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What does the property research show?

Recent research on fall through rates – occurrences of buyers pulling out of a purchase, leaving behind them broken chains and stressed sellers – has shown a frankly worrying increase. In fact, analysis of fall throughs between June and October 2020 by BriefYourMarket highlighted a 2,206% rise in transactions failing to complete before the final hurdle. The side-effect is thousands of disappointed vendors who have lost their buyers and had their moving plans thrown into disarray.

So what is behind this spike? What was touted as a dream opportunity to buy a property and save thousands of pounds is rapidly turning into a nightmare for many home movers. The stamp duty holiday has caused a surge in buyers looking to complete before the 31st March 2021. Inevitably, this deadline has placed enormous pressure on an industry still trying to find its feet during a pandemic.

Not only are estate agencies struggling to keep up with demand, mortgage lenders, local councils conducting searches and conveyancing solicitors are staring at a huge backlog of activity to complete, with delays expected to be compounded by the traditional Christmas shut down. Sadly, the forecast is for many transactions to complete after 1st April 2021, or to collapse altogether.

Property Purchase Reports

Reports from Zoopla suggest the start of 2021 will only see moving activity pick up pace as the final push to complete takes hold – with an estimated 100,000 additional property sales expected during the first three months of the New Year.

“We’re seeing the words ‘heartache’, ‘chain broken’ and ‘disappointment’ mentioned in the same sentence as the stamp duty holiday. The stark reality is many movers will not get their property purchase over the line in time to benefit from the stamp duty discount,” says Jason Harris at The Open Property Group, “and the knock-on results will be devastating.”

A new survey by The Guild of Property Professionals revealed almost a third of buyers will pull out of their purchase if they fail to meet the stamp duty deadline, leaving thousands of vendors high and dry, and their dreams in tatters.

The scale of the potential disaster is enormous, with Zoopla claiming there are over 140,000 more people in the process of buying a new home now than this time in 2019 and an estimated 418,000 homes sales progressing to completion.

“As well as missing the stamp duty deadline, many buyers are pulling out of the moving process as they haven’t been able to get adequate finance, thanks to a tightening of the mortgage lending market. Others, who were banking on a cheap move thanks to a zero or reduced stamp duty bill, will rescind their offer or reduce how much they are willing to pay at the last minute (gazundering) if they miss the deadline and can’t afford the extra tax expense,” adds Jason.

There is a simple and stress-free option open to sellers whose buyers pull out at the last minute. The Open Property Groups is a cash buyer who can offer completion in a timeframe as speedy as seven days. “We can step in and rescue a transaction – even before the 31st March 2021 - bringing a sense of security as our purchases are not affected by external factors,” says Jason.

“And as we can buy and complete in a matter of days, we are the perfect choice for sellers who also need to complete on an onwards purchase – especially those who have left it late to come to market and those who haven’t found a buyer after being on the market for some time.”

Abortive house sales are very distressing for sellers. A quick, reliable cash sale gives vendors a sense of certainty and clarity during a turbulent spell in the property market. Sell property fast to The Open Property Group and make future plans with confidence, knowing we won’t withdraw from the purchase or quibble about the detail. We buy problem properties, those in a state of disrepair and buy-to-lets with sitting tenants, so we really can help everyone. Contact us today.

Published on 29th December 2020, rewritten for 2024

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