Petition · past parliament

Make the acceptance of an offer to buy/sell a house legally binding.

Rejected 11 signatures

What the petition asks

Vote to make the acceptance of an offer to purchase a property legally binding rather than waiting until the point of exchange.
The current system allows a buyer or seller to pull out of the chain between offer acceptance and exchange, leaving many people in limbo for a long period of time or financially out of pocket.
This leads to people and families being let down.
I believe this should be changed to ensure that once an agreement is made (property is sold STC) this should be legally binding. Ensuring protection for both buyer, seller and the full property chain.

Why it was rejected

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

Timeline

8 Jul 2021 Petition opened for signatures
12 Jul 2021 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 11
Status Rejected
Rejected 12 Jul 2021

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