A third of property buyers see deals collapse after having an offer accepted

Since 2008, it has been estimated that about 23% of UK adults (11.91 million people) have had an offer accepted on a UK property they were interested in but of these 31% (3.69 million people) could not successfully complete the deal, thereby forcing them to search for property again. This result means that as much as 10.7 billion pounds has been lost in fees associated with searching for property in the UK for the past ten years. Some of the reasons given for the failure of the successful completion of the property deals were: breakdown within the chain (41%), delays in getting mortgage delivered by a bank (33%), and lender later rescinding the mortgage agreement despite one being in place in principle (16%). This is a worrisome trend and people seeking to buy property should be aware of alternative financing options in the financial markets before buying a house.

Key Takeaways:

31% of the UK population had a real estate fall through
This rate is higher in London at almost 61% and lower in Scotland at 15%
While it seems concerning, many had problems securing a mortgage before the purchase

“On average, property buyers lose £2,899 in fees on a failed purchase which means as much as £10.7bn has been lost in fees by unsuccessful property buyers since 2008.”