Petition · past parliament

Reform the residential property buying and selling process in England and Wales.

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

Remove risks to buyers/sellers. Remove wasted costs.
Seller conducts full survey and publishes results when marketing property. When an offer is agreed it is legally binding. Buyers must provide % deposit. Estate agents better regulated + pay compensation to buyer/seller if provide misinformation.
Unprecedented volume of residential property purchases/sales from summer 2020/2021 has exacerbated flaws in the process:
House purchases/sales are biggest financial decisions in the lives of most. The process for buyers and sellers is high risk, expensive, cumbersome and inefficient as many are in chains for months. Costs climb as buyers and sellers pull out of deals. Severe impacts on mental health and wellbeing of failed transactions and 'living in limbo' waiting for transactions to finish.

Why it was rejected

It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.

We understand you'd like changes to the housebuying process, but we're not sure what you mean by 'Remove wasted costs.' and we're not sure how you'd like estate agents to be regulated.

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Make gazumping illegal in England

Timeline

17 May 2021 Petition opened for signatures
24 May 2021 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 24 May 2021

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