“After 8 weeks of torture… I decided to go to a real conveyancing firm.”

A Webuyanyhome guide says nuisance neighbours can sabotage a sale by putting washing out during viewings, making noise or even warning buyers not to move in.

A survey that should have been straightforward became a mess after we felt mis-sold on what we were actually buying.

The first buyers pulled out after survey, and now every new viewer wants to know what was in that report, even though we never got a copy ourselves.

The whole experience of losing a buyer, losing the house we loved, then starting again has put us off moving for a decade.

The government’s plan to move towards commonhold is partly a response to years of complaints that the current system is outdated, unfair and actively damages the resale prospects of some flats.

A Trustpilot reviewer calls Pinnacle Surveyors ‘the worst surveyors you’re likely to meet’, saying their valuation and service left them out of pocket and set their purchase back significantly.

Our buyers walked away the day before exchange – one email and six months of planning, packing and paying fees just evaporated.

This company should be shut down… nearly 8 months… no problems purchase.

They said all the stories they hear from agents locally are about high-fee flats sticking on the market while houses and low-charge properties still move.

I felt rushed and pressured into signing the entire time. Ended up changing solicitors.

Avoid like the plague if you actually ever want to buy or sell.

Chain stalled: poor competence and communication; lender and other solicitor exasperated by delays.

A buyer pulled out after a survey report that the seller believes contained major inaccuracies and alarming claims that didn’t match reality.

Like many others, we found out the hard way that one in three transactions can collapse, taking thousands in sunk costs with them.

We were already on our second mortgage offer extension because of slow conveyancing, and now the PM Law collapse might push us past the lender’s final deadline. If that happens we’ll lose the house completely.

My buyers solicitor doesn't appear to have done a single thing.

Our solicitor misinterpreted the lease clause about ground rent escalations. The error only came to light when our lender rejected the property, collapsing the chain.

I always ask why the previous sale fell through, but you never really know if you’re being told the whole truth or just a vague story about 'personal circumstances'.

On another page of that thread, a commenter said their own sale fell through several times due to Covid disruption before they finally managed to complete.

They’d lined everything up for moving day, then watched it collapse in a single phone call – no compensation for the lost time and money.

Our purchase is stuck because Butterworths Solicitors – part of the PM Law group – closed with only a handwritten notice on the door. We were expecting to exchange within days and now have no idea who holds our file.

Our sale fell through twice for different reasons, and the final sale was plagued by leasehold problems. Thankfully our solicitor stayed patient and kept pushing it along.

The judge said her behaviour crossed into harassment and blackmail because she was trying to sabotage every attempted sale until he paid her off.

We were recommended an ‘integrated’ mortgage service and sent all documents, then the adviser disappeared entirely. After weeks of silence we had to start again elsewhere.

Our London flat has no soundproofing, the bath waste pipe is open and not connected to drainage, the kitchen sink drains into an exposed hall area, and there are ventilation leaks. The management company and council refuse to help or even inspect, and we are concerned for our family's safety.

Appalling communication and customer service… we're currently a month delayed.

Borrower says their bank gave conflicting information about the expiry date of a mortgage application after a rate change, leaving them unsure whether their offer expired in November or February.

Seller reports that the estate agent only managed to reach the buyer after completion had already fallen apart, showing how little control sellers have when a buyer withdraws at the last minute.

Our first buyer pulled out over financing after all the conveyancing was done, leaving us racing against our own mortgage expiry with a new buyer.

Buyer says their solicitor brushed off concerns about a shared septic tank and only after exchange did they learn it failed current rules and would need an expensive new treatment plant.

A poster described their chain falling apart on the day of exchange; they had completion dates booked, boxes packed, and then everything stopped in one email.

had to give it up as a bad job.

It really opened our eyes to how high ongoing fees can scare off future buyers, even if the flat itself looks like good value.

Our chain broke after the buyer decided they didn’t want a leasehold house, even though that was obvious from the listing; their mortgage offer expiry became the excuse.

