Buying a home should be an exciting milestone, but for many people it's also a stressful one.
When I first bought, back in 2018, I thought it couldn't get harder than that. But it turns out that selling as well as buying means you’re exposed to both sides of a broken housing market.In January 2024, my sister and I listed our three-bed flat for sale. There was little interest – perhaps related to the poor protections for leaseholders, another issue entirely – but eventually we got an offer. They got a survey done, which gave us confidence.My partner and I then went looking for a house to buy together, and in April, we got an offer accepted by a lovely couple. We had a few weeks of bliss before an email made my blood run cold. Our flat buyer had pulled out, with no reason, so we were back to square one. The couple we were trying to buy the house from kindly gave us a few months to find a new flat buyer, but eventually we had to give up the sale. I felt terrible about delaying their plans, too.We eventually got another offer in July, having slashed the price, and went looking to purchase again. We found a house where the price had also been cut, with the sellers seemingly fed up and wanting to move on. But despite everyone pushing in the same direction, progress was painfully slow.Part of the issue was the need for us – and perhaps others in the chain – to wait for the results of surveys. In our case, the first surveyor, observing huge cracks in the wall, was concerned about structural issues and recommended that a structural engineer take a look. This mercifully revealed no problems, but it cost us several hundred pounds, which we hadn’t expected to pay.Worse still was the lingering fear that it could all fall through because of some change of mind further up the chain. And I’m sure the sellers had their suspicions about us, despite our best efforts to be reassuring. The entire system breeds distrust, even if no one in your chain would ever think of gazumping or hard bargaining.
In January 2025, we finally moved in. The house is wonderful, and we believe we got a good price. Some elements worked well: we found good surveyors, mortgage brokers and (unlike my first time buying) solicitors, who seemed consistently on our side. With estate agents, my feelings are more mixed, with some working incredibly hard to get a sale over the line, but attention drifting and communication breaking down once a sale was agreed.Buying a home will always be nerve-wracking, as you haggle over what could be the stage for many years of your life. But the stress that comes after a sale is agreed under the current system makes me not want to move for many years. And judging by the stagnant pace of the housing market, too many people feel the same way. In my opinion, change can’t come soon enough.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/homebuying-reforms-could-they-finally-make-moving-less-stressful-aZcGZ4y9Mx82
The government has unveiled plans to make buying and selling a home quicker and more transparent. But would the proposed reforms have made a difference?
We asked two Which? journalists to share their experiences of buying a home under the current system.
What is changing?
The government says its proposed reforms are designed to make buying and selling a home quicker, more transparent and less likely to fall through. Plans include:
more upfront information:binding agreements:higher standards for estate agents:a more digital home-buying process:Find out more:'It took over a year of my life'
Sam Richardson, deputy editor of Which? Money shares how a collapsed sale and the uncertainty of a property chain turned his move into a year-long ordeal.
When I first bought, back in 2018, I thought it couldn't get harder than that. But it turns out that selling as well as buying means you’re exposed to both sides of a broken housing market.In January 2024, my sister and I listed our three-bed flat for sale. There was little interest – perhaps related to the poor protections for leaseholders, another issue entirely – but eventually we got an offer. They got a survey done, which gave us confidence.My partner and I then went looking for a house to buy together, and in April, we got an offer accepted by a lovely couple. We had a few weeks of bliss before an email made my blood run cold. Our flat buyer had pulled out, with no reason, so we were back to square one. The couple we were trying to buy the house from kindly gave us a few months to find a new flat buyer, but eventually we had to give up the sale. I felt terrible about delaying their plans, too.We eventually got another offer in July, having slashed the price, and went looking to purchase again. We found a house where the price had also been cut, with the sellers seemingly fed up and wanting to move on. But despite everyone pushing in the same direction, progress was painfully slow.Part of the issue was the need for us – and perhaps others in the chain – to wait for the results of surveys. In our case, the first surveyor, observing huge cracks in the wall, was concerned about structural issues and recommended that a structural engineer take a look. This mercifully revealed no problems, but it cost us several hundred pounds, which we hadn’t expected to pay.Worse still was the lingering fear that it could all fall through because of some change of mind further up the chain. And I’m sure the sellers had their suspicions about us, despite our best efforts to be reassuring. The entire system breeds distrust, even if no one in your chain would ever think of gazumping or hard bargaining.In January 2025, we finally moved in. The house is wonderful, and we believe we got a good price. Some elements worked well: we found good surveyors, mortgage brokers and (unlike my first time buying) solicitors, who seemed consistently on our side. With estate agents, my feelings are more mixed, with some working incredibly hard to get a sale over the line, but attention drifting and communication breaking down once a sale was agreed.Buying a home will always be nerve-wracking, as you haggle over what could be the stage for many years of your life. But the stress that comes after a sale is agreed under the current system makes me not want to move for many years. And judging by the stagnant pace of the housing market, too many people feel the same way. In my opinion, change can’t come soon enough.'Some agents haven't been completely honest'
A Which? journalist explains how mixed experiences with estate agents and missing property information shaped his search for a first home.
I’ve been looking to buy my first home since October, and have seen dozens of houses and dealt with several different estate agents over this time.Most have been decent without being exceptional, but I’ve seen that the quality of service you receive often depends on the individual you’re dealing with. Some have been proactive, following up with me regularly on new houses that are being listed, or even offering to view additional houses after having just viewed one.Others haven’t followed up with me at all after viewings, while I’ve perceived that some sales agents haven’t been completely honest with me when I’ve asked about the offers made or levels of interest a house has seen. Some have also lied to me about structural issues I’ve noticed on houses and what has caused them.I made an offer on a house last month, and offered above the asking price to try to seal a deal. I had a conveyancer, a mortgage in principle and proof of funds lined up and believed that, as I was a first-time buyer, the offer I made was competitive. It wasn’t successful, though, and I won’t know what the successful offer was until the Land Registry data is updated.source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/homebuying-reforms-could-they-finally-make-moving-less-stressful-aZcGZ4y9Mx82