Conveyancing laws

[MadameDe]

I'm thinking of starting a petition regarding buying and selling houses. I think the law should be that once an offer is made and accepted, it's legally binding, as in contract law. How many people on here would sign it?

How would that work with mortgages and surveys and the like? What would happen if you had an offer accepted but the survey revealed something shit? Or would you do the survey prior to making an offer? Which would seem a bit pointless really...

I wouldn't sign it because you seem to have put about 10 seconds' thought into it.

How long would it be legally binding for? What if someone makes an offer that’s accepted in June, but hasn’t sorted out their mortgage etc. by December? How long should the seller wait?

I’m asking, because someone I know had this scenario-he completed on his new house and was having to maintain two properties while his buyer faffed around. It was financially crippling.

I thought this was what they did in Scotland and it makes buying the house more secure. I read the other day that 30% of house sales in the England fall through - it's huge and financially crippling in itself.

In other countries, the survey is done upfront as well and all potential buyers have access to the survey before making an offer. In my mind potential buyers would also have to be approved for a mortgage at the point of making an offer.

Works ok in Scotland. And tbf in lots of other countries too.

X post but yeah I agree with you OP. The English system is nutso.

Was just coming on to say that it’s how it works in Scotland.
also, until they changed the law, to ensure the seller had a home report done, the prospective buyer got a survey done, before offer. Which was a pain, because 5 or 6 people could have that done on the same property. Much better now.

I'd vote for a Scottish system. It seems a lot less stressful.

Scottish system is truly awful. It has fewer safe guards than English as the idea of the offer being binding is not true until all "missives" are concluded . This may not be done till day of the move and no penalty if someone just says no.

Do not wish for the Scottish system in it's present state.

By the way to market in Scotland yes the seller gers the survey done has to be extensive with energy report (often costs about £800) but buyers banks etc may often want their own report done .

😂

This regime isn’t in force in England and Wales for a pretty solid set of reasons.

I would not sign your petition, no.

Yanbu

It's not a radical idea. It works in Scotland. A contract is drawn up between buyer and vendor.

It can be conditional on variables eg survey, selling of a previous property.

The whole system in England needs a huge overhaul. But it's such a big issue that it needs total reform. The last time we went through the process it took six months and I think I was on the verge of a breakdown by the end of it. Other countries have a better approach.

Bellemarionette this "works in Scotland" can be horrendous. This contract you picture drawn up can be drawn up (concluded) on the day of a move with people being able to withdraw without penalty even on the day of the move.

It’s the length of time to completion that baffles me. I now live in the US and sales generally complete in 30-60 days. 90 days would be considered a long time. The buyer has their mortgage already lined up, usually has the survey done a couple of weeks after the offer’s accepted, and it’s all systems go. We completed on our house in 30 days as the sellers had already moved out.

This is how it works in much of Europe. Any survey is done (paid for by the seller) before the property is marketed and often an insurance policy is taken out by the seller that guarantees that the property is free from further issues, but the buyer also has to be aware of obvious issues, and so should demand to see receipts for new windows, energy efficiency, wiring and plumbing certificates etc. (all of which is usually in the sellers' pack) before making the offer. If the buyer has to get a mortgage or loan, they need to take this information to the mortgage company or bank before making the offer and the mortgage company will approve or reject the loan based on this information, their own valuation and the buyer's ability to pay. In many countries, banks also act as estate agents.

Basically the "Contract" is a sheet of A4 that says "Person X offers to buy [Property details] from Person Y for an agreed price of €XXX. This offer is valid until [date - e.g. 30 days] with the final completion agreed as [date - e.g 60 days from offer acceptance]." Estate Agents have standard forms for this. If both parties agree and sign, and the buyer usually pays a deposit, then that constitutes a contract. The conveyancing is then just the paperwork that transfers ownership from one owner to the other (which is what the word "conveyancing" means) and is usually done by just one conveyancing solicitor, employed by the buyer, who checks the Land Registry, the Loans and Mortgages Registry and the Survey details etc. Not only is the system very simple, it is very quick and a purchase can be completed in a few weeks.

Estate agents should be banned from buying houses.

Not sure about making offers legally binding but I think making it legally binding way before exchange would be nice. We were convinced ours wouldn’t go through as we exchanged the day before and it was so stressful!

No I wouldn't!
We recently put in an offer on a house. Survey found huge issues with it. Which made it unaffordable and unmortgageable. We pulled out.
If what your proposing was reality we would have lost even more money than we already have on that property.

Scottish system has no form of deposit (like European system havanananana mentions). Not binding till (occasionally months long) negotiations are "concluded" (called conclusion of missives) this could be e.g. very day of the move with a whole chain at risk. All sides can back out without penalty up till then .

Um ….. no, this not how it works in Scotland. Whilst gazumping is less common in Scotland (more for ethical rather than legal reasons) you still have to go through the process of concluding missives which is akin to the English system of exchanging contracts. What IS currently better than the English system is that searches seem to come through much quicker and chains don’t take so long to complete. I have no idea why that is the case though, purely anecdotal. Anyone who thinks offers should be binding from the moment of submission has really no clue. Frustrating as it is for both parties (and yes, I’ve been there) there are many very good reasons why this is not a desirable state of affairs.

Signed,

A Scottish Solicitor with 10+ years conveyancing experience

And yes as PP says there is rarely any deposit paid upfront in Scotland and it is very common for missives to be concluded on the day or only shortly beforehand. The main benefit of the Scottish system in general is that estate agents take a dim view of gazumping from an ethical standpoint which does not seem to be the case in England.

Conveyancing experience here too (English law).

It takes so long to get to exchange here because conveyancers/solicitors take on too much work due to huge targets. They can’t turn down work. Searches don’t take that long (around 5-10 days).

This is NOT how it works in Scotland. I move in two weeks and at the moment either me or the seller could pull out without penalty (except having to pay our solicitors for work they've done). Missives often aren't concluded until the moving day.

The bidding system is a lot less stressful than the English free for all, though.