The stage the sale reached tells you your legal position. The reason it failed tells you whether the next buyer will hit the same problem.
The short answer
When a house sale has fallen through, find the stage it reached and the real cause before relisting or changing route. In England and Wales nothing binds before exchange of contracts, so a buyer who walks away usually owes you nothing.1 After exchange, a buyer who fails to complete can lose the deposit and face a claim for your losses.3
Your legal position turns on exchange of contracts. That is the moment both sides sign and swap contracts and the sale becomes binding. Before it, in England and Wales, either side can withdraw.1 After it, both are bound by the contract, which usually includes the Law Society's Standard Conditions of Sale.3 The further the sale got before that point, the more you have spent, and the more you now know about the property.
Your position, by where the sale stopped
| Where it stopped | Can you claim from the buyer? | First thing to do |
|---|---|---|
| Within weeks of the offer | No contract, so no | Ask the agent to relist and to call back other people who viewed |
| After the survey or valuation | No | Find out exactly what the report said before you relist |
| During searches and enquiries | No, unless a signed reservation agreement says otherwise | Ask your solicitor what can be reused and what the next buyer will need |
| After exchange, buyer will not complete | Yes, under the contract | Call your solicitor while the completion date is still ahead |
A buyer who pulled out before exchange of contracts in England and Wales broke no law, even at the last minute. There is usually no contract to claim under. The government's reform consultation says either party can currently withdraw at any point between acceptance of the offer and exchange.1 Its June 2026 roadmap goes further. It says commitment is weak until late in the process, so it is too easy to withdraw after others have spent money.2
The same applies to you. You could accept a higher offer from someone else or withdraw, and the buyer would have no claim either. The one common exception is a signed reservation agreement, covered below. Its own terms decide what, if anything, is paid.
Usually yes, for the work done so far, and each side pays its own. What you owe depends on the terms you agreed when you instructed the firm. Solicitors must give clients the best possible information about how a matter will be priced, at the start and as it goes on.5
Look in your client care letter, the terms the firm sent when you instructed it, for what happens if a sale does not complete. Where the letter is unclear, ask the firm to set the figure out in writing before you decide whether to use them again. Before exchange, the buyer cannot be made to pay your fees, and you cannot be made to pay theirs. No sale, no fee terms, and the other questions to ask before you instruct the next firm, are in solicitor fees for selling a house.
If you want the next buyer to have something to lose before exchange, ask your solicitor about a reservation agreement. The buyer pays a fee they cannot get back if they walk away, and you agree to deal only with them for a set period. That promise binds you too, so have your solicitor read what the agreement asks of you before you sign.
Haroon Ali Author, The House Desk. Over 11 years in property and renovation Not without consequences. Once contracts are exchanged the buyer is bound, usually under the Standard Conditions of Sale. The Law Society's current residential edition is still the 5th edition, 2018 revision.3 The normal sequence, when nothing goes wrong, is in what happens between exchange and completion.
When a buyer does not complete, under the Standard Conditions
A buyer who is only late is treated differently. The party responsible for the delay pays compensation at the interest rate set in the contract.3
In Scotland, offers are made by solicitors' letters called missives. Once the missives are accepted and both sides agree the terms, there is a binding contract. A party who pulls out after that can be liable for damages.4 That usually happens well before the move itself. The UK government's consultation says binding transactions are part of why only 9 per cent of Scottish transactions fall through.1
Where missives were concluded on your sale, speak to your solicitor about the contract's remedies. Northern Ireland has its own procedure, not covered here.
Roughly one agreed sale in four in the most recent listings data, and around one in three in the figure the government uses.61 Those rates include sales marked sold STC (sold subject to contract). Nothing binds either side until exchange, so the percentage covers those sales too.1
Published fall-through figures, by publisher679
The House Desk collected every named fall-through figure we could open on 14 September 2026, with the publisher and whether it sells something related to the result.
| Publisher and date | Figure | What it measures | Interest to note |
|---|---|---|---|
| TwentyCi, Q1 2026 report | 23.7% | UK fall-through rate in Q1 2026, down from 24.0% a year earlier. Of listings concluded in 2026, 23.6% had at least one fall-through6 | Property data company, which says it covers 99.6% of transactions |
| Quick Move Now, January 2026 | 26% | Sales that fell through before completion in 2025. Basis not stated7 | Buys houses for cash |
| UK government consultation, updated June 2026 | About 1 in 3 | Transactions that fail, from 2023 research for the department that is unpublished1 | Supports the case for reform |
| Open Property Data Association survey, May 2026 | 58% | Home moves falling through after offer acceptance, reported by about 5,000 people who moved in the last five years9 | Promotes digital property packs. A self-reported survey |
The first three count or estimate transactions. The fourth is self-reported by movers.
Timing has a pattern. TwentyCi found about 38 per cent of fall-throughs happen within four weeks of the sale being agreed, and the pattern was the same in both years it looked at.6
Causes are less well measured. The only breakdowns we found come from Quick Move Now, a cash buyer, which does not say how its data was gathered. For 2025 it put buyers changing their minds at 36 per cent of failed sales and mortgage problems at 33 per cent.7 For the second quarter of 2026 it put mortgage or lending problems at 33 per cent and survey issues at 27 per cent.8 Read these as a rough ranking of causes at best.
Shares of failed sales, as published by Quick Move Now.
