Buyers in the country’s capital are three times more likely to indulge in gazumping, a recent study has revealed.
Gazumping, generally referring to a buyer putting in a last minute bid for a property after the seller had originally accepted another one, often comes hand in hand with a booming property market. In Britain’s case it’s mainly down to the lack of supply that supports this behaviour.
The latest research has revealed that about 15% of adults in London have missed out on a property purchase to another buyer with deeper pockets although they already had their offer accepted.
For the UK overall this figure only lies at 5%.
The report was published by Market Financial Solutions and said that some 1.54 million participants, out of which 400,000 were located in London, had lost out on their dream home due to someone outbidding them last minute.
On top of that, the survey found that, 8% of Londoners said that they had lost out on fees to intermediaries (like solicitors and surveyors) because they were beaten at the final stage.
More than a million participants admitted to gazumping other property buyers by bidding on properties which were soon to change over, and the same number said they would do so again this year.
The ones most at risk of being gazumped are millennials, as they already struggle to get onto the market anyway.
According to the report, 1.18 million “Generation Renters” said they had lost out to other buyers after already having their offer accepted, 1.03 million had seen a deal not go through because they didn;t manage to access fund in due time and another 738,000 had lost money on fees for intermediaries after being gazumped.
Paresh Raja, MFS chief executive officer, said:
“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. Our research reveals that failure to access funds in a timely manner is one of the most common reasons for property purchases falling through.”
