Homebuyers in London beware – if you are looking to purchase a property in the capital you are times more likely to be gazumped than anywhere else in the country, new research shows.
According to bridging lender Market Financial Solutions, 15% of adults in London (over one million people) have lost out on a property purchase to a rival buyer despite having an offer accepted – three times the UK figure of 5% (2.57 million people).
More than one million Brits admitted to gazumping other property buyers by bidding on properties soon to change hands, while the same number said they would do so in 2017.
Across the country, over 1.5 million people revealed that they had lost out on their dream home because a property purchase fell through after an offer on the house had been accepted.
Being gazumped also brings with it additional costs – 3% of UK adults (1.54 million people) and 9% of Londoners have lost out on fees to intermediaries such as solicitors and surveyors because they were pipped to the post during a property purchase.
Research from Which? has found that property buyers lose on average £2,899 in fees on a failed purchase, meaning that across the nation the cost of being gazumped totals more than £4.4 billion.
The survey found that an inability to access funds in time is one of the main reasons that property deals unravel at the last minute – 9% of Londoners said they had experienced this issue, while 1.54 million UK adults also stated they had been undone by this problem.
Millennials were found to be more at risk than older generations when it comes to being pipped to the post in the property market. Of those aged between 18 and 34, 1.18 million said they had lost out to rival buyers after having an offer accepted
Paresh Raja, CEO of MFS, said: “Most people who have dipped their toe into the property market will have felt the frustration of deals falling through at the last minute. Not only are people losing out on the fees they pay to solicitors and surveyors, but many buyers are also losing out on their dream home.”
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