Gazundering 'can be risky for home buyers'

Gazundering is a "a fairly destabilising practice" for the property market and one that can prove potentially risky for buyers.

That is according to the director of residential research for Savills, who said that sellers should select a buyer who is "rock solid" and unlikely to pull out of the deal in order to prevent gazundering.

Lucian Cook said that the practice may be adopted by more buyers due to the "negative sentiment" regarding the industry, but warned that there may be pitfalls.

He commented: "I don't think it's a particularly helpful practice to be perfectly honest. There are risks that [the buyers] won't get the mortgage valuation that they're anticipating, and therefore find it more difficult to get mortgage finance, which results in them dropping their price at the last minute."

In March 2008, the price of a typical UK property stood at £184,798, according to the latest figures from the Land Registry.

UK Property News posted on 30/04/2008 11:41:27