The majority of UK homebuyers unsurprisingly want to see the practice of gazumping made illegal, according to a new survey.
as one in 10 fell foul of the backhanded practice during their last house hunt.
The poll of of over 1,000 homebuyers to have purchased in the last six months alone found that 9% had experienced gazumping when looking to buy.
It’s clear from the poll, carried out by HBB Solutions, that the vast majority of homebuyers are also strongly against this poor property industry practice.
Some 89% do not believe it’s right that gazumping can take place once a seller has already accepted an offer from a potential buyer, but before that sale has completed.
Meanwhile, 85% also stated that they would like to see the practice of gazumping made illegal within the UK and 90% would like to see estate agents tasked with preventing the practice from occurring in order to reduce its propensity.
Managing director of HBB Solutions, Chris Hodgkinson, commented: “It’s quite extraordinary that gazumping still occurs in this day and age and, in fact, it’s probably fair to say it’s rife in current market conditions. Unfortunately, it’s a byproduct of a market where demand is incredibly high and stock levels remain insufficient for such a prolonged period of time.
“When this happens, you have buyers falling over themselves to secure the home they want and some of them do this by gazumping.
“It’s a real stab in the back for the buyer who has already committed time and money to a property under the agreement they will be purchasing it and it can make an incredibly stressful, expensive experience all the worse.
“It really is about time the government steps in and does something to permanently eradicate this practice to provide greater reassurance and stability to those undertaking the already tricky task of purchasing a home.”
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| Source: HBB Solutions
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Perhaps they should also make pulling out of a purchase or reducing their offers illegal as well. It’s a double edged sword and as Estate Agents both sides are as sharp and bad as each other.
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I agree it is a double-edged sword, but I would argue that both sides are as good as each other. Gazumping and Gazundering are part of the free market and an important part to respect and keep alive. Outsiders might not understand how these things work and so miscalculate the costs of them without understanding the benefits, but both are very important and vital elements of a well functioning healthy housing market. People should be careful what they wish for.
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How many of the homebuyers in this poll, when it comes to selling up, would consider dropping their original buyer and proceed with a second buyer offering say, an extra £20,000?
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Both should be outlawed as they add zero value to the either party. The fault lies squarely in the archaic agency and conveyancing system in the UK, where it can take weeks to exchange and agents often lack core information (through ignorance, to avoid an offer being lower or avoided or lack of giving a ****) that could expedite an exchange. Having practised in Australia also, I never witnessed this, so the comment about it being an ‘important part’ of the market is without merit at all, as it demonstrates that a market can function healthily without it. Healthy and well functioning this market is not….just look at the survey results to get the true measure of how well it is working for those who are the ones most impacted.
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Dead right, Another Agent, but not UK. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve said we need to tweak the system as nearly every other of the many countries practising English Law have done. Forget the Sottish system which is based on a completely different system of law and would be very difficult to incorporate and which has its own failings.
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