Latest news with #gazumping
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Penalties proposed for Jersey house sale pull outs
Islanders could be given financial penalties for pulling out of a house sale if a proposition is Max Andrews wants all residential property transactions to have a legally binding pre-sale agreement which would include a penalty to be paid by the seller or purchaser if they pull out of the agreement without legitimate deputy said it would prevent gazumping, where a seller accepts a higher offer after agreeing to sell, and guzundering, where a buyer lowers their offer at the last islander said they lost more than £1,000 after being gazumped and called for the government to raise awareness of the issue. Some types of sales including family or company transfers, auctions, government sales, hotels and guest houses will be excluded from the proposed reasons for pulling out of a sale would include mortgage refusals, substantial damage to the property and chain collapses. Andrews said politicians needed to "instil confidence in the housing market for both buyers and sellers".He said: "It is evident that without legislation, islanders will continue to be vulnerable to gazumping and gazundering."With legal recourse in place, buyers and sellers would have greater confidence in the process and some financial recompense should a transaction fail."The earliest the proposal can be debated is 30 September 2025 and Andrews requested the chief minister to approve the proposal no later than June 2028.
BBC News
24-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Jersey government 'must raise awareness about gazumping'
A woman who lost a thousand pounds after being gazumped when buying a house has called for the government to raise awareness about the issue. Gazumping is where a homeowner accepts a higher offer from a third party despite accepting a bid from someone else. Verity O'Connel was gazumped in 2019 and, as her own property had already been sold, she had to move in with family and put her possessions in storage. She said such situations were a "huge potential blocker" for people trying to buy property. The States Assembly voted earlier this month against a public consultation on bringing in presale agreements to prevent gazumping. It said the next government should address the issue. At present in the vast majority of cases, no pre-sale agreement is currently entered into, meaning buyers or sellers can pull out of a transaction until the deal is finalised in the Royal Court.A report in 2018 by the Residential Property Transactions Review panel found that "creating a pre-sale agreement... would create a greater deal of certainty in the transactions process and compensate losses incurred by either party".Housing Minister Sam Mezec said: "How and when a review of the property transaction process is undertaken is something that will need to be considered in the next political term in light of the priorities and resources available to the next government."Ms O'Connell said: "I appreciate they [the government] might not be able to look at this right now because a lot of work is going into things like rental legislation. "But this could be a huge potential blocker to people trying to get onto the property ladder. It's about making sure people are aware and warned because we certainly weren't."Our apartment had sold and we had a young baby and so we had nowhere to go."It cost us £1,000 in lawyer fees and we had to start the whole process again." Deputy Max Andrews brought forward a proposition for a public consultation on bringing in pre-sale agreements for land and property transactions to help prevent gazumping and gazundering (where a proposed purchaser lowers their offer at the last minute). His proposition was Council of Ministers said in response to the rejected proposition that "given the complexity of the issues and availability of resources for the remaining term of government, it would be a more prudent approach for the next government to give this issue consideration in a more comprehensive and planned way." Deputy Andrews said that was said: "I think its a very poor excuse for the Council of Ministers to turn around and to say this is for the next government to work with. This is a matter of public interest; we are seeing people being gazumped and gazundered and most of the politicians have decided not to take any action."
