to feel conveyancing laws in England are unfair

[localmum]

My son and his partner were due to exchange contracts this week on their first flat. They were so excited, now the vendor has pulled out, saying she "doesn't think she will be able to find another property". She clearly hasn't even looked. She is downsizing and there are literally hundreds of properties for sale. Poor ds has spent £700 on legal fees and a survey, and he is absolutely gutted.

I am so

YANBU. Poor DS. It is hard enough to save enough as it is.

It is worth asking her to consider covering the costs, some people would. My DH had costs covered on his first attempted purchase.

It seems a bit odd that he went ahead with the survey though when the chain was not complete?

YANBU!

moomaa We did the exact same thing. No one advised us re: waiting for the chain to be complete before having a survey done (and neither of us is from the UK so the system is a new one to us). We had a survey, the survey told us about a number of repairs which were needed, and it valued the house at 10k less than our original bid. When we approached the vendor about it, she refused to budge, so we were also out the amount mentioned above.

so yes, wow, the system is an annoying one. :(

I wish I had paid a bit more attention to what they were actually doing - I have been so preoccupied with other things. They didn't have a full SS done because it is a fairly new block of flats. It is a lesson learned though.

I will talk to him today and try to get more information.

I just feel so sorry for them.

To be fair he could easily have been pressed into doing the survey before the chain was complete by the estate agent, and lots of people choose to get the survey done asap anyway in case of problems that cause them to pull out.

It's just that I have had friends that have delayed doing the survey until the chain was complete.

Uuuuurgh! This post has reminded me of the stress we went through to buy this house! I'm never moving again, I'd rather live in the public toilets.

I really feel for your son!

The estate agent is pretty upset too. Apparantly she had told them she had a property to move into. I don't understand how she could do that, and whether or not they are supposed to check - or how they could check?? She sounds a bit odd.

I wouldn't necessarily believe the estate agent. While there are some good ones, so many of them will say absolutely anything on the off chance it will get them a sale.

Every time we move I am reminded of how terrible the profession is in general.

I do feel sorry for them. I have to admit, in the 3 times I've bought/sold, I've always just sorted out my survey or valuation and paperwork without waiting on others (I've probably been very lucky in hindsight that things never went wrong). I wish our laws were a bit more like Scotland where (I think) once a deal is agreed its very hard to pull out or change the terms.

YANBU - it's awful. Your poor DS.

In Scotland, once you made the agreement that's it - you are committed to buy/sell. It's so much less stressful and this sort of thing just doesn't happen.

UK conveyancing laws are utter bollocks. Having come from South Africa, where a far saner system is in place (much akin to Scotland afaik), I couldn't believe that vendors and buyers have such leeway to piss each other around.

YANBU.

YANBU - there is no commitment until the day you have the keys in your hand. When you consider the logistics involved in moving and financial outlay long before then, it is absolutely ridiculous.

What sort of seller refuses a buyer in this market? She must be crazy! Tell your son to go back in a couple of months & offer a lot less.