Petition · past parliament

Change the law around sellers pulling out of housing sales and leaving buyer fee

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

The government should put protection in place for buyers when fees have been paid for solicitors and searches and the seller pulls the sale before completion. England is one of few places globally that allows this to happen. The party pulling out of the process should be responsible for all fees.
To protect all parties from unnecessary fees / time loss for all parties.
The government should put a practise / law in place that the party pulling out of a sale after a particular time frame or searches / surveys have been completed should be liable for all fees incurred if they decide to withdraw from the process regardless of the reason. There should be a common agreement in all solicitor services that protect those who are paying money for property surveys etc.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

Timeline

5 Jul 2021 Petition opened for signatures
13 Jul 2021 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 13 Jul 2021

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