My closest friends will know that I am an impatient man. Once I have decided to do something, then implementation needs to be swift. No hanging about. What's the point of waiting, or doing something slowly?
So the frustrating, longwinded, and excruciating process of selling and buying property in this country appears to have been set up just to test me. And yes, through this summer I have been truly tested.
Selling a property listed on HS2's "Schedule A" was not a great start to the year. Although there was only the slimmest chance of a compulsory purchase once the works to be undertaken were properly investigated, that scared off a number of potential buyers.
Having an official church with a disputed planning permission on the ground floor of my building also put off some others, but eventually my friends at Foxtons found a commercial buyer who could see the benefits of buying a flat with an extended lease in a prime location in Kilburn.
On the buying side, our preferred house in Harrow appeared to have slipped through our fingers. We were compromising and ready to buy a second choice, but a stroke of luck and another resourceful estate agent from the Foxtons' family contacted me mid-morning two months ago to say that our preferred property was back on the market, and was I still interested? Within three hours my fresh bid was accepted and it was taken off the market.
Progress at last?
Well not immediately, because the Bank of England decided to bring in tougher procedures for mortgage providers. I had to reveal my gym membership, travel spending and outside interests (yes supporting Coventry City on my days off, but I think they took pity on that), and my accountant had to confirm my earnings from my business.
Meanwhile my mortgage provider had its own rules and would not accept my wife's earnings as part of the household income because "she has not lived in the UK for three years" even though she has indefinite leave to remain. Another case of institutional racism, but I won't reveal which provider it is because they eventually offered me a mortgage, and the deal is not yet complete.
Then we find that Camden Council has long delays on searches. In steps a councillor of my acquaintance and we reduced the expected delay from 7 weeks to 18 working days...
Then it transpires that the solicitor instructed by the vendor of the house I am buying has taken several weeks to issue a draft contract.
The latest conversation with my solicitor suggests I will not likely be moving before the end of the school holidays, which is annoying to say the least.
Can we do things differently in this country? Yes we can and should.
Although I find Kirsty Allsop's TV programmes immensely interesting, I think her campaign to stop the Government introducing a compulsory vendor's pack to quicken the conveyancing process was misguided. So much of the paperwork could be done in advance of a sale and could make sure the time between the acceptance of a bid and moving day could be foreshortened to about 2 weeks.
Unfortunately other issues will dominate the manifestos of the parties next year and the consequential legislative programme in the next parliament. So I doubt if any significant progress will be made on this issue. Which is why I have declared that the next house will be our home for at least 10 years. By then the anger and frustration of selling and buying should have subsided a bit....
