§ Lord Mackie of Benshieasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have any plans to stop the practice of gazumping in relation to house buying in England. [HL4601]
§ The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker)The Government believe the answer to problems such as gazumping lies in increasing transparency, certainty and speed in the home buying and selling process. That is why we are committed to making it easier for people buying and selling homes through the introduction of the seller's pack. The seller's pack will provide at the very start of the transaction process key information required to enable the transaction to proceed smoothly and quickly. This should reduce significantly the period between offer acceptance to exchange of contracts, thereby reducing the window of opportunity during which problems like gazumping can occur. The necessary legislation will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.