Why did it drop from over a billion in the previous year?
Failed property transactions or fall-throughs are costing UK home sellers an estimated £909 million annually, according to upfront information platform Home Sale Pack.
By analysing data from residential market analyst TwentyCI, Home Sale Pack has quantified the impact of fall-throughs, taking into account the lost value against house prices, adjusted for inflation and inclusive of probable legal fees.
Based on the data, the UK residential property market had 312,770 fall-throughs in 2022, with the average cost per incident reaching £3,229. This situation culminated in a total cost exceeding £1 billion for that year.
However, in 2023, increases in bank rates led to a 4.3% increase in the average cost of a fall-through, which then averaged £3,369. Despite this rise in costs, the overall number of fall-throughs had a 13.8% decline to 269,728, attributed to a calmer market environment and reduced buyer activity. Consequently, the total financial impact of fall-throughs saw a 10.1% decrease, settling at £909 million.
“Fall-through numbers for 2023 appear to show an improvement for the industry,” said Ruth Beeton (pictured), co-founder of Home Sale Pack. “Less fall-throughs would suggest a more efficient market, but we know that this isn’t really the case.
“Instead, the numbers are down because market activity slowed significantly during 2023, with the cost-of-living crisis and rising interest rates forcing many would-be buyers to postpone their searches and weather the storm.
“However, the Bank of England is now showing that mortgage approval numbers are on the rise, with strong growth over the last five months. This suggests that market activity is about to surge as more and more buyers decide to revisit their buying ambitions.
“This means the real true test of our industry’s ability to keep fall-through numbers at a minimum is now arriving at our doorstep, and unless we make concerted efforts to improve the way the conveyancing and wider home selling process works, I suspect the data will not be pretty.”
Want to be regularly updated with mortgage news and features? Get exclusive interviews, breaking news, and industry events in your inbox – subscribe to our FREE daily newsletter. You can also follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn.
