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Daily Telegraph probate opportunity

ended 09. November 2023

A journalist at the Daily Telegraph is writing a piece on probate delays leaving record numbers of houses empty, and the number has close to doubled over the past ten years - with most of the increase starting in 2019 when probate delays became bad - see  https://twitter.com/geographyjim/status/1722220475856941250. The journalist wants one or two quick quotes on how this is worsening the housing crisis, because it stops families from selling or letting out their homes. Deadline is dead quick. We'll shut this alert once we have 3 responses (unless they're all tosh).



 

4 responses from the Newspage community

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Rowan Frayling
Managing Director at J Finance
Probate delays have absolutely affected the housing market. I am told from our peers at Heritage Estate Planning in Newbury that the average 'simple' case can take up to 6 months with complex cases taking far longer. This causes issues for buyers and their chains, issues with mortgage offers expiring and some agents are telling me they will actively avoid marketing probate properties.
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Michelle Lawson
Director at Lawson Financial
Probate delays have caused immense damage to potential sellers and buyers. Agents put the properties up for sale under the impression that all transactions will be quick but in reality it is far different. I have been advising any of my customers to hold fire on putting mortgage applications in only when Probate has been granted. I have seen people lose money on mortgage applications and abortive transactions where offers have expired and the rates have increased significantly. I had one customer see an increase in payments of £600 per month from the point of offer acceptance to completion.
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Elliott Culley
Director at Switch Mortgage Finance
The delays in probate are certainly affecting the housing market. I've had two recent examples of probates, causing financial hardship for clients. One probate took so long the client went from a rate of 4.29% to 6.19% adding hundreds of pounds to their monthly payment. For another client they have been waiting so long they went from 4% up to 6% and are now back looking at a rate of 5.14%. Timeframes vary with probates and there doesn't seem to be any way of speeding up the process. Mortgage offers expire and clients are left in a state of limbo waiting. I am still given the excuse that they are trying to catch up after a COVID backlog.
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Alastair Hoyne
CEO, Finanze Capital at Finanze Capital
Probate delays are stifling property disposals and sales for sure. Even where families have been responsible and put everything in place, when it comes to the executor being able to make things happen after someone has passed away, probate delay is the bottleneck that adds insult to injury. Many families face holding costs that eat into their planned inheritance and agents and buyers alike are often tearing their hair out trying to get completions over the line.