The answers to your questions are yes, and no. Gazumping - which is when a seller accepts an offer but later accepts a higher offer from someone else - is still one of the peculiarities of the English property transfer system, in which nothing is legally binding, on either party, until exchange of contracts. Indeed, both this and the previous government have promised reform to address such idiosyncrasies in the current house buying and selling process.

Many argue that gazumping should be made illegal, but that rather depends on your point of view, which may change under differing circumstances. While the frustrated and disappointed gazumped buyer will regard it as nothing more than seller’s greed, the new buyer will see it as a way of securing the property they want, and the seller may well view it as a perfectly legitimate way of ensuring the best possible price for their most valuable possession.

That’s not to say that we condone the practice. Being gazumped is certainly no joke – particularly if the original buyer has already incurred expenses. Also in our experience most sellers, theoretically, would see breaking an existing arrangement purely for monetary reasons, even though not legally binding, as unethical.

However, there are somewhat blurred lines between out-and-out bare-naked gazumping, whereby it’s simply a matter of money, which is widely regarded unscrupulous and immoral, and practicality. There are situations in which it is perfectly reasonable for a seller to pull out of a sale to opt for a higher offer – for example, where timescales don’t match - if there is pressure from an upward chain or if a seller has a moving deadline and their buyer has lost their related sale or is having trouble arranging finances. In these instances, especially where there is a chain involved, the seller would absolutely be doing the right thing to accept a higher offer, if there was one on the table, from a buyer in a more proceedable position.

Constant communication between parties is paramount to identifying potential issues such as these and a good estate agent will do everything they can to aid the process in a responsible and ethical manner, to see a transaction through to a satisfactory completion.

If you’d like to discuss this further, give us a call on 01392 204800 – we’ll be pleased to help.