Some owners were never warned they might face six-figure bills when their lease approaches expiry.

The estate agent insisted the property was ‘chain free’, then months later we discovered the seller still hadn’t found anywhere to buy.

Buyer says there was no chain and the house was empty, yet the estate agent repeatedly said the memorandum of sale would be sent that week and never followed through.

We picked this company on price alone and soon found we'd made a terrible mistake! …We never heard from them.

The council lost the first search request and mis-processed the second; after three months of chasing we decided the universe was telling us to walk away.

We ended up lowering the price by thousands just to get out, because after the failed sale and delay we couldn’t face months of marketing again.

A leading property law firm wrote that flat owners facing excessive and rising service charges can find it very hard to sell because buyers don’t want to inherit those bills.

Massively undervalued the property I am purchasing by £12k which caused a lot of stress, and wasted time.

Ten days of trying: no calls answered, no emails replied to, and chats ignored.

Solicitor said they would act for me on conveyencing. I paid them the upfron fee and then they decided that they couldn't act for me.

A move was held up while waiting for the managing agent to provide a sales pack; the silence dragged on for weeks despite chasing.

Buyer says they were mis sold a house after discovering a long standing rat infestation and a neighbour dispute that were never disclosed, and now feels financially ruined with no help from their conveyancer.

I would give zero stars if I could. The amount of delays, no communication and me chasing them is utterly unacceptable!

We’ve had a notice to complete served, our lender has already released the mortgage funds, and we’ve paid our deposit. Because PM Law shut overnight, the money is in limbo and we could be in breach of contract through no fault of our own.

Our buyer’s solicitor is one of the PM Law brands and we are already under notice to complete. The funds have supposedly gone out but no keys have been released and no one can explain what’s happening.

We’re totally broken by the market – we’ve done everything right and still ended up with no house and a pile of invoices.

The first online agent overvalued our property and then gave months of poor service before we sacked them.

The house had already fallen through once with a cash buyer, and they felt fobbed off with vague excuses about the other side’s solicitor being slow.

Over the years several estate agents have given such poor service that they really damaged the industry's reputation.

On a leaseholder forum, one owner complains they feel ripped off paying over £1,200 in service charges for a small block with no lift and minimal services.

Our buyer’s buyer has pulled out and we are desperate not to lose the house we are buying. We absolutely love it and are even considering putting a stakeholder deposit with our solicitor as reassurance to the seller that we will not pull out. Our solicitor says she has never done this before and does not have a suitable contract, so we feel very exposed and unsure how to keep our purchase together.

A buyer says they paid thousands in a modern method of auction reservation fee, completed everything on time, but the seller dragged their heels until the reservation period expired — then sold to someone else.

A LegalAdviceUK poster said their house sale was on the verge of falling through because the seller’s solicitor was so slow that everyone else in the chain was losing patience.

They’re racing against their fixed-rate mortgage ending, desperate not to be left with a buy-to-let they can neither afford nor easily sell.

We were interested in buying with tenants in situ but the lack of proper inventory and deposit protection made it feel like a legal minefield, so we walked away.

We’ve got a neighbour from hell and were told we must disclose any formal complaints to future buyers. I’m terrified it will scare people off and make the house unsellable.

After all the stress of one failed sale, having a company that simply got it done felt like a relief, even if we took a hit on the price.

Another estate agent review article mentions sellers who only got two viewings in five weeks with a ‘reputable’ agent before switching to a different company in frustration.

On another forum, a seller describes feeling ‘so stressed’ after their sale collapsed, wondering whether to relist, rent or abandon the move entirely.

Seller alleges key documents were misplaced, forcing re-sends and delaying an estate sale.

The conveyancer changed half‐way through and the new person inherited zero briefing. We got no handover and no update for weeks.

Cost me thousands… sale fell through… they kept the deposit from the buyer.

Conveyancer took a week to pass on key info — when quick replies were crucial to keep dates.

An MSE thread titled ‘Buyer taking too long with conveyancing’ describes 14 weeks of queries from the buyer’s solicitor and a lender using its own lawyer, generating even more requirements.

