An economic opportunity of more than \u00a3900 million in England is being \u201cmissed\u201d by property transactions falling through, calculations by Rightmove suggest.<\/p>\n
The calculation is based on the volume of property transactions falling through and not returning to market within a year, factoring in typical stamp duty and estate agency commission.<\/p>\n
Rightmove estimated that nearly \u00a3392 million in potential estate agency revenue and \u00a3515 million in potential stamp duty were lost last year to fall throughs that did not come back to market.<\/p>\n
Separately, it estimated there is a nearly \u00a37 million economic opportunity for Scotland, and an opportunity of around \u00a323 million in Wales by reducing lost sales.<\/p>\n
The separate calculations consider the lower rate of fall throughs in Scotland, and the differing land taxes in Scotland and Wales.<\/p>\n
Last year, it took an average of five months for a house purchase across Britain to go through the completion process, Rightmove said.<\/p>\n
Rightmove\u2019s data indicates that 6% of property transactions fall through and do not come back to market within 12 months, while around a fifth (23%) of transactions initially fall through before later completing successfully.<\/p>\n
Johan Svanstrom, Rightmove\u2019s CEO, said: \u201cOur analysis highlights the scale of the economic opportunity if fall through rates can be reduced.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than one in five transactions are affected by fall throughs, costing agents either lost or delayed fees and leading to some home movers paying thousands in repeat costs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rightmove used HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) house sales figures and its average transaction price data to make its estimates for the amount of money being lost. It also took into account transactions where stamp duty relief for first-time buyers may have been applied.<\/p>\n
Craig Webster, managing director at Tiger Estates in Blackpool said: \u201cThe true cost of those collapsed transactions goes far beyond a single lost fee.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a sale falls through, the agent has already invested substantial time and cost in securing the listing, marketing the property, vetting and managing buyers, and progressing the sale through to and beyond offer stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything that improves transaction efficiency \u2013 particularly in conveyancing and data flows between parties \u2013 will reduce the risk of fall throughs.<\/p>\n
\u201cFaster, clearer communication between agents, lenders, solicitors and buyers builds confidence throughout the chain and helps prevent delays from snowballing into cancellations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, accurate pricing and early legal preparation for vendors are practical steps agents can take to better manage their own risk and give buyers greater clarity early in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary-Lou Press, NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) Propertymark president, said: \u201cWhile fall throughs can never be eliminated entirely, many are preventable with better upfront information, improved communication between parties, and a more streamlined and digitised transaction system.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur member agents work tirelessly to hold chains together and guide consumers through what is often a complex and stressful process.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cWe support measures that promote greater digitisation, earlier provision of material information, and stronger collaboration across the sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, reform must work for consumers and practitioners alike, ensuring the system is both efficient and robust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aneisha Beveridge, research director at Hamptons and Connells Group, said: \u201cSome types of sales are particularly fragile in this environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlats tend to be more prone to delays, often because issues uncovered in leasehold packs or building paperwork take longer to resolve.<\/p>\n
\u201cChain-based sales are also more exposed, with a single setback reverberating through multiple linked transactions.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, the later a sale breaks down, the greater the financial and emotional cost.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An economic opportunity of more than \u00a3900 million in England is being \u201cmissed\u201d by property transactions falling through,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":791529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5008],"tags":[748,230156,393,4884,230157,73117,35258,16,15],"class_list":["post-791528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-england","tag-britain","tag-economic-opportunity","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-lost-sales","tag-property-transactions","tag-rightmove","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116140140653243624","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/791529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}