One in three people in Britain (8.7million people) fall foul of the property game as they see the homes of the dreams fall through according to a new study.

The report also reveals that would-be home buyers in this country are hit hardest when it comes to buying property as the true extent of the gazumping crisis in the UK comes to light.

Britain is hit the hardest by the ‘property roulette’, according to the report from Scottish Widows, as the UK is top of the European league for gazumping and this is despite the fact the gazumping is totally absent from Scotland. (Other European countries suffer the same ‘unofficial bidding’ approach as England and Wales, albeit sometimes with a compensation culture, while in Scotland an offer is legally binding)

Gazump rates across Europe are as follows:

Murdo McHardy, head of product development & marketing at Scottish Widows Bank, said: "As a nation we are obsessed with property, and gazumping is a problem that hits us hard, especially when you compare us to our European neighbours."

"Whilst gazumping is out of our control, and interestingly not a problem in Scotland, there are steps homebuyers can take to prepare themselves against other home buying mishaps."

"Getting the finances sorted, opening dialogue with the seller and ensuring you process the survey as quickly as possible can all limit the chances of seeing the purchase of your dream property fall through. When it comes to house buying you can never be over-prepared."

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