What to do if your house sale has fallen through (and you need a quick sale)

How often do house sales fall through?

Government statistics show that there were 95,110 residential property transactions in January 2025. According to research quoted in Country Life, 28.8% of home sales fell through in 2024, rising to 31.3% in the final quarter. That means that around 40,000 home sales fell through in January alone.

Does the law protect home sellers from a sale falling through? Unfortunately not. If you haven’t reached the point where you’ve exchanged contracts, there’s absolutely nothing in the law to protect you. Your buyers can pull out for any reason, and as the figures above show, lots of them do. 

When you exchange contracts, your buyers will be legally obliged to go through with the sale and they will be asked to pay a deposit. This is forfeited if they fail to complete the sale, and you could sue for damages for breach of contract. However, until that point, you’re on your own. The buyers hold all the power because it’s up to them whether they proceed with their purchase or not, and there’s very little you can do if they change their mind.

It’s important to remember that your sale is not guaranteed until exchange, and so you should do all you can to limit your spending on your move until you’re sure. According to Inside Conveyancing the average failed sale in the UK results in a loss of around £3,370 for the seller. This is due to wasted surveys and searches on their next home, lost deposits on removals and other services, and more. 

What can cause a house sale to fall through?

Home sales can fall through for all kinds of reasons, ranging from financial to personal, from conscious decisions to things beyond anyone’s control. Country Life quotes the following as the main reasons for a home sale falling through:

• 23.6% of buyers changed their mind – sometimes buyers simply change their mind about whether a house is right for them or not. This may be due to second thoughts or they may find a better property at a better price elsewhere.
• 21.8% of buyers had mortgage issues – with interest rates high and the economy facing uncertain times, both nationally and on the international stage, mortgage lenders are becoming more cautious and many buyers are struggling to get the mortgage they need. In a volatile employment market, personal circumstances can also change significantly between your buyer making an offer and being able to proceed.
• 14.5% of sellers accepted a higher offer – it is not always the buyers’ fault when a sale falls through. Sometimes the seller pulls out because they’ve received a better offer. This is commonly known as gazumping.
• 7.3% of sales fail due to a break in the chain – your home sale may be going perfectly well, but if a sale fails further down the chain, then the domino effect could stall or stop your own house sale in its tracks.
• 5.5% of buyers pull out due to slow progress – the longer your sale takes to get to the exchange stage, the greater the chance that any of the above will happen. Even if nothing goes wrong, your buyers may simply get frustrated with a slow sale and move on to a different property where things will move faster.

At 23.6%, buyers changing their mind is the most common cause of home sales falling through. This can happen for a number of reasons, including:

• Survey problems – if the survey reveals a problem with your home, your buyers may pull out, even if you give them a price reduction or offer to get the problems remedied yourself.
• Change of circumstances – life is ever-changing and your buyers may decide not to buy a home together, their relationship may fail, their health may suddenly change or they may fall pregnant and need a different kind of home.
• A change of heart – sometimes buyers who put in an offer in an initial rush of enthusiasm, will have second thoughts when they’ve had more time to properly consider your home and its location.
• Uncertainty – many people get cold feet as a result of world events. Things like the election of Donald Trump, the war in Ukraine and global trade wars, can leave people feeling unsettled and not ready to commit to a move and a mortgage.
• Cold feet – sometimes buyers, especially young first-time buyers, will simply get cold feet. Buying a house is the biggest purchase they will ever make, and it can be overwhelming if you’re not 100% sure.

What you need to do if your house sale has fallen through (and you need a quick sale)

Being told that your home sale has fallen through can be devastating, especially if you have your move to your dream home all lined up. However, it’s important not to panic; all may not be lost if you keep a calm head and act quickly to try to save the sale.

There are a number of things you can do if your house sale falls through, including:

• Talking to your estate agent – this is your first point of contact and you should speak to your estate agent as soon as possible. They’ll tell you why they think the sale fell through and advise you on your next steps. The market may have changed since you first agreed your offer and they’ll tell you if you can still achieve the same selling price.
• Talking to your sellers – you need to speak to your sellers (or their estate agent) to let them know what’s happened and ask for more time to find a new buyer. They may be able to wait, or they may give you a deadline to complete your own sale, but at least you’ll know where you stand.
• Renegotiating with your buyers – your original sale is still your best bet, so don’t assume your buyers are gone for good. There may be a way of saving the sale by renegotiating the price or being flexible on moving dates. 
• Asking your agent for alternative buyers – your estate agent will have a list of other people who showed an interest in your property and may be prepared to step in and take over the purchase. Consider incentivising them with a drop in price or offering to pay their legal fees.
• Relisting your property – if there’s no obvious alternative buyer, ask your agent to relist the property as prominently as possible. Consider reducing the price to get to the top of the list on property portals like Rightmove and Zoopla, and ask your agent to make yours their featured property for maximum exposure.
• Reducing the price – no one wants to reduce the selling price of their home unless they have to, but it can be a powerful selling tool. However, for maximum impact and the fastest sale, you need to consider a significant reduction to attract attention.
• Listing your property at auction – if you can’t find a new buyer fast, you may be able to sell your property at auction for around 90% of the market value in around two months. Unfortunately, this may not be fast enough to save your move and there’s no guarantee that your property will sell.
• Sell to a cash house buying company – the surest way to save your property sale is to sell your home to a cash house buyer. If you can prove that your sale is repairing a broken chain, you may be able to get a slightly higher offer than usual, at around 85% of the market value. A cash buyer will be able to complete your sale in as little as 14 days, or you can choose your own completion date to fit seamlessly into your original plans. To find out how much you can get selling your house to a cash buyer, click the cash offer calculator button below:

What can homeowners do to make a failed sale less likely?

While there’s nothing you can do about global politics or the personal circumstances of your buyers, there are a number of steps you can take to make your sale less likely to fail, including:

Keep marketing your home – your house isn’t sold until it’s sold, so keep your ‘for sale’ board up and ask your agent to continue to include it in their marketing and in their offices. There’s every chance that a back-up buyer may see it and like it, and ask to be told if the sale falls through.

Listing at the right price – the more realistic your property price, the less likely it is that your buyers will change their mind or get cold feet. A realistic price also makes mortgage lenders feel more comfortable lending on the property, so there is less chance of a problem with finances. What’s more, a well-priced home should attract a lot more interest, giving you alternative buyers to fall back on if the first ones pull out.

Getting ahead of the survey – if you know that there’s a problem with your property, don’t wait for the survey to point it out, because you can be absolutely certain that it will. Get ahead of the issue by either fixing the problem yourself, or by getting quotes to show that it is affordable for your buyers to fix (and offering a price reduction to compensate).

Understanding the process – the more you understand the home buying process, the better you will be at predicting and avoiding problems along the way. Don’t get caught out by unexpected events, make sure you know what’s coming.

Keeping up communication – maintaining an open dialogue between yourself and your buyers will ensure that you stay up to date with where they’re at throughout the process. The sooner you know about a potential problem, the sooner you can solve it for them.

Maintain momentum – as discussed above, some buyers will pull out of a sale simply because it’s taking too long. Keep up the momentum by checking in regularly with your estate agent and your solicitors to ensure everything is progressing as it should.

Expert Insight from Kelvin Elliott