We’ve had sales fall through over everything from survey results to mortgage problems and gazumping; each time we lose thousands in costs and months of our lives.

Our chain is hanging by a thread – we sold in September, but third parties keep dragging their feet and it feels like any tiny wobble could bring the whole thing down.

A home-selling guide says many collapsed sales come down to the same problems: mortgages falling through, bad surveys, slow solicitors and buyers or sellers simply changing their minds.

The damp specialist said it mostly needed ventilation and a dehumidifier, but the damage to buyer confidence was done and they’d already walked away.

The so-called no-sale-no-fee firm still invoiced us for searches and Land Registry costs when the sale collapsed, and hounded us for payment.

A Trustpilot review for Lang Town & Country describes an eleven-month journey with multiple chain collapses before the buyers finally secured the house they loved.

A second valuation came back £30k lower than an earlier one, risking the deal. The buyer said it created problems they didn’t need.

Our sale fell through after six months because the buyer’s lender decided the flat was ‘unmortgageable’ due to cladding, something nobody mentioned at viewing stage.

I’m selling my flat largely to escape ever-increasing service charges; in the end it’s the building that’s trapping me, not the mortgage.

Our buyer’s mortgage offer ran out because of endless delays and awkward responses from the seller’s side; the bank refused an extension and the chain collapsed.

Homeowner says multiple defect claims were rejected or delayed, leaving them feeling exposed after buying a new build.

A MoneySavingExpert user wrote that their leasehold flat had sat on the market for years with no sale, mainly due to high service charges and nervous buyers.

In a Mumsnet thread, someone said their vendors pulled out after months, just as they were about to exchange, because they ‘no longer fancied moving’ and wanted more time.

Before completion I paid my share of the annual estate maintenance fee to my solicitor, who sent it on to the seller's solicitor. Four months later the managing agent has written to me saying I still owe the amount, and the seller's solicitor is not responding, leaving me stuck in the middle.

On Trustpilot, a Springmove reviewer says their house sale collapsed just before exchange and they were exhausted from a year-long selling process before being referred to a quick-sale firm.

A buyer alleges an estate agent didn’t disclose a severe flood risk (level 3) before they offered — and they only found out weeks before completion via solicitors, after spending thousands.

Buyer reports discovering after completion that the loft conversion had no building regulation sign off and says neither the estate agent nor their conveyancer clearly explained the risks during the purchase.

We’d trusted them with all our documents, so it was galling to be blamed for ‘inaccurate information’ when the mistake was theirs.

Our house sale fell through and with it we lost the bungalow we’d set our hearts on; we’re devastated and feel too exhausted to start over.

They talk about months of uncertainty, rearranged moving plans and money wasted, all because their original buyer pulled out at the last minute.

After selling, says they dragged their feet closing the account and removing name from liability.

One MSE user said they’d advised clients with riverside flats that high service charges made them hard to sell and kept prices lagging behind other blocks without such expensive upkeep.

Paid for documents but received the wrong ones and then emails were ignored; no clear complaints route.

The HomeOwners Alliance lists ‘delayed or unclear communication’ as one of the most common reasons people end up formally complaining about their conveyancer.

They describe being threatened with significant fees and being chased by solicitors, while also facing ongoing mortgage and council tax on an empty property.

If the agent had been upfront about the lack of sign-off, we’d never have spent hundreds getting that far into the process.

The HomeOwners Alliance points out that the largest number of Legal Ombudsman complaints relate to residential conveyancing – especially poor communication and delay.

Our first sale fell through due to mortgage valuation issues and we had to accept a lower price with the next buyer to keep things moving.

The emotional crash when the buyers pulled out just before we expected to move was awful. I didn’t sleep properly for weeks afterwards.

The Housing Ombudsman found dozens of complaints about inaccurate or unclear service charge estimates in shared-ownership schemes.

Seller claims slow replies and a lack of phone access made a time-sensitive sale process stressful and expensive.

