Gazumping- What is that , is it legal and how to avoid it?
How to avoid being gazumped – an essential guide to the first time buyers
In simple terms, Gazumping is when a vendor has accepted an offer from a potential buyer but later sells to another buyer.
Although it may seem like a very ‘illegal’ thing to do, Gazumping is very much legal. The conveyancing process is a two stage legal process: exchange and completion and until contracts are exchanged, the transaction is not binding.
This means that either party can walk away from the transaction before contracts are exchanged with no legal implication.
Unfortunately, this also means that if you have been gazumped at a pre-exchange stage then you will be left to pay a legal bill for all pre-exchange work conducted by your solicitors.
There are many reasons that a vendor may sell his/her property to another party although your offer had been accepted, but we find the most common reasons to be:
1. The seller has accepted a higher offer for the property
2. The vendors solicitors are experiencing delays with your solicitors
3. You do not have your finances in hand
How to prevent being gazumped
In order to prevent being Gazumped, we suggest the following top tips to bear in mind:
1. Speak to the estate agent to get an idea of how popular the property is
If you have had viewed the property and are quite keen to purchase the property then estate agents will be able to advise you on how popular the property is and whether the buyer is likely to receive offers under or over the asking price. If the property is struggling on the market then there is a good chance that the vendor will accept an offer under the asking price and will be keen to sell this to you. If however, the property is gaining a lot of interest, then it is worth you making a competitive offer to ensure that you are not gazumped for a higher offer at a later stage.
2. Be transparent from the outset about your finances and timescales by which you intend to complete the purchase
We find that vendors become frustrated during the conveyancing process when prospective purchasers avoid confirming their finances from the outset i.e. cash purchase, mortgage or chain transaction. It is therefore very important that you let your solicitors know how you are funding the purchase from the outset so that all parties can aim for a realistic completion date.
If you are having trouble with finances for any reason, then it is best that you disclose this as soon as possible. In some cases, if the delay is only by a few weeks then the vendor may empathise and may be willing to extend the completion target date. If however, you do not disclose your financial hiccups and the vendor feels that you are time wasting, then it is very likely he will sell the property to another party.
3. Secure a mortgage offer in principal
If you are keen on purchasing a new property then it is worth contacting a mortgage lender to provide you with a mortgage offer in principle before property hunting, to ensure that you can book a survey in as soon as your offer to purchase has been accepted. This will show the vendor that you are serious about the purchase and it will make a good impression.
4. Ask for the property to be taken off the market
You could ask the vendor to take the property off the market as part of acceptance of your offer.
5. Ask your solicitors to draft a lock-in-agreement / exclusivity agreement
If the property you have viewed is one that you cannot bear to lose then you could ask your solicitors to draft an agreement to prevent the vendor from entertaining other offers for a fixed period of time i.e. 4 weeks. Of course, you would incur additional legal fees as this is not a standard conveyancing document, but at least this would provide you with peace of mind to have a survey booked or to secure your finances without the threat of being gazumped.
6. Obtain insurance
Some specialist insurance providers will offer insurance to cover legal, survey and mortgage lending costs should a purchase fall through. It will not prevent you from being gazumped, but it will at least help you to minimise your losses in the event unfortunate event that you are.
If you would like to instruct our conveyancing team for a residential or commercial sale/purchase, please do not hesitate to call our offices or email us at conveyancing@cnsolicitors.com.
全球人才签证–即将发生的政策变化摘要
全球人才签证面向科学，工程，人文，医学，数码技术或艺术和文化优秀人才。
随着更多有限制性的的创新者签证的推出，“全球人才”签证越来越受欢迎，因为它不仅提供了在英国的就业自由，而且还提供了经营自己的企业的可能性。全球人才签证的其他好处包括：在获得3年特殊人才认可后有可能在英国定居；单次申请获准在英国居留最多5年，无需满足。
以下条件：有确定的工作机会，以及提供较快认可的快速通道方案。此外，没有英语或存款要求，并且此签证途径的合格人数没有上限。
申请全球人才签证时，需要两个步骤。第一部分包括认可申请，而第二部分是签证申请人本身，前提是认可申请成功。
这类签证途径在过去的几年中有不断的更新。内政部于2020年10月22日宣布了最新的变更。需注意的是在2020年11月30日或之前提交的申请将根据现行移民规则进行评估。 2020年12月1日或之后提交的申请将根据新规则进行评估。新的变更涉及流程的一部分，是针对考虑高级任命的标准以及在此签证途径下合格的学术和研究角色类型的定义而做出的。
最明显的变化涉及希望得到Tech Nation（机构）认可的数码技术申请人。因此“关键”和“合格”标准将进行重组，取而代之的是新的一组更简单的强制性和可选性的标准。
目前，潜在的数码技术申请人必须提供至少10个文件，这些文件必须符合至少一项关键和两项合格标准。自2020年12月1日起，领先人才和潜在领导者申请人必须证明其符合4个可选标准中的至少2个。另需注意的是有关“持续学习”的标准已被删除。
多年以来，我们的移民团队已成功协助申请人完成了全球人才计划及其前身一级（特殊人才）签证途径的申请。请与我们的移民团队联系，以寻求入境许可或在英国居留以及在全球人才路线下申请居留签证方面的帮助和建议。
请注意，具体情况视您的情况而定，具体要求可能会有所不同，并且此上的信息不能代替法律建议