Submitted on Wednesday 18th June 2025
Rejected on Friday 18th July 2025
Current status: Rejected
Rejection code: duplicate (see below for details)
Make property sales in England & Wales legally binding earlier, like in Scotland
The UK Government should reform conveyancing laws in England and Wales to mirror the Scottish system, where property sales become legally binding much earlier. This would reduce stress, financial risk, and delays for buyers and sellers.
In England and Wales, a home sale isn’t legally binding until exchange of contracts, which can happen months after an offer is accepted. This leads to frequent fall-throughs, gazumping, wasted legal fees.
In Scotland, once missives are concluded, typically after mortgage approval and survey, the agreement becomes legally binding, offering certainty and protection for both sides.
This approach would:
- Reduce collapsed chains
- Prevent gazumping
- Protect buyers & sellers from financial loss
You can't sign this petition because it was rejected. But you can still comment on it here at Repetition.me!
The Government e-Petitions Team gave the following reason:
There's already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.
You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.
You may wish to sign this petition which calls for a similar action: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/721744
216.73.216.30 Sat, 04 Jul 2026 09:31:04 +0100