They feel powerless watching the deal edge towards collapse just because nobody can get the solicitor to pick up the phone.

Buyer says their solicitor was instructed for a straightforward cash purchase in July 2025, yet by January 2026 ownership still had not been registered and repeated calls produced no clear resolution.

We had to abandon the purchase after discovering the lease had less than 70 years left and the freeholder wanted a fortune to extend.

One MSE user said their flat is ‘impossible to sell’ because annual service charges have jumped so high that buyers walk away as soon as they see the figures.

We were supposed to complete on Friday. Instead, we’re in a short-term let with our furniture in storage because our conveyancing firm shut overnight and nobody can tell us when we can actually move in.

We have a viewing arranged at short notice but cannot fully clear the garden of dog waste because of disability and recent surgery. We are worried it will put buyers off.

The conveyancer waited until the last moment to tell us they had not received the signed transfer deed. It had been sitting in their post room for a week, unopened, while everyone in the chain assumed we were ready.

The idea that you might have to take over the right to manage just to make your flat saleable shows how broken some managing agents have allowed things to become.

Twice now, our purchase has died at the survey stage. It makes you feel like every property is a ticking time bomb once a surveyor gets involved.

Estate Agent Today reported that nearly one in five sellers admit they haven’t disclosed neighbour disputes to buyers, even though doing so risks the sale collapsing later.

Paid a large fee expecting a smooth mortgage and insurance setup, but advisers kept changing without handover, the lender wasn’t responded to, and insurance arrangements were wrong or not put in place.

We were told… smooth process if using their mortgage advisor and solicitors.

Our estate agent says several sales and purchases with Butterworths have all been frozen at once. Everyone in the chains is panicking that the deals will fall through before new solicitors can step in.

Solicitors say you’ll have to mention any boundary rows on the TA6 form anyway, so hoping buyers never find out is not a realistic option.

A Times piece asks whether you can really trust property listings, highlighting missing or inaccurate details on cladding, service charges and even whether a property is genuinely available.

I thought ‘no move, no fee’ meant exactly that, but when the sale collapsed I was handed an £800 bill for an insurance policy I didn’t even know I’d supposedly agreed to.

Conveyancer delays are costing us thousands in rent and storage while we wait to complete.

We listed with a national agent and didn’t realise our flat had a sky-high service charge until buyers kept pulling out at the last minute.

Our buyers pulled out after their survey flagged old subsidence, even though previous reports and insurance showed it had been resolved.

Residents in ‘affordable’ shared-ownership homes say service charges shot up by hundreds of percent compared with what they were led to expect.

Buyer says their purchase fell apart when the vendor let the place instead, and now refuses further viewings until after notice to the tenant.

“Our case was held for 30 days… no communication with the vendor’s solicitors.”

I watched a whole chain fall apart when the buyer’s mortgage offer expired just before exchange; without a valid offer they simply couldn’t proceed.

Every update was just 'waiting on the other side' with no meaningful detail.

Our process was ‘very painful’ – in 19 months we had three collapsed chains before finally getting to completion.

Buyer says they considered changing conveyancers soon after offer acceptance because the solicitor was already creating concerns despite the mortgage offer and survey moving quickly.

Mortgage valuation visit lasted minutes, then the property was declared unmortgageable because communal areas were ‘poor’. Buyer felt it was absurd.

Seller withdrew during completion; company then used excuses and loopholes to avoid refunding payment.

BetterMove’s blog explains that high service charges can put buyers off straight away and reduce the pool of people who can afford to run a flat, not just buy it.

Their clerk scanned our ID incorrectly twice, delaying our AML verification. Only after escalating did the firm admit it was human error.

Seller says their solicitor held onto signed documents for a week before posting them, without explanation.

We had to pull out when the seller accepted a private offer from a friend after we’d already committed to surveys and legal fees, effectively using us as a stalking horse.

We are mid property transaction and the service is worse than useless. Endless delays, lies and inefficiencies.

Our buyers’ solicitor has been ‘reviewing paperwork’ for over eight weeks. We’re scared they’ll just walk away from the sale.

