A more efficient house purchase system
According to an article yesterday in The MailOnline News, ministers are planning to shake up the housing market to protect the thousands of people every year who suffer the disappointment and expense of their sale falling through.
The Government signalled its intentions In the Budget in March by reportedly saying, ‘We will publish a call for evidence on how to make the process better value for money and more consumer friendly.’
Such plans to overhaul the system of purchasing a property in England has been talked about by previous governments going back a number of years, all of which have come to nothing, it is definately now time that the system was made more efficient and less costly to those involved in a purchase that breaks down due to one or other party withdrawing.
In Scotland and certain parts of Europe buyers and sellers are locked into the contract at an earlier stage, at present in England there is nothing to stop buyers from backing out of a purchase at the last minute, leaving the seller with heavy costs legal and other.
More than a fifth of transactions fall through each year. Experts say that the house purchase contract needs to be legally binding at an earlier stage and that this this would reduce the number of sales falling through.