New Clause 1 - Agreement between vendor and purchaser
Homes Bill
9:45 am
Mr George Stevenson (Stoke-on-Trent South, Labour)
With this it will be convenient to take the following: New clause 2—Proof of ability to pay sale price—
`.—(1) No person shall enter into an agreement to purchase aproperty without proof of his ability to pay the agreed sale price.
(2) A person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of £700 in addition to forfeiting any sum paid under section 1(3).
(3) The Secretary of State may make regulations varying the sum in subsection (2).'.
New clause 3—Withdrawal from contract, etc.—
`.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), if one of the parties to a contract—
(a) withdraws from the contract; or
(b) otherwise frustrates or fails to complete the contract by the agreed date he shall forfeit any sum paid under section 1(3) and shall be liable for any costs in excess of that sum incurred by the other party in consequence of the contract.
(2) But subsection (1) does not apply where a purchaser has reasonable grounds for withdrawing from a contract.
(3) ``Reasonable grounds'' shall include but shall not be limited to—
(a) the discovery of a structural or other defect in the property which was not known to the purchaser at the time of the agreement;
(b) the discovery of a development proposal or other factor having a direct effect on the value of the property which was not known to the purchaser at the time of the agreement.'.