Be open to new ideas to stop fall-throughs, agents urged

Agents are being urged to be more open to new methods of stopping deals falling through.

HBB Solutions - a part exchange and chain-repair service working with agencies and developers - claims there are an average of 225,000 fall-throughs each year. This is the equivalent of 1-in-4 fall-throughs that cost an average of £2,700 each.

Chris Hodgkinson, managing director of HBB Solutions, says: “Any collapse of a house sale is a tragedy for the buyer and seller – and affects others too, including agents, conveyancers, etc. Agents must be open to different methods that decrease the likelihood of fall throughs. Simply assuming another buyer will just come along creates too much risk. By repairing chains and part exchanging, agents can not only protect themselves, but they can protect their clients too.” 

Hodgkinson says his own service can purchase properties left stranded in chains after a fall through for a fee starting at eight per cent.

“Alternatively, part-exchanging is a hassle-free solution that will not buy your time and will increase consumer satisfaction with the moving process.” 

Or the home owner can directly work together with developers to part exchange their home and buy a new-build property.  

“The quickness of the part exchanging process is often the most favourable part of the whole process. This is because fall throughs are often caused by the process taking too long, leading to the buyer finding a house elsewhere or losing interest altogether. 

“Part exchanging is always a rapid process as developers aim to sell homes fast, meaning sellers won’t get trapped in a chain.

“The UK market has shown resilience throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and schemes including the 95 per cent mortgage scheme continue to make housing more affordable, allowing the market to remain a busy one. The busier a market is, the more the possibility of the transaction falling through increases.”