The E-Homebuying Forum is spearheading an industry drive to introduce legally-binding pre-contract agreements for house sales. Martin Reynolds, director at Agent Tracker, comments on the E-Homebuying Forum’s plans to introduce pre-contracts on property sales at the point of offer. He says: “ We welcome any progress this industry-led group is making towards introducing a legally binding pre-contract at the point of offer on a property, with a deposit being paid. This is the norm in the US, Scotland, Australia and much of Europe, and would significantly speed up the home-buying process in a way HIPs failed to do.

“The fact is that considerable time and effort is spent progressing sales, a third of which never make it to completion. This is extremely frustrating for buyers, sellers and agents, who don’t receive a penny for all their work if the sale falls through, even though it is often for reasons outside their control.

“The Government needs to embrace this industry initiative if it is to be a true success. If the signing of pre-contracts is not required by law, buyers making an offer on a property where the agent requires pre-contracts will need to have a deposit to hand, a mortgage agreed and be fully committed to the purchase, which might tempt them towards another property where the agent is not asking for pre-contracts.”