Question 1

What happens if you pull out after exchanging contracts?

Accepted Answer

You are in **breach of a binding contract**, and the consequences are substantially more serious than most buyers appreciate — which is precisely why exchange is treated as the point of no return.

**What exchange does.** Before it, either side can withdraw for any reason at no cost beyond wasted fees. At exchange, contracts become **legally binding**: a completion date is fixed, and both parties are obliged to complete.

**If the buyer fails to complete:**

**The deposit is forfeited** — typically 10% of the purchase price, which is why the size of the deposit paid at exchange matters so much.

**A notice to complete** is served, commonly giving ten working days, with interest accruing at the contractual rate.

**If you still do not complete**, the seller can rescind, keep the deposit, resell, and **sue for losses beyond it** — a shortfall on the resale price, additional costs, and their own chain liabilities.

**Your own chain collapses**, and if you were also selling, you may be in breach on that contract too, with liability running in both directions.

**If the seller fails to complete**, the buyer can seek return of the deposit with interest, damages, and in some cases **specific performance** — a court order requiring the sale to proceed.

**The narrow exceptions:** a contractual condition not satisfied; misrepresentation, where the seller gave false answers about material matters; and agreement between the parties to vary or rescind, which requires cooperation.

**What is not an excuse:** changing your mind; a survey you commissioned late; a mortgage offer lapsing, since it was your responsibility to have funding secured; redundancy or illness, however genuine; or discovering something you could have found before exchange.

**What actually prevents this:** do everything before exchange — survey, searches, enquiries, mortgage offer confirmed and valid, insurance arranged, and funds accessible with no notice period. **Never exchange with an unresolved condition you are hoping will be fine.**

England and Wales focused; Scotland's system differs, with a binding contract formed earlier. General information, not legal advice.

Question 2

What is the difference between exchange and completion?

Accepted Answer

These are the two decisive moments in an English or Welsh property purchase, and confusing them causes real problems. Exchange of contracts is the point at which the deal becomes legally binding.

Question 3

How is buying a property at auction different?

Accepted Answer

Fundamentally, and the differences are legal rather than atmospheric. The critical one is that you are contractually committed the moment the hammer falls. The traditional auction process: The fall

Question 4

What actually happens on moving day?

Accepted Answer

A sequence of dependent events, most of which you do not control — which is why the day feels chaotic even when everything goes correctly. The legal mechanics. On completion day, your solicitor sends

Question 5

What is gazumping and can you do anything about it?

Accepted Answer

Gazumping is when a seller accepts your offer and then accepts a higher one from someone else before contracts are exchanged. It is legal in England and Wales, and it is possible because of a

Question 6

What is a property chain and why do so many sales fall through?

Accepted Answer

A chain is a sequence of linked transactions where each one depends on another completing. You are buying from someone who is buying from someone else, and your own buyer is selling to fund their

Question 7

What happens if your mortgage offer expires before completion?

Accepted Answer

The offer lapses and the lender will not release funds — so completion cannot happen until it is extended or re-issued, which is a real risk in slow chains and is entirely avoidable with attention.

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