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

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Just had this happen. 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 broken hearted, wasted all my money and savings and I have never felt so much hatred for two strangers. From speaking to the agent they have no genuine reason, just playing a bit of a game with us all I guess. How is this legal? It is the cruelest thing anyone has ever done to my family and I don't want to start it all again but now I have to with way less money. We had spent months getting our house ready for them as their first home, deep cleaning, painting, repairing.. turns out they never deserved any of it. It's really knocked me and I have no faith in anything now or people but I have to just get on with it :(

Yanbu - there should be a fine to stop this from being possible after a certain point.
Yabu - it's okay for people to do this.

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

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

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.

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

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 🏁

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.

Happened to us. The lady we were buying off invited us round, met our kids, asked if we needed access to measure up for blinds and furniture which we did. We had sold our house and needed to move basically. She withdrew the house from the market with 3 days to go. I was so angry, anger that you can’t put into words. It was the best thing to have happened. Despite wasting our time and some money, we found a better house which was more suited to us. Anger came back when she put the house back on the market two weeks later with an additional 26k on the asking price.

The system is broken. I also come from another country where you commit to buy much earlier in the process. This is shambles. Nothing will change until the property law is tackled by the government.

No, they're not obliged to, Strangers or not.........most house buyers are strangers to the vendors.

OP, you’re right. Unfortunately, some people are just selfish and thoughtless about others. I prefer the US system where an offer to buy property has contingencies, the buyer pays a deposit and once those contingencies are met, the buyer loses the deposit if they pull out. The system should not rely on people not being dicks.

Solicitors etc.

Can confirm. I've seen how quickly the process went between a property lawyer who happened to be selling his house to a property lawyer.

Am sorry this has happened to you. Did you know you can buy home buyers insurance now? It covers you if the chain collapses etc. It's very reasonable too.

They would have lost money as they would have paid for a survey.

I’m from Scotland but I’ve bought twice in England. In Scotland the offer is the contract! Offers go through solicitors annd you are fined if you don’t go through with it. I detest that it’s not the same in England.

My buyers pulled out last week 8 weeks after agreeing a price, and I was devastated. Fast forward a week and I have a new buyer. Get back on the market asap xx

It’s not hard to back out once an offer has been made if the number of houses that come back onto the market is anything to go by. Offers tend to be made STC . Plus sellers don’t always accept offers, after a closing date has passed, I know. The house I’m in now was ‘sold’ but the buyers pulled out. I bought it when it was relisted. I’m looking to move now and see the houses that were ‘under offer’ come back on.
I won’t offer if there’s a chain. I won’t sell until I have a house to move in to so the house can be sold empty. All my purchases have taken less than 3 weeks from offer to moving in. I don’t use estate agents, either, to sell. That way more money is mine. I keep it simple.

Since when were you fined for not going through with it? I’ve never known that to happen. Offers are made subject to conditions and buyer and seller can both pull out before the missives are signed . Multiple people put in offers and it goes to a closing date. So the offer can’t be a contract since only one can ‘win’ . And all might be rejected. Then the seller picks an offer or rejects them all if not enough. Seller can change his/ her mind, too.

That is not true

In the US there is deposit at offer and if its not completed by being soley rescinded by buyer you lose said deposit. There are also bridge loans to keep chains from collapsing.

The lack of bridging finance is one of the biggest problems in today's housing market

Stories like this make me feel glad I rent!
Buying and selling houses sounds like an absolute PITA and it's ridiculous that you can end up losing money for fees etc you've paid....if the other person pulls out through no fault of yours it should be able to be refunded :( Very unfair.

How can you bias legal searches and surveys? Surely they would be created by impartial experts and be available via the sellers' solicitor, not handed over to the seller to hide the bits they didn't like.

The Home report is pretty good. If there are problems with say
woodworm and rot in roof timbers, failing double glazing , roof tiles, wall rendering or brickwork , down pipes , electric being out dated, fencing, garages you’ll get the warts and all. They tell when the house was built and of what it is built, if it is mortgageable, they warn where they could inspect and where they couldn’t, so you know if you want to check sub floors for example. They even comment on dated kitchens or bathrooms and decor. I didn’t even go to see this house before I bought it. I went by the Home Report and photos. First time I saw it, I was moving in at 10 pm in the dark.

Home reports available to all buyers still won’t prevent sales falling through. They might choose further survey and offer based on that, or the cost of repairs detailed in Home Report, or just be refused a mortgage or bridging loan. Seller might change their mind and some just want to see what they can get for the house, should they decide to sell in the future.

What is done in France, and in Italy, for instance, is a preliminary contract where the buyer gives a deposit.
That way, if they decide to pull off for no justifiable reasons, they can by losing their deposit.
In Italy it is not a fixed amount, it is agreed and could be nothing at all. But often it is between 5 and 10 percent.
Given the seller is left waiting, taking the house off the market while they are still paying taxes and council on it, it is not unreasonable.
With a preliminary the seller cannot pull off either. They could, but if sued a judge would side with the buyer, forcing the sale for the established price, possibly minus legal expenses and damage.

Regarding abattoirs, deadly whatever and interests rates not going your way, that is your business and risk...
Either you want to buy and you have done your checks, or you haven't.
If you are overstretching yourself, the other part should not bear the risk for you.

The house market and estates transactions in the UK are mental and in the end favour the rich, just for a change.
People without a spare house to live in end up going through a horrible time when buying and selling.
And the inflated market prices lead to people overstretching.