Some buyers using unethical practices

Over recent months the housing market has very quickly switched from being a seller’s market to being a buyer’s one, and this is something that many would be buyers are taking advantage of by engaging in a practice that housing market officials have dubbed unethical. This is known as gazundering, where the buyer drops the offer price just before contracts have been exchanged.

This practice is causing a real problem for many sellers, who are under the impression that they have sold their home at an agreed price up until the last minute, and are then left to face the difficult decision of either pulling out or accepting a much lower price for the property.

One industry official said: ‘The most likely gazunderer will be an investment banker, in fact anyone in the City, particularly a single bloke looking to show off to his girlfriend or vice-versa. It’s reasonable to expect people to negotiate say £10,000 to £15,000 for issues such as damp but if the buyer is trying to get 10% to 15% off, then you’re into gazundering territory.’

Another industry official added: ‘London is not like the country. If you fall for that perfect rectory then you are unlikely to want to jeopardise that. But in London if you are after a three-bedroom mansion flat and the deal falls through you know that, like London buses, there’ll be another one along soon.”