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

The system in Scotland has changed significantly in the last 20 years or so and is now much closer to the English system

I understand what you're saying and that does sound awful and I'm so sorry.

On the flip side just before exchange of buying my house I had a very strong feeling that I should pull out. I didn't as felt so bad but honestly it was the worst mistake I ever made and I wish I had have listed to my gut. I've lost much more money than the sellers would have.

Hopefully the OP is moving to Scotland where all properties sales and purchases complete without even the slightest hint of stress or bother.

I also think the estate agents should bear some sort of penalty. Ours took our house off the market and every time we queried it told us to wait for our buyer to get a mortgage, that would be the smart thing to do etc. Five months later, buyer simply disappeared. I suspect he was a friend of one of the agents but there you go, nothing I can do. They seemed very unconcerned not to be getting a penny of commission after all that time.

We've now accepted a new offer through a new agent - they offered a (chargeable) service wherein the buyer has to deposit £2k which they lose if they pull out after the offer, but not sure how that would work in practice and we thought that would put people off big time. We're only 2 weeks in so no idea if this one will get past the finishing post.

I do find across the board though - particularly with younger people (say under 40s?) - buyers don't feel that this is a binding commitment, one that they should only withdraw from in dire circumstances. They feel its like choosing something in a supermarket and if you get the till and change your mind you just dump it in another aisle.

really feel for you it’s awful thing to happen
But when you buy again get homebuyers insurance
it will cover you for assholes like this pulling out

when my son was buying the chain almost fell apart and if it had pretty much all of my sons solicitors fees survey would have been covered so around 2.5k
as it was the sellers managed to buy another house and my son and his partner stuck with them for the new sale

his insurance came from his solicitors but you can buy it within 2 weeks of making an offer cost around 60 -100

I was friends with someone who pulled out day of exchange. Baby was born prematurely and they were due to move 2 weeks later but instead pulled out. Even worse they were buying from a friend. Baby was low weight but fine. I could understand delaying but I never saw them the same. Everything with that woman was a drama and me, me, me.

I has the same occur, suddenly disappeared about 3 weeks before eoc. My solicitor was very wise as their solicitor stopped responding, so she contacted the solicitor found out that they were not answering him and immediately warned the chain.
What I guess I'm saying is that unfortunately it does happen and it's a sign to watch out for.
Calling them children isn't fair on children. Calling them sociopathic twats is much fairer. I don't know of any child who would break a promise or want people to be upset.

@BrokenCookies it's the most expensive purchase you make in your life, so if your buyers aren't happy, then it's best not to go ahead, even if that's really annoying.

Don't forget your buyer will also have paid out for solicitors fees, searches etc... so will also be losing quite a bit of money (£2k - £3k), so it's not like they will pull out for no reason. There will be some reason they've stopped the sale.

A friend of mine pulled out of their house purchase just days before exchange because the company she worked for made her redundant very suddenly. Their mortgage company would not lend and her DH didn't earn enough to raise the mortgage on just his salary.

I get it’s been a long slog and you’ve improved the property but surely that means you can get another buyer, and maybe a little higher offer? So it isn’t all doom and gloom!

Sounds pretty similar to the English system to me :

"We threw out the British system. In our system, all titles are on a register."

So are the vast majority in England. There is some unregistered land still, but it gets registered when a transaction is made. Over time all land will become registered.

"Once the contract is unconditional, you're buying and selling."

Same as in England. People can pull out after exchange of contracts, but the contract normally stipulates a massive penalty. How much can vary with the contract as per the wishes of the buyer/seller.

"The contact may well be unconditional from the start and the deposit is paid up front. If the buyer doesn't settle the seller keeps the deposit."

Can happen in England if both the buyer and seller are willing to have it.

"The more conditional the offer the less likely it is to be entertained."

Sellers in England have exactly the same choice - who they choose to sell their house to and on what terms/basis. Buyers have a choice whether or not they want to buy on those terms.

"We offered unconditionally on our current house within a week of seeing it which meant getting the house inspected, the title checked and finance arranged. Chains are not common. There is no failing to settle except in extremely unlikely and rare circumstances."

