buying property in UK

[katerina.pata]

Please,
can somebody from Great Britain help?

The following sentences are taken from a text about buying property in UK by James Schofield.

...But things can go wrong. Firstly, the seller may decide to accept a better offer before the contracts are signed. This is called gazumping and can destroy all Simon and Kelly´s hard work. Secondly, house buyers in the UK are normally part of a property chain, in which a line of sellers and buyers all use the money from one house to buy their next property. If a chain breaks it can ruin the chance to buy for everybody else in the chain..
Please, I do not get how it works...Do people lend money to strangers to help them to buy a house???
Sorry, it isn´t a grammar problem, but I wonder if somebody can explain it..
Thank you in advance.
KN

[Anglika]

Yes, people do borrow money, but they usually borrow from banks or from building societies. This form of borrowing is known as mortgage. If the borrower fails to maintain repayments, the company can take the building from them.

The property chain is that the houseowner wants to sell his house and buy a larger one. The buyer for this house must either have enough cash in his possession or the possibility of getting a mortgage. If he fails to get this money, then he withdraws, and the whole process has to start again. That means that each houseowner has to readvertise his house and look for a new buyer.

[katerina.pata]

Thank you Anglika!
´The mortgage system´is clear and let´s say normal. I just didn´t know what the author meant by ´property chain´. Thank you very much for your explanation. KP