Ashton Stripp Reflects on Landmark Legal Case Involving Gazeal

In a recent landmark case, a court has ordered a buyer to pay £35,000 to a vendor, underscoring the effectiveness of reservation agreements in today's property market. This case was brought forward by Gazeal, the reservation agreement guarantee service endorsed by industry expert Phil Spencer.

Gazeal’s Innovative Approach Gazeal's service mitigates risks associated with gazumping and gazundering by establishing a mutually binding agreement. This compensates either party should one side withdraw unreasonably or fail to complete the conveyancing process in a timely manner. The importance of this service was highlighted when the court enforced such an agreement after the completion of Gazeal’s thorough adjudication process, overseen by legal professionals including a retired Senior County Court Judge and King’s Counsel. Bryan Mansell, CEO of Gazeal, noted that adjudication is rare, occurring only 16 times in over 2,000 cases. This court ruling tested and affirmed the legal binding nature of the reservation agreements, marking a significant precedent.

Ashton Stripp’s Experience with Reservation Agreements At Ashton Stripp, while utilizing reservation agreements similar to those offered by Gazeal, we have encountered only one instance where a buyer attempted to withdraw unreasonably. In this separate case, it became clear that the buyer had changed their mind about the purchase and sought to use supposed issues from a survey as a pretext to withdraw. However, we promptly demonstrated that these survey findings were incorrect. The buyer then acknowledged their fault and compensated the seller within just 7 days of withdrawing from the sale.

Gazeal’s Commitment to Fairness Gazeal stands behind its service by offering a guarantee of each party’s obligations without requiring a deposit. Duncan Samuel, Executive Chairman of Gazeal, expressed satisfaction with the court’s decision, seeing it as a validation of the team's effort to create a fair, balanced, and transparent reservation process. Bryan Mansell adds that this result gives agents confidence in their process, having designed their service to be an independent, honest broker in sales.

Why Ashton Stripp Advocates for Reservation Agreements As advocates of this process, we at Ashton Stripp see the value and security it provides to both buyers and sellers, ensuring that transactions are conducted with the utmost fairness and respect for all parties involved. This case and our own experiences affirm the reliability and integrity of using reservation agreements in real estate transactions.