Sarah's family was just days away from completing the sale of her three-bedroom terraced house when disaster struck. The buyers, who had already been granted a mortgage offer and were due to exchange contracts on the property in just 24 hours, suddenly cut their offer by £15,000 – leaving Sarah facing a major dilemma.
The incident is a stark example of 'gazundering', a tactic used by some buyers to renegotiate prices at the last minute. This can leave sellers in a precarious position, forced to accept reduced offers or risk losing out on their sale altogether.
Figures from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government suggest that failed sales cost homeowners around £400 million annually, with a wider economic impact of £1.5 billion each year. The Conveyancing Association has identified gazundering as a small but growing problem in the property market, often linked to a shift towards a buyer's market where there are more properties available than active buyers.
The average house sale in England and Wales takes around 120 days to complete, with one in three sales falling through before exchange of contracts. The current system allows buyers to withdraw their offers until this stage, leaving sellers vulnerable to last-minute price drops.
Responding to these issues, the government has outlined plans for reforms aimed at introducing legally binding agreements and deterring buyers from withdrawing without a valid reason. However, with implementation set to be delayed until 2029, the Conveyancing Association is urging ministers to accelerate the process, citing concerns over the current timeframe.