Taking a house off the market – the rules

Sellers are not always keen to take a property off the market even though they have accepted your offer. We look at the rules of taking the house off the market when an offer has been accepted, what you can do if the sellers won't stop marketing their property and what to beware of.

Angela Kerr Director, Editor

Taking a house off the market after offer

A seller should take a property off the market once they’ve accepted an offer from a buyer. But they are not legally obliged to do so and it doesn’t always happen. For example, the seller may decide to accept the offer but not to take the property off the market if the buyer isn’t proceedable. This may be because you still have a property to sell or because of concerns over financial circumstances.

Taking a house off the market – the rules

When you have an offer accepted on a house there are no rules about it having to be taken off the market. Ultimately it is the sellers decision.

So, before making an offer, it’s a good idea to be in a position to proceed with the purchase as quickly as possible. Get a mortgage in principle in place and a conveyancing solicitor lined up. You can arrange a mortgage in principle today, for free, with our award winning mortgage partners at L&C.

You can also get quotes from conveyancing solicitors today via our site so you can shop around and find the best one. The more ready you are, the more likely you’ll be seen as a serous buyer.

Can I ask for a house to be taken off the market?

Yes. You can and should ask for a house to be taken off the market and for any future viewings to be cancelled as a condition of your offer on the house, or after the offer has been accepted. The estate agent will usually ask for details of your conveyancing solicitor and to see your mortgage in principle in order to action this. See more about what estate agents require at this point in our guide on making an offer and negotiating the price.

It’s worth noting that while you’ve had an offer accepted, the agreement between you and the seller does not become legally binding until contracts have been exchanged. So the vendor can still accept offers right up until this point. Taking the house off the market should help prevent other buyers from making higher offers and gazumping you. Read on for more ways to protect yourself from being gazumped.

Offer accepted on house. But why is it still on the market?

There are no rules about taking a house off the market after an offer has been accepted. And if the seller continues to market their property, they can still accept offers from other buyers which leaves you at more risk of being ‘gazumped’.

If a seller won’t take a property off the market, one way to try to convince them is to offer something in exchange to show your commitment such as getting a survey carried out as soon as possible after the offer has been accepted.  See our advice on what type of survey should I get and how to arrange your survey.

However, if the seller still won’t take the property off the market, it should ring alarm bells especially if you’re in a strong buying position. If they want to keep their options open despite a good buyer wanting to go ahead, they may be looking to hedge their bets and achieve a higher price.

How can I protect myself from gazumping?

Gazumping is when another party makes a higher offer on the house you are in the process of buying and has that offer accepted. See our advice guide on gazumping and how to avoid it. You may not be able to stop it happening but you can protect yourself against some of the financial losses of being gazumped by taking out home buyer protection insurance. If the sale falls through because the seller changes their mind or accepts another offer, you’ll be able to claim back some of your conveyancing fees, survey fees and any other costs you may have had to pay out.

Is paying a deposit to take a property off the market a good idea?

It depends. The idea of paying a deposit to take a property off the market is to allow the buyer to pay to essentially reserve the property and reduce the risk of gazumping. If the sale goes ahead the deposit should be taken off the buyer’s costs. But if they pull out without ‘good reason’ this is paid to the seller.

However, there has been a lot of criticism about these deposits and in 2016 The Property Ombudsman updated its code of practice to say: ‘Unless the buyer and seller wish to utilise a reservation agreement, you should not generally facilitate pre-contract deposits. However, if you are instructed to do so, you must ensure that before a deposit is taken, the circumstances under which the deposit is to be held, refunded, forfeited or used towards the purchase, are clearly stated in writing, agreed by the relevant parties and a copy of the agreement provided to those parties. In each circumstance the beneficiary of the deposit (and any interest accrued) must be clearly defined.’

Think very carefully before paying a pre-contract deposit to an estate agent. And if you do plan to do this, firstly, check if they are a member of a redress scheme like the Property Ombudsman and ask for the proposed conditions of the pre-contract deposit in writing.