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

CSI_Yorkshire

user1977 said:

youth_leader said:

When I went for my third attempt on the market I approached my EA and asked if it was possible to get a 'deposit' or 'promise' from a future buyer - doesn't exist in England. 

The normal form of contract in Scotland is conditional on the title and searches etc being exhibited afterwards, with the buyer being entitled to pull out if there are any material problems. But it does at least get the price and completion date firmed up.

Is that really true?  With all I'd heard about about how fabulous the system in Scotland was, I didn't realise that the contract says "if you get a search result you don't like, cancel with no penalties".  That's almost no better than E&W at all!

user1977

CSI_Yorkshire said:

user1977 said:

youth_leader said:

When I went for my third attempt on the market I approached my EA and asked if it was possible to get a 'deposit' or 'promise' from a future buyer - doesn't exist in England. 

The normal form of contract in Scotland is conditional on the title and searches etc being exhibited afterwards, with the buyer being entitled to pull out if there are any material problems. But it does at least get the price and completion date firmed up.

Is that really true?  With all I'd heard about about how fabulous the system in Scotland was, I didn't realise that the contract says "if you get a search result you don't like, cancel with no penalties".  That's almost no better than E&W at all!

That isn't what I said...it would need to be a search result which would be materially prejudicial to the buyer. Which in practice, is pretty rare. 

propertyrental

This has been considered ad infinitum!

Over the years, he Law Society has done extensive research into how the system could be changed/improved. So has Parliament. And other professional bodies (RICS etc).

Home Information Packs (HIPs) were introduced in 2004..... and then abandoned!

The problem is balancing the desire for certainty/commitment (and hence reduction of financial costs of failed sales) against the need for flexibility as sellers (and particularly buyers) go through due diligence, get their survey, mortgage, searches etc completed. 'Locking in' buyers and sellers at early stages would cause different problems to the ones that exist today.

Having said that, read this from the Law Society (2021):

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/property/improving-home-buying-selling-process

theoretica

user1977 said:

And yes, it is shifting the survey cost to the seller, but at least it will be a one-off cost rather than one potentially being incurred by several buyers (bear in mind it was brought in to replace the normal Scottish practice of buyers getting their survey before submitting an offer, so in a closing date scenario you could have several surveyors acting for different bidders).

That Scottish system had been dropped a while ago, I am not sure when.  But have heard stories of someone trying to buy, which meant spending money on surveys only to have their offer turned down, and then needing to save up for more surveys before they could offer again...  But more recently before the current system, making an offer 'subject to survey' was acceptable.

user1977

theoretica said:

user1977 said:

And yes, it is shifting the survey cost to the seller, but at least it will be a one-off cost rather than one potentially being incurred by several buyers (bear in mind it was brought in to replace the normal Scottish practice of buyers getting their survey before submitting an offer, so in a closing date scenario you could have several surveyors acting for different bidders).

But more recently before the current system, making an offer 'subject to survey' was acceptable.

Yes, though with the expectation that you'd be getting your surveyor round immediately, not weeks into the process.