How much does each property deal add to the economy?
Quick and painless is not something associated with buying or selling a home. Spending more time at home over the last year, due to the pandemic, has shown us how much we value and utilise our homes. As an industry, property is important to the treasury, as each home move adds £38,000 to our GDP and the industry employs about half a million people and benefits millions more indirectly.
True costs of your property deal falling through
During the pandemic, the government has used the sector to prop up the economy, with a stamp duty holiday which is set to last until June. As well as a government guarantee that means first time buyers will have a wider choice of mortgages that only require 5% deposit. Even with these changes, buying a house in England is still financially and emotionally difficult. It takes around 22 weeks from point of offer to completion of sale. Almost a third of agreed sales fail to reach exchange or completion, costing each buyer an average of almost £3,000 in lost fees. Already this year more than 56,500 sales agreed in January and February have fallen through, and it is estimated that by the end of the year 300,000 sales will have collapsed for various reasons.
The Property Clog
However, does buying a house really need to be this difficult, according to some experts it doesn’t. Currently there are 600,000 sales stuck in the system and Chairwoman of the Home Buying and Selling group believes “we have the solutions” and that “the 22-week analogue process can easily be squeezed into a two to three-week digital process”. In support of this the times has recently launched a new campaign Get Britain Moving: Speed up. Streamline. Save Money’.
Ways to reduce uncertainty in the property market
Which was created with two main aims, the first to introduce reservation agreements. Reservation agreements operate successfully in other countries as well as the new-build sector. They make offers legally binding for a certain timer period which aims to reduce some uncertainty for buyers. The second aim is to have greater transparency through the whole process. This will be done digitally, to create a faster and more secure way to buy property.
Currently buying a home is emotionally and financially draining. With the support supplied by the government, advancement in technology and campaigns like ‘Get Britain Moving: Speed up. Streamline. Save Money’; we might potentially be on the verge of changes in this process. Hopefully making buying a home as quick and painless as possible
Garner & Hancock will make the process of buying and selling as painless as possible. With Kiran Walia, a seasoned property lawyer at the helm and James Harrison a robust property professional at your side, you will be in good hands.
Vinay Tanna
Garner & Hancock 2021
