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The chancellor considers ‘extending stamp duty holiday by six weeks’

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    #11
    Originally posted by d000hg View Post
    Sure, but doing it all from scratch? Things like flooding reports, etc, as well. I suppose there is the risk that if the previous solicitor missed something the next one can't assume they were competent but if you use the same solicitor to buy and sell the house surely they can use the file they created for the sale when selling!
    It's probably 'a process' and therefore more effort to identify the differences and issue an update than it is to start from scratch.

    Not saying it's right but we are dealing with local councils here...

    Comment


      #12
      Originally posted by d000hg View Post
      Amen. The fact I can buy a house and do all the searches, then sell it a year later and the new buyer has to do the same searches, for example.
      I thought this was the idea behind the Home Information Pack but that was killed off IIRC?

      I bought a place which had quite complicated curtilage and access. I was wondering if I use the solicitor I bought it with, to sell it, can they simply provide all that information to the new buyer? Clearly the same questions will be asked and it's a huge waste of my time filling in questionnaires but I'm pretty sure every sale starts with a complete clean slate on the solicitors' side?
      So you'd buy a house based on a search that was 12 months out of date?
      Who do you think would lend you the money?
      See You Next Tuesday

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        #13
        Originally posted by Lance View Post
        So you'd buy a house based on a search that was 12 months out of date?
        Who do you think would lend you the money?
        The real issue with the process IMO is that you can spend months of your time, and thousands of pounds, just for the buyer/seller to pull out for no reason, and no financial penalty. There should be some sort of binding committment at the point of offer acceptance, contingent on satisfactory search and survey etc. How you define satisfactory, of course, might not be so easy. Still, they manage it in Scotland and Australia, and I'm sure plenty of other places too.

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          #14
          Originally posted by mattster View Post
          The real issue with the process IMO is that you can spend months of your time, and thousands of pounds, just for the buyer/seller to pull out for no reason, and no financial penalty. There should be some sort of binding committment at the point of offer acceptance, contingent on satisfactory search and survey etc. How you define satisfactory, of course, might not be so easy. Still, they manage it in Scotland and Australia, and I'm sure plenty of other places too.
          So you agree to buy / sell then a member of your family falls seriously ill and doesn't have long to live so you make a call to halt the process until you're in a better place and you're happy you should be contractually obliged to go through with it?

          There are loads of reasons why sales fall through and I don't think anyone makes that decision lightly once they've started spending money on it.

          Comment


            #15
            Originally posted by Lance View Post
            So you'd buy a house based on a search that was 12 months out of date?
            Who do you think would lend you the money?
            It can take 12 months to buy a house, your search could be out of date anyway.

            And if I knew the area, yes. It's easy to keep up to date on planning applications in your area yourself.
            Originally posted by MaryPoppins
            I'd still not breastfeed a nazi
            Originally posted by vetran
            Urine is quite nourishing

            Comment


              #16
              Originally posted by ladymuck View Post
              So you agree to buy / sell then a member of your family falls seriously ill and doesn't have long to live so you make a call to halt the process until you're in a better place and you're happy you should be contractually obliged to go through with it?

              There are loads of reasons why sales fall through and I don't think anyone makes that decision lightly once they've started spending money on it.
              Well that could happen anyway once you've exchanged contracts, so its just a question of moving that stage forwards. The problem is that the "spending money on it" part of it is asymmetrical; the buyer has to spend far more than the seller, up until exchange.

              Comment


                #17
                Another stupidity move from the government, imo.

                Why they did this during a pandemic anyway is mental, when you are TRYING to keep people from mixing indoors, you're actively encouraging people to mix indoors to view, move etc. Exactly who is being protected here by trying keep a housing market stimulated at a time like this?

                This would have been far better as a post pandemic recovery stimulus package - or am I missing something?

                Taking up the side point of commitment and sales falling through, I think it would be ok for the seller to cancel if by the end of it the Seller has footed the risk and cost, but in England this isn't the case - you literally gamble thousands as a buyer. Or that's how it seemed to me anyway, I was shocked how risky it was as a cash buyer.
                Last edited by Scoobos; 16 February 2021, 13:36.

                Comment


                  #18
                  Originally posted by Scoobos View Post
                  Another stupidity move from the government, imo.

                  Why they did this during a pandemic anyway is mental, when you are TRYING to keep people from mixing indoors, you're actively encouraging people to mix indoors to view, move etc. Exactly who is being protected here by trying keep a housing market stimulated at a time like this?

                  This would have been far better as a post pandemic recovery stimulus package - or am I missing something?
                  I don't imagine it's a high-risk activity but it does make sense not to encourage people to move.
                  Originally posted by MaryPoppins
                  I'd still not breastfeed a nazi
                  Originally posted by vetran
                  Urine is quite nourishing

                  Comment


                    #19
                    I accepted an offer on my house in early August, and am still a way off completing.

                    I accepted the risk of having to pay stamp duty as soon as I put the house on the market given where we are, but the other 2 in the chain have not accepted this risk as they assumed we would be "in for Christmas". Because they are morons.

                    Not sure of the logic in any extension, but I would be grateful for one.
                    Practically perfect in every way....there's a time and (more importantly) a place for malarkey.
                    +5 Xeno Cool Points

                    Comment


                      #20
                      Originally posted by mattster View Post
                      Still, they manage it in Scotland
                      The system in Scotland works so much better than in the rest of the UK.

                      I'm in Scotland and am in the process of buying a house and selling one; same situation for a friend of mine, based in England. Everything seems to be going more smoothly up here, judging from what my friend is telling me.

                      As a buyer, it's great. I don't have to spend any money up front (home report and valuation survey are all done by the seller); all is paid upon completion. If anything happens, like mortgage being declined being a common one nowadays, I can pull the offer at no costs.

                      As a seller, the only costs I pay upfront are for the home report, valuation survey, and marketing costs (1k I've been quoted). Some estate agencies even allow you to pay those costs upon completion.

                      It's just a great system for both parties

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