Revealed - the premium buyers pay for chain-free properties

Buyers typically pay 10.8 per cent extra for chain-free properties than for similar homes with chains, according to new research.

Website GetAgent analysed prices paid for chain-free properties across 19 major UK cities and found that on average, buyers forked out 10.8 per cent more - equivalent to some £25,049 in the current market. 

The highest chain-free house price premium is currently in Edinburgh where homebuyers are happy to front £75,606 more for a chain-free property and that’s despite the greater level of security which is attributed to the Scottish property selling process. 

Nottingham is next on £50,654, with Liverpool (£39,829) with Sunderland (£39,180), Portsmouth (£38,008), Southampton (£36,049), London (£33,074), Newcastle (£32,726), Leicester (£29,571) and Swansea (£24,739) also ranking within the top 10. 

The property boom, coming at the same time as staff shortages following Brexit and increased levels of working from home, have led to delays in some transactions - worsened further by the pre-Christmas IT attack on major conveyancing supplier Simplify Group. 

“This high level of activity has also led to sizeable delays during the transaction process and if this has taught us anything, it’s the added value of a quick and painless property purchase. 

“A chain-free property can be a rare and converted creature in some areas of the market and so when one does go up for sale, it’s not unusual for it to command a far higher price” claims Colby Short, chief executive of GetAgent.