To think there should be a fine for vendors pulling out of a property buy/sell process last minute?

Scottish system is much quicker so there is less time for it to all fall apart. However the searches are non existent it seems. I used to work for a search company in England. There was no option to run searches on our home in Scotland.

i was selling my dads house when he died the buyers were not pleasant,the house i was buying was a slow sale they moaned it really wasnt my fault then on exchange day their buyer pulled out ,i coulnt believe it, they never evan said sorry, they got a new buyer and it went ahead few months later . good luck

Thanks, genuinely didn't know. So fairly limited scenarios then, which is good for the vendor!

When we bought our first house and then our 2nd in the 80s it was usual to have 4 week period between exchange snd completion but that seems to have condensed to a day or 2 now which is a nightmare. At least with 4 weeks you can pack etc after exchange. We actually exchanged and completed on our first house same day but it was really unusual and only happened because there was an issue at Land Registry that needed sorting first and they were on strike and by then the vendors had emigrated so the house was already empty.

It doesn’t matter how close exchange is to completion, the money is the same because the work is the same. All the surveys, mortgage reports and solicitor’s documents need to be completed in order to exchange.

It should be implemented. Honeatly. Buying and sellimg in England was so much more traumatic than buying and selling in my native country.

…. Of fixing up a house but I’ve stopped, as it is too stressful.

Very best wishes for a quick sale now and the coming DC

Exchange happened for us all of two days before completion, thousands of pounds had been committed at that point

I am so sorry this happened to you, OP. The English system of house buying is not fit for purpose.

We did pull out of buying, once, in America. As you do there, we had put down a 5% deposit. But you also do a final inspection within 24 hrs of purchase. When we did, the lower ground floor was flooded. I mean, the carpets squelched underfoot and it stank. This was an important, beautifully finished living space with a wall of French doors, etc.

The owners had vacated a couple of weeks before and refused to take any responsibility for this. We would not have been insured for prior damage. So we pulled out, and easily got our deposit back. They sold a year later at a great loss.

I do believe the English system gives far too much scope for entitled or nervous buyers and occasionally entitled vendors to mess up a reasonable sale. But I know our vendors thought we, and the system that returned pur deposit, were also unreasonable. I actually enjoy the challenge

In other countries sellers have to provide information and surveys on the property up front, those costs are on the seller not the buyer. In England sellers get away with the shitty “sold as seen” method which is beyond stupid.

I don't buyers personal circumstances should be valid reasons

Valid reason would be things like "The survey found significant probelms" or "the house was misrepresented in the advert" - things directly linked to the value of the property which the buyer wouldn't have already known.

It's definitely rubbish, but you'd have to put in financial penalties for both parties. The whole system would need a shake up, but it's not in anyone's interest to do that, I feel.

I've pulled out on the day of exchange, because we wasn't told about some legal issues, and the seller just included the documents within the pack and they didn't think it would bother us, and they needed to sell.

We've also had the sellers pull out the day before exchange on another property, because the wife decided she loved the house after all. Except she clearly didn't, as they called us 3 weeks later to see if we were still interested...

It works elsewhere. I don't know why England and Wales have to be so special.
I sold abroad last year too, in EU. Contracts signed ASAP with exit clauses. Also much faster process for some reason

I think OP was using hyperbole (quite appropriately) to make a point. Don't be so mean.

Obviously not. The reason has to be directly related to the house. So an engineer goes in and decides it's not up to scratch, you get your deposit back. You find out half the house was built without planning permission, you can get your deposit back.

I would like to see a more legally binding situation much earlier in the process, but I think it needs to apply to both buyer and seller.

Totally agree.

@PurpleDiva22 I'd love to have more data on this system. I wonder how many do lose the deposit or if it's actually easy enough to come up with a "good reason" you're pulling out? And what the list of acceptable reasons covers? Could you just say "my husband is having an affair" or "i have a cancer diagnosis" and no-one checks?

Hope that made you feel better.
Why bother commenting?

who would exchange before surveys and their repercussions had fully been resolved? Or before searches had come in or mortgages been confirmed? No one would. No solicitor would let you. Exchange happens after all the legal stuff has been resolved for exactly that reason. Hurt feelings are unpleasant but exchange happens when it does for very valid reasons

How long passes between sale agreed and exchange date? In Ireland, (open to correction on this), the buyer puts down a deposit on sale agreed day, and then arranges the mortgage, surveyors, etc. If a problem arises, they can pull out and get their deposit back, but if they just change their mind with no good reason they lose the deposit. There has to be a cooling off period with every purchase. I'd be inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt that they had good reason to pull out and are probably as devastated as you are that this has fallen through. I doubt people let it go that far just for the craic.

Was it your buyers or your vendors that pulled out?

They will have spent thousands in total on solicitor fees, surveys, reports for their lender etc in order to get to the point of setting a date for exchange so I think it’s but naive to suggest their have no reason and were playing a game.

You’re allowed to be upset but they obviously had their reasons, the exchange is the exchange of contracts so until that point there is no deal.