Buyers are being urged to be on alert about being gazumped amid a rise in the practice.
The HomeOwners Alliance has highlighted research from the MFS Group that suggests 37% of buyers have been gazumped, up 6% over the past two years.
The action group advises getting home buyers protection insurance, which helps purchasers recover some costs if they are gazumped.
For those who had to make a claim, the average amount they received was £975 in 2023/24 and the cost of the insurance starts at just £69, the group said.
Further research shows 78% of homebuyers would like to see gazumping see outlawed.
Paula Higgins, chief executive of the HomeOwners Alliance, said: “The system fails consumers by enabling gazumping. If you take a look at property websites you will see many properties listed as sold subject to contract, almost inviting other potential buyers to try their luck with an offer. And estate agents are legally obliged to pass those offers on to the seller.
Unfortunately, at the moment gazumping is still legal and sadly there’s not much you can do about it. That’s why we’re trying to raise awareness to consumers so they can at least protect their pockets from this unethical practice. We urge them to be prepared, move quickly, get home buyers protection insurance and where possible “lock in” the seller.”
Beyond getting insured, Higgins suggests buyers should get in the best position to move quickly and ask for a property to be taken off the market.
The latest inflation figures this morning are expected to show that...
Affordability is a bigger factor for buyers than the confirmed General...
Estate agency regulation is needed to help improve the homebuying and...
MPs are set to begin their inquiry into improving the home...
So it’s a Labour landslide but it’s not like 1997. I remember...
On balance, a stable new government with a large majority is...
With a historic majority for Keir Starmer and the Labour Party,...
.jpg)
Tell us a little bit about National Home Move. We are a...
If you’re thinking about becoming an Estate Agency franchise or converting...
Estate agents and lettings agents have a legal obligation to protect...
You don’t have to simply accept things as they are when...
From the uptick in house sales in January to a house price...
Happy birthday to us….and all members of the The ValPal Network! We...
With a combined value surpassing £7.4 trillion, the UK’s 29 million...
%20-%20IMAGE%20Client%20Accounting%20%E2%80%93%20what%20are%20your%20options.jpg)
The benefits for letting agents to outsource their client accounting is...
When almost all agents and developers use the tried and tested formula...
I think we can all agree that the National Trading Standards...
.png)
As domestic battery storage systems become increasingly prevalent in UK homes,...
.png)
A team from The ValPal Network joined industry Facebook ads expert...
.png)
In this interview, Riccardo Dawson, Chief Operating Officer at Alto and...
%20(002).png)
In today's fast-paced and ever-evolving property industry, it’s essential that forward-thinking...
A client account is essential to your lettings business, but the...
As electric vehicles increasingly populate our roads and the necessity for...
As estate agents, it is important to make sure that your...
Estate agency has changed. No longer is it required to sit in...
Changes to consumer behaviour usually arrive in waves. Most of the...
At iamproperty we are excited to share the announcement of our...
In an exclusive interview with Estate Agent Today, Simon Coaker, Sales &...
It’s no secret – 2023 is a difficult year for the...
2023 has been coined as ‘the year of AI adoption’, and...
%20(002).jpg)
There are a few common questions that arise when the issue...
As a signage company we know we have a serious responsibility...
The Government’s mini budget on September 23 was anything but ‘mini’...
Agent websites have become more crucial than ever in attracting new...
A political party is pledging that if elected it will make...
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will have the removal vans booked...
The Conveyancing Association (CA) - the leading trade body for the...
A new senior figure in Purplebricks claims the agency has much...
Average UK house prices are 8% overvalued but this figure could...
At least 18m homes have an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating...
Who are you and what does it say on...
Who are you and what does it say on...
Who are you, and what does it say on...
.jpg){kind=avatar}
Join the conversation
Jump to latest comment and add your reply
This is part of a problem of buyer or selling messing about between agreeing the offer and contracts exchanging. Insurance isn’t the answer. Like most of the world, both sides need a legal agreement when an offer is accepted. The seller needs to take it off the market and the buyer needs to not view other properties. Mandatory Reservation Agreements will stop people messing around. At Cooper Adams we offer this, Gazeal deal with this for us.
People don’t like reservation agreements and this only affects the buyer that has been gazumped.
The seller, the agent and the new buyer (the gazumper) all benefit.
I get that it’s not nice to be gazumped but there were figures recently to stare at although buyers didn’t want to be gazumped, they were happy to gazump someone else!
Christian, i assume you are unaware of the Gazeal Agreement ( Reservation ) that is 100% balanced between buyer and seller. If you are keen to know about it I am happy to run through it with you, however a blanket statement that 'people don't like them' is factually incorrect as 5 years of providing ours to the public via estate agents will prove that.
Please login to comment