Seller pulled out or gazumped you? What buyers can do

The survey is paid for, the mortgage is in hand, and then the agent calls: the seller has taken the house off the market, or accepted someone else’s higher offer. It can happen weeks in, or the day before exchange. What you do in the next day or two decides how much you lose and how quickly you can buy again.

Can a seller pull out before exchange?

Yes. GOV.UK: “An offer is not legally binding in England and Wales until you exchange contracts.” Until then, the seller can withdraw for any reason, or accept another offer, just as you could walk away. Before exchange, a seller who withdraws usually owes you nothing.

Exchange changes that. Once contracts are exchanged the agreement is legally binding, and a seller who then withdraws may be liable for breach of contract, the buyer’s costs and even compensation (MHCLG). If the seller has pulled out after exchange, speak to your solicitor: the contract decides what happens next.

Scotland is different: a deal there can become binding much earlier, once missives are concluded (mygov.scot). This guide is for homes in England and Wales.

What gazumping is, and why it happens

Which? defines gazumping as a seller accepting your offer and then backing out after accepting a higher offer from someone else. It is most common where more buyers are competing for fewer homes. It isn’t illegal, because the agreement isn’t binding until contracts are exchanged.

It is possible partly because the seller’s agent must keep passing offers on. An agent must forward every offer to its client promptly and in writing, unless the client said in writing not to pass on that kind of offer (the Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices) (No. 2) Order 1991, Schedule 3), and Which? notes this applies even after an offer has been accepted.

What you can and can’t recover

Usually, nothing from the seller. The money you have spent so far is normally lost: Which? lists what you have paid for applying for a mortgage, for conveyancing and for a survey, and Citizens Advice notes that you may already have paid for a valuation or a survey, and may have to pay for legal work your solicitor has started.

Two things are worth checking with your conveyancer:

• Any agreement you signed. If you signed a reservation or exclusivity agreement, ask what, if anything, it entitles you to.
• What can carry over. Some of the work done, for example ID checks, or your mortgage application, may carry over to another purchase. Ask before you pay the final bill.

What to do now

1. Stop the spending. Tell your conveyancer, in writing, to stop work and send the costs to date, and ask what can carry over.
2. Ask your lender whether your mortgage application can be moved to another property, and what that involves.
3. Check your mortgage offer’s expiry date if you have one, and ask your broker what happens if a new purchase takes you past it. Our guide to a mortgage offer that could expire before completion sets out what to ask.
4. Tell the agent you remain interested if the sale collapses again, and say what you could pay and how fast you could exchange. Which? points out there’s no guarantee the other buyer will go through with it.
5. If you’re selling too, remember the other end of your chain: a decision on one sale is a decision on both. Tell your own buyer’s agent what has happened, honestly and quickly.

If you still want the property

All may not be lost. Which? suggests highlighting anything in your favour, such as being chain-free or a cash buyer: time matters more than money to some sellers, and a buyer who can complete quickly may win. You could also consider matching or beating the higher offer, but Which? warns against paying more than you can afford, more than the property is worth, or more than your lender has offered you.

Whatever you offer, put it in writing through the agent, with the date by which you could exchange.

Lower the risk next time

Nothing removes the risk before exchange, but these steps make it less likely:

• Before you offer: get a mortgage agreement in principle, and, if you’re selling, have an offer on your own home first (Which?). Ask about the seller’s onward purchase too.
• When you offer: Which? suggests making the offer subject to the property being taken off the market, and asking for the listing and board to say “under offer” or “sold subject to contract”. The seller and agent don’t have to agree.
• After your offer is accepted: chase your conveyancer and the agent, and sign and return paperwork quickly.
• A timetable, or an agreement: Which? describes a contract in which both sides agree to exchange within a set time, which can include compensation if the seller backs out, and an exclusivity agreement, in which you pay the seller a fee for sole rights to negotiate for a set period; it recommends a solicitor draws one up. The government’s guide describes reservation agreements, in which buyer and seller each commit and which may include a financial penalty for pulling out. All of these are voluntary.
• Insurance: Which? notes that specialist insurers cover the loss of fees such as conveyancing, survey, valuation and mortgage fees, with limits and exclusions, so read the policy wording carefully.

Don’t wait for the law to change. The government’s June 2026 roadmap plans binding conditional contracts, but only through new laws, “when parliamentary time allows”, after sales packs are in place. In the meantime it will “spread awareness of the voluntary use of reservation agreements”, and it published research on them on 8 September 2026. Nothing in the roadmap changes the law on a purchase already under way.

Selling, and your buyer pulled out instead? See our guide Buyer pulled out before exchange? What to do next.