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

Ask for a deposit to hold the property and take it off the market when an offer is made and as a sign of good faith.

Hi op,

I am sorry this happened to you and I completely understand the heartache. And that doesn’t even count the hormones!

But you have to focus. If you need to move before you have baby or not long after?then, you need to shake all this anger and actually aim it to your end goal. Sell. Move.

Do not make any other changes to the house. It sells as it is and people can change what they want when they are in. Not your problem.

Do not accept defeat. Put it back onto market now as there will be others wanting it.

Ready. Angry. Go 🏁

If they pulled out before Exchange there wouldn't have yet been a deposit involved.

I’ve just had this happen to me, with a BTL property I own with my ex-husband. He’s dragged his heels about selling it, hence it going on for so long. He finally agrees to, exchange is in sight, tenant moves out, buyer pulls out. Honestly I was shaking when I hung up from the estate agent. I now have months having to deal with my abusive ex husband again on top on everything else. I just don’t think anyone thinks of consequences of their actions

This is why it used to be a month between exchange and completion of contracts. If the Purchasers pulled out, the Sellers got to keep the deposit given at Exchange - which is why the Deposit is usually 10% of the purchase price. We agreed 5% so we could buy the house. The Deposit is just there to compensate for such losses. Unfortunately before the Exchange of Contracts, either side can pull out for any reason.

But they aren’t obliged to? They are basically Strangers.

Ask for a non refundable deposit next time. Sorry this happened to you.

If it was a valid reason, presumably they would have stated that reason?

Absolutely! We just bought in Spain and would have lost 10% if we hadn’t completed. The system here is bonkers with the chains. Not sure how it works everywhere else but they seem to manage. And all the costs you have forked out. So sorry for you!

That is actually the same here though, as soon as contracts are exchanged each party is contracted to buy or sell, with severe financial penalties if completion does not take place or is delayed.

OP you have my sympathies, it must be horrendous.
I live in an EU country, and here, once you sign the agreement to buy three months later, you are legally bound by the contract. If either party pulls out they have to pay a fine.
It’s absolutely the way it should be!
I just hope that with all the work you’ve put into your house, that you find another buyer straight away 🤞🏻

Depends on circumstances if there is no reason then definitely should be a fine but say a partner suddenly passes so cannot afford anymore etc then maybe discretion could be used xx

You can get insurance for this now. It’s 69 for sale and 69 for purchase. I know you shouldn’t have to. I know it Dose’nt help emotionally but at least you get some money to cover all you have laid out. The government need to get this whole house buying malarkey sorted. I’m in a small chain only 4 of us all cash buyers 10 weeks in and still nothing. Solicitors are the main problem lazy greedy bunch of twats they all need a rocket up their arses. If that all had to work to a deadline of 7 days to reply to each query things would stop collapsing

Absolutely disappointing and frustrating for you OP but there are all sorts of legitimate reasons for them to pull out and they aren’t obliged to say why

years ago a personal tragedy meant we pulled out of a house purchase, and it wasn’t something we wanted to tell just anyone about, definitely not the estate agent etc

by that point we had lost money to the process and so I can’t imagine it’s a decision anyone takes lightly

It’s not really. Either party can still pull out until exchange it’s just more rare. I’ve had buyers pull out in Scotland before the exchange.

There are basic and enhanced searches you can choose which to have.

What many people do not realise is the searches will only apply to the property, the wider area is not looked at - there are some advanced searches which will look further afield but I would never just rely on the searches to show up anything which is likely to affect the property. Due diligence, searching online portals, local news, speaking to local and local knowledge will find out any plans or rumours to something being planned.

Obviously! I doubt very much you can pick and choose, anyway. Searches no doubt are standard unless it's an agricultural property, for example. Or on a flood plain etc.

But quite obviously that isn’t the case for all sales which is why there is a minimum requirement of due diligence.

? I know the area. No way is anyone planning a motorway or somesuch through the area I’m selling in: why is that a ‘terrible outlook’? Obviously if I didn’t know the area, I’d be instructing searches if I were buying. Buyer currently lives round the corner, has had his notice on his rented property.

This happened to us, though it was during COVID and admittedly there was a lot of uncertainty, and I think they were just older and nervous about the change.

The irony is, that was nearly 4 years ago, and the house is still on the market! They did put it back on about a year later, at nearly £200k more than the offer they accepted from us. They did ring to let us know, but we weren’t interested at that price. They accepted another offer and that seems to have fallen through. It’s now still for sale, at £300k more than our offer. I think they either clearly don’t want to sell or are delusional or both.

That’s a pretty terrible outlook. Plenty of people use conveyancing solicitors who aren’t even local to where the sale is so why on earth would they know and sign off that there are no infrastructure plans impacting the property unless they’ve actually looked into it.

True, but we’d have heard had something significant been planned.

@BrokenCookies - This happened to us as well! I was heavily pregnant and the people buying our property strung us along for months, kept saying their mortgage was taking forever to be approved, in the end, the buyer pulled out with no reason given
I was so stressed with it all as we wanted to be in our new home before the baby arrived. Our Estate Agents were furious and even bought us flowers!!
It is so unfair the way the system is in this country.... We ended up accepting a new offer quite quickly afterwards but the stress they caused was immeasurable!
I wish you lots of luck and hopefully a new buyer will come along quickly for you x

Not really. The Scottish system used to be far stricter years ago, and there was no way anyone buyer or seller could pull out last minute without hefty penalties, but unfortunately this was changed and everyone is now free to muck each other around now without much consequence. I should know I have both been on the receiving end and the other end where I backed out last minute just because I could, the buyer actually left a teary message on my answerphone.