I think this is the difference in England, that this process can take some time. However it doesn't have to, you can make it take a shorter amount of time, and demand a buyer does it in that time as a seller. It adds to the cost of course, and reduces the number of potential buyers who will proceed on that basis.

"There is no failing to settle except in extremely unlikely and rare circumstances."

Same as in England. Once contracts are signed it is very rare for the process not to go through to completion, as the financial penalty is large.

This happened to my DP when he was selling. The buyers had 2 different houses in 2 chains, and had decided to go with whichever one was completed first (their solicitor was in on it) so although they had paid for 2 surveys etc, they just pulled out last minute and bought the other house!

Pregnant, strung along for months, collapsed a sizable chain because a couple of immature children think it's acceptable to pull out the day of exchange.

I'm in Scotland. Don't think it's legal here (thank fuck!) I can't understand how this is allowed.

I think part of the problem is the recent custom of a very short period between exchange and completion. When I started buying houses many years ago, it was standard to have 4 weeks or more. This meant you had time to plan your life if things went wrong-once exchange had happened you knew everyone was committed. Our recent purchase was exchange and completion on the same day-very stressful for all involved and a nightmare trying to arrange planning of services in case someone pulled out. You have my deepest sympathy OP, it’s a horrible thing to happen to you and if other countries can have a more rigorous system, why can’t we?

I agree. There should be another one for sellers not meeting agreed standards of handover when they sell.

OP, you could ask your agent to contact your original buyer and say the house is unexpectedly back on the market, and would she like first refusal? The dust might have settled on the situation with her mum by now. That's if it was genuine - you've no way of really knowing why either of your buyers pulled out, so it is a bit pointless expending energy on hating one and feeling sorry for the other.

I agree the UK system is crap and I think that more of the stuff like survey and pre-contract questionnaires should be done upfront and paid for by the seller, so as to reduce the time between offer and exchange. You'd have to make sure that they were done independently, though, so that the buyer nd lenders could rely on them, otherwise buyers would just want to fund their own surveys as well and nothing would change.

During that time between offer and exchanged a buyer can always get gazumped, too, so it's not like all the power is in the buyer's hands. It's stressful for both parties because it's designed to be a hard-nosed, adversarial negotiation but it's over people's homes, which they have an emotional attachment to.

Fuckers. Sorry to hear this OP

So sorry this has happened to you. I agree - it has a devastating impact on people and yet some buyers treat it all so casually. This far in the process, people are heavily invested. Not just financially with surveys and legal fees but they researching schools, applying for jobs in the area etc. To be so cowardly and offer no reason is awful.

Buyers should have to repay any fees incurred by a seller if they drop out like this.

There should be a fee payable of a few thousand once you have had surveys / searches done then if you pull out you lose xxx amount
also everyone should take out house buying insurance cost 60 -100 but will cover a large percentage of the cost

Unfortunately your call for fines cannot be on condition of whether you want people to pay them on not. The fine you are suggesting for both purchasers and vendors is if they pull out of a sale prior to exchange they pay a fine. You example of your previous purchasers reasons highlights why it is not a good idea.

You can sue someone for breach of contract, so for houses that means post exchange of contracts. There are already regulations and financial penalties in place should a breach happen.

I understand how annoying and upsetting it is, but sadly it is what it is, you do not know the reason for your purchasers actions, that is their business. You just have to do everything you can to get a new buyer to hold the chain together, spend your energy on that, not getting annoyed at your purchasers sadly it doesn't achieve anything other than making you feel worse than you already do!

We threw out the British system. In our system, all titles are on a register. Once the contract is unconditional, you're buying and selling. The contact may well be unconditional from the start and the deposit is paid up front. If the buyer doesn't settle the seller keeps the deposit. The seller cannot back out either. The more conditional the offer the less likely it is to be entertained. We offered unconditionally on our current house within a week of seeing it which meant getting the house inspected, the title checked and finance arranged. Chains are not common. There is no failing to settle except in extremely unlikely and rare circumstances.