Petition · past parliament

Require home offers to be a legally binding contract with penalties if broken.

Closed 23 signatures

What the petition asks

When a party makes an offer to buy a home this should enter them into a legal contract to complete, also requiring changes of circumstances to be communicated timely. This is to ensure serious intentions of the buyer avoiding financial, emotional and mental impact if the buyer later withdraws.
Home shoppers are free to make multiple offers on multiple homes and then walk away at any point with the rest of the chain crumbling and facing financial and emotional burdens. Unlike Scotland where there is an enforcement in place. While trying to sell our home we have lost a buyer 3 times. Most recently we have chased the process through for 5 months only for our buyer to have a change of heart the week before we were due to move. This has left us as a family in devastation.

Timeline

21 Sep 2020 Petition opened for signatures
21 Mar 2021 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 23
Status Closed
Opened 21 Sep 2020
Closed 21 Mar 2021

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.