House sales fall through over the buyer's mortgage or valuation, a survey finding, a broken chain, a change of mind, a late price cut or a legal problem. Some of those causes leave with the buyer. Others stay with the property and will meet the next buyer too, which is why the written reason from your agent matters more than the first explanation you were given.
Which causes follow the property to the next buyer
Mortgages fall through for two common reasons, and they point in different directions. When the lender refused the buyer because of the buyer's own finances, the problem left with them, and relisting at the same price is reasonable.
A low valuation is different. If the lender's valuation came in below the agreed price, the next buyer's lender may reach a similar figure. Check what similar homes nearby have actually sold for before you relist. Our guide to a house that is not selling explains how to check sold prices.
A survey finding is the cause most likely to happen again. You now know something about the property. You can fix it, get a quote and price it in, or sell to a buyer who expects to deal with it. What you cannot safely do is carry on as if you had not heard. If the report points to structural movement, the reports buyers and lenders will ask for are listed in our guide to selling a house with subsidence.
Tell your solicitor and your agent what was found. The TA6 property information form is the questionnaire about the property that your solicitor passes to the buyer. Buyers can rely on your answers in it, and misleading answers can lead to a compensation claim after completion. The Law Society's notes tell sellers to inform their solicitor immediately if anything they said has become wrong.10
A broken chain is not a problem with your property. Ask the agent to relist and to go back to other people who viewed or offered. With the next buyer, find out early whether they have a sale to make and how far along it is.
Little can be done about a buyer's change of mind. Because so many fall-throughs happen in the first four weeks, test the next buyer's commitment early.6
Gazundering is a buyer lowering their offer late in the process, often just before exchange, and relying on the seller's reluctance to start again. It is not unlawful in England and Wales, because nothing binds either side until exchange.1 You can accept, negotiate, or refuse and relist.
Before you answer, ask for the reason in writing. A real survey finding may be raised by the next buyer too. Without one, weigh the reduction against the time and cost of finding another buyer. Neither side is bound yet, so you can also keep the property on the market while you talk.
Ask your solicitor to fix it before you relist, whether that means a missing consent, a boundary query or an indemnity policy. Otherwise the next buyer's solicitor will find the same thing at the same point.
You lose the fees for work done, and you cannot recover them from a buyer who withdrew before exchange. Much of the work itself is not lost. Your title documents, the property information form and the draft contract were prepared on your side of the transaction, so ask your solicitor to send them to the next buyer's solicitor. Update any answers that have changed.10
What happens to the paperwork
Searches, the checks with the local council and others about the property, are usually ordered by the buyer's solicitor. The new buyer and their lender decide whether older results are acceptable. There is no single rule today. The government's consultation only proposes standard validity periods.1 Ask your solicitor what the last buyer's solicitor ordered and when, and pass that on.
Nothing removes the risk before exchange, but a few steps make a repeat less likely. Only one of them, a reservation agreement, puts money at stake. Under a reservation agreement, the buyer pays a non-refundable fee when the sale is agreed, in return for a period of exclusivity.1
These agreements are voluntary. The government's June 2026 roadmap plans to legislate for binding conditional contracts, but only once upfront sales packs are in place. Until then it will promote voluntary reservation agreements.2 Your solicitor should check any agreement's terms, including the fee and what happens to it if you are the one who withdraws.
Relist with your agent if the cause went with the buyer, such as their mortgage, their chain or a change of mind. Think harder about route if the cause is the property or your timetable. A survey problem will meet every open-market buyer. A deadline on your own purchase may not survive another wait of several months.
Relisting is not automatically quick. Rightmove's May 2026 index found homes that needed a price reduction took on average 127 days to sell, against 36 days for homes that did not.13 So if the collapse has left you doubting the price, check it before you relist, not after. If the deadline you were working to has not moved, selling quickly sets out what each route can achieve in the time you have left, and what the speed costs.
Planning the next attempt? The sale timeline planner works back from your date, and your price through each route sets the routes side by side.
Not if they pulled out before exchange of contracts in England and Wales, because there was no binding contract to claim under. A signed reservation agreement is the exception, on its own terms. After exchange it changes. A buyer who fails to complete after a notice to complete can lose the deposit, and you can resell and claim damages.
Up to exchange of contracts in England and Wales, unless you signed a reservation agreement that says otherwise. You will usually still owe your own solicitor for the work done. Once contracts are exchanged you are bound as well, and if you fail to complete the buyer can end the contract and have the deposit repaid. In Scotland the point comes earlier, when missives are concluded.
Weighed for someone who has already lost one buyer. No route stops a sale failing before a binding contract, except by changing when the buyer commits.
Not sure which fits? Answer three questions and we will suggest one.
The same open market, with the buyers you already reached. If the agent is the problem, see our guide to changing agent first.
Bidders commit on the auction timetable rather than months later at exchange. The price is whatever they pay, and fees and method vary.
One buyer, no chain, usually at a discount to open-market price. Offers can be reduced after the company surveys, which is the same risk you just met.
The route guides go further: selling at auction, house-buying companies and estate agents.
Three questions, about 30 seconds. Your answers stay in your browser.
Question 1 of 3
Your best fit
What you give up:
Why this route
Close second: Property auction.
Selling in Scotland works differently, with a Home Report and offers over a closing date. The guides note where Scottish rules differ.
Leave your details and tell us how you would like to sell.
While you wait, the guide covers what to check before you agree to anything.
Numbers in the text link to these. Each was read on the date shown. How we research