Should accepted property offers in England & Wales be made legally binding (like Scotland)?

PropertyObserver

We’ve tried to sell twice.

Both times: offer accepted, everything progressing, costs incurred, chain moving.

Both times: the buyer pulled out right before exchange.

Weeks of time gone each time. Thousands spent. No consequence for the buyer.

What’s really struck us is that until exchange of contracts, an “accepted offer” in England & Wales isn’t actually binding.

So even right at the final hurdle, the buyer can just walk away and the whole thing collapses.

Came across this afterwards: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76756⁠�

It’s calling for accepted offers to become more binding earlier in the process (more like Scotland).

Right now it feels like:

Sellers carry all the risk

Buyers can withdraw at any time

Even late-stage sales can collapse instantly

Genuine question:

How is this still the system in 2026?

Normalised, or just broken?

user1977

Your link doesn't work.

For a start, I think you misunderstand the Scottish process. An "accepted" offer is only binding when we reach the equivalent stage of exchange of contracts, not literally when a buyer says they're happy in principle with a price. For various reasons, the process tends to be faster (Home Reports help, everyone is lawyered up from the start, and the "offer" is effectively the draft contract), and we're less obsessed with forming "chains", but fundamentally parties aren't going to commit before they e.g. know they have the funds.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6670909/should-accepted-property-offers-in-england-wales-be-made-legally-binding-like-scotland

Sellers carry all the risk

Buyers can withdraw at any time

The seller can also pull out at any time, leaving the buyer with costs for solicitors, searches, surveys, etc etc

Both parties carry some of the risk. The buyer doesn't know if the seller is being economical with the truth about the structural and legal integrity of the property being sold.

If you want the English system more like the one in Scotland then the changes need to be more fundamental than just making the offer binding. Which, to some extent, was tried before. And wasn't very popular.

sheenas

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82021295#Comment_82021295

There is a lot more to the Scottish system than the notion of a binding agreement and most of it would smooth the process in the rest of the UK. Have used both system, the Scottish system is far quicker and less stressful.

PropertyObserver

Thanks — link corrected, should be here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76756⁠

On Scotland, fair point. I probably oversimplified it in my post.

My main point wasn’t really about the exact legal trigger point, more the practical outcome — i.e. in Scotland there tends to be less scope for very late-stage collapse once things are agreed, whereas in England & Wales you can still get right up to exchange after weeks of cost and work and it can fall apart instantly.

That’s the bit that feels difficult to reconcile - not the terminology, but the fact significant money is usually spent before anything is actually binding on either side.

PropertyObserver

I agree it’s not one-sided, sellers can pull out too, and that’s part of the same issue.

My point is more about timing: you can be a few thousand pounds into surveys, searches, legal work etc, but still have no binding agreement either way.

That level of cost exposure before commitment is what feels out of step.

TroubledTarts

https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-selling/home-sellers-protection-insurance/

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/discover/selling/home-sellers-protection-insurance/

Not tried it, just came up in a search

user1977

in Scotland there tends to be less scope for very late-stage collapse once things are agreed

Depends on the reasons for the collapse, surely? If e.g. a buyer is having trouble getting a mortgage, then they won't have committed in Scotland either. We still have deals which go to the wire, with nothing binding until people are sitting in their removal vans.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82021300#Comment_82021300

That was my point - you can't look at a different system and pluck out a bit you like. You need to fully understand how the other system works, then look at how/if the good parts of the other system can be transposed into yours… and what the unintended consequences might be.

PropertyObserver

Agreed - you can’t just lift one part of another system and expect it to work in isolation.

My point is more that the level of cost and effort incurred before anything is binding here feels like the bit worth questioning, rather than saying “copy Scotland”.

It’s less about importing a system wholesale, and more whether the risk timing in England & Wales is still the right balance given how the process actually works now.

RelievedSheff

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6670909/should-accepted-property-offers-in-england-wales-be-made-legally-binding-like-scotland

If you have got to the point of being ready to exchange contracts then the buyer will also have spent a considerable amount of money to get to that stage also. They won't pull out of the sale for no reason at that stage.