A new Bill aimed at stamping out the practice of "gazumping" in the construction industry, whereby builders refuse to sign contracts while they wait for higher offers from house purchasers, was launched by Fine Gael yesterday.
Following the party's first frontbench meeting in Galway, its housing spokesman, Mr Brian Hayes TD, said it should be illegal for a vendor to take an offer on a property after accepting an earlier offer from another purchaser.
He said the proposed Home Purchasers (Anti-Gazumping) Bill 1998 would make it an offence for a vendor to fail to sign a contract within 14 days of a booking deposit being paid.
Under the proposed legislation, a builder who failed to comply could be fined up to £5,000 for a first offence or receive a term of up to 12 months in prison for a second offence.
Mr Hayes pointed out that there were currently no safeguards in place to protect young couples, who find that builders refuse to sign binding contracts while they wait for higher offers from elsewhere.
"It is a matter of genuine concern that basic consumer protection should be so clearly absent from the most important financial decision most people will make in their lifetime," he said.
"By making it illegal for the vendor to enter into a further agreement with another purchaser when a booking deposit has already been paid, I believe the practice of gazumping would disappear overnight," he added.
He asked why Ireland should be the last country in Europe to bring consumer protection into the housing market and described the Government's claims that a voluntary code of practice should deal with the problem as lethargic and passive.