The Sunday Times - UK (2022-04-24)

The Sunday Times April 24, 2022 3

are steps you can take to

minimise the chances of

your chain breaking, such as

choosing an estate agency

with a sales progression

team and getting a mortgage

from a broker rather than

direct from the lender, so

you have other options if

your lender pulls out.

However, Giles Mackay

says yes. He recently

launched Upstix, a chain-

saving service that has

partnered with Connells

estate agency to offer a

chain-tracking service.

When a sale falls through it

buys the property at a 10 per

cent discount. The hope is

that the others in the chain

will chip in funds to make up

the shortfall to keep the

chain together.

“The whole thing will

get a lot worse when the

market gets quieter,”

Mackay says. “We will see

more fall-throughs. There

is also a risk that banks will

start withdrawing funding

offers because of

affordability constraints.”

At HBB Solutions, Chris

Hodgkinson, the managing

director, says that they

expect to help repair six

chains a month this year,

buying homes at a discount

or charging a fee. He also

talks optimistically about the

shortfall in purchase price,

or fee, being split across the

chain, although he admits

that most sellers prefer a

quick, quiet sale and absorb

the cost themselves. This is

Solley’s experience, but she

has no regrets. “I didn’t

make any money on the

house,” she says, “but I did

get the home that I wanted,

so I’m happy. It was worth it.”

MARKET WATCH

Note: All igures England only. Source: gov.uk, Barrows and Forrester

Taxing times

Council tax increases

202 12 2 202 223

£1,493

average

bill in 2022

Ashford, Kent -

biggest annual

increase

£21

South Somerset

• the smallest
  annual increase

£145

£1,341 £1,406

Yorkshire and the Humber

£1,542 £1,615

East of England

£1,344 £1,408

London

£1,299 £1,357

North West

£1,7 11 £1,785

South East

£1,413 £1,474

East Midlands

£1,391 £1,451

West Midlands

£1,207 £1,258

North East

£1,568 £1,627

South West

SHOULD YOU PAY TO SAVE

YOUR BUYING CHAIN?

CAROL

LEWIS

@carollewis101

S

uzi Solley, 58, was

in a chain of six when

her sale in Trawden,

Lancashire, broke.

“The buyer pulled out;

it was heartbreaking; it was

just before I was due to get

married,” she says. “I had

waited for three months for

this buyer — we’d just got

the searches on the house

we were buying too. I didn’t

dare tell my seller; I thought

they would cut the chain and

we would lose the house.”

Rather than risk the loss

of her dream home, she sold

her house to the property

buying service HBB

Solutions for £40,000 less

than she had planned.

Between a third and a fifth

of home sales fall through.

Many, like Solley’s, never

come back to market

because the chain is saved;

in others the chain breaks so

badly someone ends up in

rental accommodation.

So is selling your home

at a discount to a quick-buy

company the answer to

broken chains?

No, says Alice Bullard,

the head of commercial at

Nested estate agency, which

recently stopped offering a

chain-saving service. “The

customer will always go

away out of pocket.” She

argues that it is better

instead to come clean and

ask your seller for a couple

of weeks to find another

buyer. She adds that there

AT A GLANCE

£400,000

COVER: FRANCISCO ANTÝN CAMPOS ; PAGES 2-3: TIM HARD

Y PHOTOGRAPHY; MATTHEW DAVIS.:

DUNDEE

This six-bedroom Arts and Crafts villa with a games room

in the attic and a playroom is in the town’s West End. It has

views over the River Tay and is a six-minute drive from the

train station. 01382 847113, verdala.co.uk

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
This charming two-bedroom cottage with exposed oak
beams has a private courtyard. It is in Cuddington village,
a stone’s throw away from the village pub and a 14-minute
drive from Aylesbury. 01844 260000, connells.co.uk

WARWICKSHIRE

Hogbrook Farm is on the outskirts of Leamington Spa.

Over 400 years old, this six-bedroom home sits in eight

acres of gardens and is framed by mature trees and

climbing roses.0330 1119766, mrandmrsclarke.com

LONDON, W14

Around the corner from Barons Court Tube station, this
2,296 sq ft house was built in the 1890s as an artists’
bachelor pad. It has three bedrooms and a striking round-
headed window. 02033 691825, johndwood.co.uk

WARWICKSHIRE

Dutch Barn is a three-bedroom conversion built from zinc

and Siberian larch in the village of Princethorpe, a 15-

minute drive from Rugby. There’s a studio accessed by an

external staircase. 01789 867103, knightfrank.co.uk

LINCOLNSHIRE
This Georgian farmhouse in Donington, which sits in 1.5
acres of gardens, has five bedrooms, an indoor pool and
an open-plan annexe. Grantham is a 30-minute drive
away. 01780 750200, fineandcountry.com

SUFFOLK

Through the doors of this pink, grade II-listed family

home in Stoke-by-Nayland are four bedrooms and a

courtyard with views across the Box Valley. Colchester is a

20-minute drive away. 01787 844561, carterjonas.co.uk

DEVON
A restored five-bedroom Victorian home set in two
acres with views over the Tavy estuary. A detached one-
bedroom cottage is included and it’s a 25-minute drive
from Plymouth. 01752 873311, marchandpetit.co.uk

O/O

£575,000

£1.8M £1.1M

£1.1M £885,000

£1.5M £650,000