Moving - Not Moving

I lived in 2 houses as a child. As an adult I have moved 6 times. My next move was to be the final one. The home you leave to go into care or in a box. 

I have always had to do work on the houses I have bought, apart from one. Two of my houses had to have very major work done. One we completely re-configured and extended by a third. One was severely damaged by a mains water escape from the loft whilst we were on holiday abroad. Two thirds of it had to be re-built & everything in the rooms had to be replaced. In both cases I ended up project managing the work. So I do know a bit about building work.

This time the first house I intended to buy was brand new. I felt I deserved that at the age of 76. Somewhere sparkling & new & covered by a 10 year guarantee. I had mentally moved in when I had to withdraw from the sale on the advice of my solicitor.

The second try was a completely different proposition. The owners lived abroad so it had had not been occupied for months. It had not been maintained. For example the boiler, installed in 2019, had never been serviced so the guarantee was null & void. The open fire chimney had never been swept since they bought the house in 2013.....Paperwork, which is required on sale, was missing...

The survey revealed much worse than that, there is asbestos in the house. Probably throughout, from ground floor to attic. Apparently that is normal for houses built in the 60's & 70's. Even worse it has been damaged & is exposed. There is also boring beetle in the roof joists in two places & possibly also hidden between the floors. Then there are 3 big trees, one very close to the house & two close to boundary walls. The problem is the surveyor revealed that the house is in a conservation area. So you have to go through planning to get permission to chop them down. Who knew? Not me. 

The lesson is that is really important to get a good survey done if you are buying an older house. It is worth every penny. Even if, like me, you have to withdraw & lose the money.

Equally as important - the whole selling & buying process is fatally flawed. It should be reformed. Everyone knows that. There have been efforts at reform. It's always kicked into the long grass by politicians.

 https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06980/

"The most recent attempt to reform the home buying and selling process was the introduction of Home Information Packs (HIPs) by the last Labour Government. HIPs provided property information ‘upfront’ and were intended to speed up the home buying process, lead to fewer sales falling through and reduce the opportunity for gazumping and gazundering. Following a phased implementation, HIPs were fully introduced by April 2009. However, they were widely criticised and suspended by the incoming Coalition Government in May 2010".

Nothing has been done since. Complete & utter failure of Government.

"25% to 33% of all home buying transactions fail, and some 25% of buyers and sellers who experience a failed transaction incur costs of more than £1,000. The Government estimates that the total losses incurred by buyers and sellers through failed transactions amounts to hundreds of millions of pounds each year".

Well, now I have experienced that in the worst possible way. So has my very patient buyer, who is a really nice man to deal with. I don't know what will happen now. It depends on my buyer. I could try to buy for the third time. I could try to find a suitable rental. I certainly can't go through the process of selling my house again. One & a half years of my life has been focussed on this & I am no further forward. 

I just need to get on living my life. So does my buyer.