Do you agree with the survey that the system for house sales in the UK is broken and needs sorting out?

A recent survey, conducted by Jane Finch of Moving etc... has highlighted the difficulties that the lack of time between exchange and completion for house owners is causing the moving industry.  She would like to see changes made to the property transaction process so that it starts working for everyone, both customer and supplier alike.

The survey found that there are various problems experienced, by both removal firms and their clients, when dealing with the completion process of buying and selling property in the UK. Problems such as end of the month completions, late hand over of keys, uncertainty of the exact completion date until the last minute, busy Friday completions and many other complications were cited as the most problematic issues experienced by removers on a daily basis.

 The following graph shows the problems highlighted by removal companies:

Nicki Sutherland of Monkey Removals in Lincoln who took part in the survey, commented, "Moving is very stressful and all of the above issues make it so upsetting for some of our customers. From a business point of view, it has the potential to cost us time and money. The most prominent thing however is the distress solicitors cause to their clients."

As well as the extra time and effort it takes to make sure the customer's move goes as smoothly as possible when problems occur, the extra costs to the customer can sometimes cause the most stress. Stephen Terry of Anglo French Euro Removals in Maidstone, Kent said, "One client we currently have in storage has had three provisional moving dates booked with our company and had to cancel all of them at late notice. The main problem is finding something else for the guys that were booked in to conduct the move. Also this client is elderly and getting more stressed by the day!"

Jane Finch, herself points out that many local councils now require 7 - 14 days notice to suspend parking outside a property and with only a couple of days notice to book a move it is not always possible to plan properly. “Removal companies can't plan ahead because the job isn’t booked until just a few days before completion. Then lots of customers all want to book for the same day, meaning movers have to let customers down!"

One remover based in Scotland commented in the survey, "The majority of our moves are booked with less than two weeks notice, 65% are booked with less than 1 weeks notice. This results in more removals being undertaken without a survey, so no chance to check parking, volume or access, etc."

Another major problem facing removal companies is the late handover of keys sometimes even after 4 or 5pm on completion day. Berin Riley of Move-it Channelmoving in Ashford, Kent said, "Frequently, late hand over of keys causes financial losses, as clients rarely will agree to extra charges after the event. Unloading at 10pm is not uncommon in these circumstances but we need the vehicle to be emptied to honour the next day's bookings."

Other property professionals and the general public might think that removal companies are just moaning about the problems and not dealing with them properly, but according to Russell Start, the Managing Director of Pickfords Removals, these are very real issues which need to be addressed and not overlooked any longer. "25 years ago, the time between exchange and completion of contracts used to be anywhere between 14 - 28 days. This gave the customer enough time to plan their move, notify their utility and telephone suppliers, book their removal company and move in with relative ease. Now we very often see exchange and completion happening on the same day, which can create operational challenges and stress, anxiety, and sometimes additional costs to the client."