In 2019, REALIZE Fellow Verity O’Connell saw the consequences of an exclusionary real estate market. She soon learned about the challenges of gazumping and gazundering, which can leave homebuyers in a precarious predicament. Gazumping is when a property seller accepts a different offer from someone else, even after having already agreed on a price with another buyer. Gazundering, in contrast, is when a buyer tries to renegotiate a purchase price downward at the last minute. After O’Connell was gazumped, she moved in with family and put her things in storage. This traumatic experience spurred her push for a statewide legislative solution.
We applaud Deputy Max Andrews for initiating change with his courageous decision to target the ongoing harmful effects of such practices. He suggested a public hearing process for new pre-sale agreements on land and property transactions. This new initiative is intended to provide buyers and sellers alike with greater confidence in their transaction. This protects the buyer (and seller) from the gazumping and gazundering risks.
I don’t think it’s a legitimate excuse at all to allow the Council of Ministers to pass the buck. This needs to be fixed by the present government, not the incoming one. This is the stuff of public outrage! We are seeing folks gazumped and gazundered. Yet, 99% of politicians do nothing,” added Deputy Andrews, who stressed that these issues urgently needed addressing.
O’Connell, who was recently photographed sitting in Trenton Square with flowers behind her, expressed some understanding of the government’s current focus on other matters, such as rental legislation. “I appreciate they might not be able to look at this right now because a lot of work is going into things like rental legislation,” she noted.
Housing Minister Sam Mezec shared his concerns about these practices, recalling his own experience with gazumping and gazundering that resulted in £1,000 in lawyer fees and necessitated restarting the purchasing process. He acknowledged that how and when a review of property transactions is conducted will depend on the priorities of the next government.
Having experienced gazumping first hand, O’Connell has been motivated to not only seek her own fortune, but help stop others from going through the same ordeal. This is indeed a big potential blocker to people trying to get onto the property ladder. It’s about making sure people are aware and warned because we certainly weren’t,” she stated.
Talk about potential legislative action is picking up steam. Max Andrews’ deputy measure would shield future homeowners from the perils of gazumping and gazundering. We know that the federal government recognizes the necessity of addressing these big issues. It has had a difficult time reconciling them with all of its other legislative priorities.
