moved a few times.  Last time we lost a house 10 days before we were due to move. We had already, obviously, paid for searches and solicitors fees.  Luckily our buyers agreed to wait for us to re sell and we had to look again for another suitable house to buy. 

New_in_the_fens

It is a poor system - it is better in Scotland although not perfect. 

Ultimately, there is no incentive for the government or regulators to improve the process, and until there is, nothing will change. 

CSI_Yorkshire

Yes, that's part of due diligence.  Or you could choose not to pay for those things, DIY the conveyance and pay in cash, then discover thousands of pounds of hidden things that searches and solicitors would have found.

To go to an extreme level - you've paid for fuel driving to every house that you view.  Do you think you've "lost" that if you don't buy each house?

At what point in the process do you think people should be locked in?  Before they've found out if they can get a mortgage?  Before they've had their searches completed?  Before they've had enquiries answered?

Even in Scotland (which is often misrepresented as "offers are binding"), nothing is legally committed to until missives are completed - sort of equivalent to our exchanging contracts.

You could always choose to buy every possible search and survey on the property you are selling, and then give them to every possible buyer for free - if everyone did that then fewer things would appear during the process - but are you really going to?

theartfullodger

Scottish system is IMHO and my experience better than English.  Bought and sold 3 properties there in last 23 years.  Come on England, catch up! 

Or do we have a case of NIH?

MultiFuelBurner

On our last move our solicitors offered some.sort of insurance scheme should people pull out £36 for £2000 cover I think it was. We didn't take it but maybe in the current market conditions it's worth people considering such an insurance?

user1977

MultiFuelBurner said:

On our last move our solicitors offered some.sort of insurance scheme should people pull out £36 for £2000 cover I think it was. We didn't take it but maybe in the current market conditions it's worth people.considering such an insurance?

We’ve had several previous threads about such policies - they cover quite a limited range of reasons for pulling out (as you can probably guess from the low premium) so not really worthwhile.

TBG01

Would you be lobbying for the same if it was your daughter who had pulled out?

p00hsticks

phebe3 said:

But ....you have paid for searches, paid for solicitors services etc and then potentially lose the house...this happened to us and friends. ..and we have moved a few times.  Last time we lost a house 10 days before we were due to move. We had already, obviously, paid for searches and solicitors fees.  Luckily our buyers agreed to wait for us to re sell and we had to look again for another suitable house to buy. 

So what do you suggest as an alternative ?

Would you really be happy to fully  commit to as a large and potentially risky purchase as a property before you do your due diligence with regard to surveys, searches etc ? 
 
@theartfullodger says that in their experience the scottish system is better. I personally can't comment, having not every bought or sold a house under that system, other than to say that I think it requires the seller to prepare a Home report consisting of survey, searches etc as part of the process of putting the property on the market.

If that is indeed how it works, then it's potentially cheaper for buyers, not so much for sellers. I'm not sure what steps are in place to ensure that any survey carried out on a property is independent and that it's the buyer rather than the seller who commissioned it that has any legal comeback if they are later found to be faulty,