Rejected petition: Change the buying and selling process of residential properties in the UK
Rejected on
Make buyers liable to some kind of financial penalty if they withdraw from a sale without good reason
Make property buyers and sellers financially liable if they withdraw from agreed sales without good reason. We ask the UK Government to reform the property buying and selling process in England and Wales by introducing legally enforceable financial commitments once an offer on a property has been formally accepted. At present, either party can withdraw from a property transaction at almost any stage before exchange of contracts without financial consequence. This causes significant emotional distress, wasted legal and survey costs, collapsed chains, delays, and instability in the housing market.We call on the Government to introduce legislation requiring buyers and sellers to enter into a legally binding reservation agreement or similar mechanism shortly after an offer is accepted.
Why was this petition rejected?
There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.
You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.
You may wish to sign this petition, which calls for similar action: "Make accepted property offers binding and require compensation if withdrawn" https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/767569
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.