Leeds and West Yorkshire are UK quick house sale hotspots

More people have enquired about selling their Leeds home to a quick cash property buying company than many other locations in the UK. UK cash property buying company House Buy Fast has analysed 10,000 enquiries it received between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017 from homeowners looking for a quick cash sale.

Homeowners in the Leeds postcode are the 5th most likely to contact House Buy Fast about selling their property. At the top spot was London, with Liverpool in second and Manchester 3rd.

However, when the number of enquiries were compared to population size Leeds fell out of the top 10. As a county homeowners in the West Yorkshire postcode made the 2nd highest number of enquiries to House Buy Fast.

Other West Yorkshire locations to make the list include Bradford, Huddersfield and Halifax. Jeff Djevdet, director of House Buy Fast, said: “Many assume that people who use cash property buying companies do so because they have got themselves into financial trouble but this isn’t necessarily the case.

“We see a huge range of people enquiring about selling their property to us for a variety of reasons. These include people who need to move location quickly or who don’t want to advertise their home on the open market.

“We also receive many enquiries from people whose relationships have broken down, landlords looking to sell a property fast, people downsizing or selling due to ill health and people who have a property which has fallen into a bad state of repair - as well as a whole host of other reasons.”

Mr Djevdet continued: “Exactly why we receive more enquiries from these areas than any other isn’t entirely clear. It may be a reflection of the property market being stagnant in that area or, in the case of some popular urban areas, a reflection of the busy lifestyles that people lead which mean they can’t wait months and months for a house sale to go through.”

Ten years ago the idea of selling your property to a cash property buying company was practically unheard of, but House Buy Fast sees a growth year-on-year in the number of enquiries received and the number of house purchases made.

There are also an increasing number of companies offering to buy people’s property for cash. In 2013 the quick house sale industry was placed under a great deal of scrutiny from The Office of Fair Trading. At the time there were no redress systems in place for professional property buying companies who didn’t act openly and fairly.

So, in 2014 some of the leading professional property buyers, including House Buy Fast, formed The National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB).

Jonathan Rolande from The NAPB said: “Membership is voluntary and all members must also adhere to a strict code drawn up by The NAPB and The Property Ombudsman Scheme (TPOS). This offers greater security for homeowners if they sell their property to a cash property buying company who is a member of The NAPB.

“However, there are still some companies who are not members of The NAPB and do not sign up to TPOS code of conduct. This doesn’t necessarily mean that homeowners shouldn’t use them - but if something goes wrong they may not have access to a redress scheme or resolution service.”

Homeowners who are considering selling their house to a professional property buying company can see a list of all NAPB members at www.napb.co.uk/

Jonathan Rolande