A Quarter of Properties Fell-Through in the last 3 Months of 2015.

More than one in four house sales fell through during the last quarter of the year as buyers received bad news from their survey and changed their minds.

A total of 27.94 per cent of sales fell through up 8.32 per cent on the previous quarter. Unwelcome news for those moving house with tighter mortgage lending criteria and a shortage of suitable properties for sale, 9 % of sales fell through because the buyer was unable to get a mortgage.

But the main reasons behind the failed sales – both at 27.2 per cent – were due to buyers changing their minds and problems identified at survey or failed renegotiation following a survey.

Danny Luke, a business manager at Quick Move Now, said: ‘2015 was an interesting year for the UK property market, and the fall through rates reflect that.

‘Tougher lending criteria was introduced as a result of the Mortgage Market Review, which meant some prospective buyers found it challenging to secure a mortgage, or found they were able to borrow less than they had anticipated.’

‘A lack of properties coming to market has led to prospective buyers having to move very quickly in order to secure a property, and may mean they put an offer in on a less than ideal property through fear that they’ll be unable to find anything else.

‘Some inevitably get cold feet about such a large investment, or find that a survey confirms their fears, and pull out before the sale completes.’

The findings also suggested that the collapse of so-called chains – where there is a sequence of linked house purchases – is still a major feature of the property market, with 22.7 per cent of sales that have fallen through doing so for this reason.

It comes amid a shortage of suitable properties for sale, with the housing minister Brandon Lewis admitting that not enough homes are being built in Britain.

Jonathan Harris, director of mortgage brokers Anderson Harris, said: ‘It is no wonder that the house-buying process is so stressful when more than a quarter of sales fall through.

‘Just because you have agreed in principle to buy or sell a home is no guarantee that it will actually happen, with people changing their minds, problems arising in the survey or the buyer not getting the mortgage they need, all contributing to the deal being called off.’

<a href=”http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14651801/?claim=bnkegqha6ux”>Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Excerpt Daily Mail.