Felt like the default outcome was to down-value, regardless of evidence. It caused stress and threatened the mortgage offer.

A Mumsnet poster asks if they’re being unreasonable not to disclose a long-running neighbour dispute, despite twenty years of noise complaints and council involvement.

They recommend doing the legwork on insurers in advance, otherwise you risk a sale falling through just because buyers panic when comparison sites decline to quote.

“Final request… included unspecified additional charges… first correspondence I had received.”

One Reddit user asked how to stop their sale falling through for a third time, after two buyers had already pulled out and they were emotionally shattered.

Our chain nearly fell apart because the buyers at the bottom didn’t realise how long searches can take – they assumed it was like ordering a credit check.

A buyer described being stuck for weeks because the other side’s conveyancer wouldn’t respond properly, forcing repeated chases.

Ground rents have become controversial — we thought we owned the freehold when in fact we had little control and large escalating fees on house we bought.

Buyer says their mortgage valuation came in twenty thousand lower than the agreed price, the survey listed damp and roof issues, but the seller refused to negotiate at all and the estate agent just told them to find more money.

Source-of-funds/source-of-wealth checks took longer than expected and delayed answers.

Readers report paying removal companies twice and covering hotel stays due to delayed mortgage funds.

Seller reports that their agent listed the property with key material information missing, leading to a buyer pulling out on survey and the seller still being chased for the full fee despite getting no completed sale.

Paid premium package (£1,499); later told it only covered six months and had expired after buyer issues.

We’re waiting for an insurance certificate to progress issues; experience shows why reform is needed.

Another Ombudsman case involved a conveyancer whose poor communication and delay meant a sale fell through; the clients said they’d never understood what was going wrong until the buyer walked.

Our solicitor strongly advised us to pull out; we lost money on fees but dodged what would have become an unsellable flat.

The reviewer said a competent progressor made all the difference when it came to keeping the subsequent chain from collapsing again.

The Times reports a family who have spent £43,000 on service charges and council tax while failing for five years to sell a retirement flat.

Our previous sale fell through and we turned to SmoothSale; they got it back on the market quickly and resold it before the whole chain imploded.

LawHive explain that if a seller lies about neighbours on the TA6, it can amount to misrepresentation and give buyers grounds to claim losses later.

The collapse of our completion left us technically in breach of contract; instead of celebrating moving day, we were on the phone to solicitors arguing about liability.

Our chain collapsed even after we’d exchanged – the buyer at the bottom couldn’t complete and suddenly everyone above was scrambling to see who would cover whose costs.

A landlord alleges a lack of transparency by their letting agent after discovering the tenant was paying a higher amount via a third party, while the agent only disclosed the lower figure used for their commission calculation.

A MoneySavingExpert poster ranted that their estate agent overvalued the house, barely generated any interest, then the eventual buyer still backed out and they had to relist at a lower price.

They say agents should properly check how secure a buyer’s position is – chains, finance and timescales – instead of just declaring ‘sale agreed’.

“Transferred £60k via CHAPS… then told the details were incorrect.”

A landlord complains of being billed heavily for routine paperwork, calling the charges disproportionate.

We submitted an offer but the agent insists on checking finances before passing it to the seller. We have had no confirmation that the offer was even communicated despite the agent telling us our figure was reasonable.

“We feel there’s no point re-listing until this is rectified.”

Client reports their solicitor ignored multiple urgent emails about completion funds until the last minute, causing near-collapse of the sale.

The estate agent kept telling us ‘it’s all with the solicitors’ while our buyers’ searches hadn’t even been ordered.

Brokers call the situation ‘chaos’, saying buyers suddenly face five-figure shortfalls or have to walk away after months of work.

ONP Solicitors warn that choosing the wrong conveyancer can lead to delays, poor communication and nasty surprises later in the transaction.

We’re FTB with no chain but our solicitor replaced halfway through the process and now exchange looks six months away.

On r/HousingUK, a seller says their buyer pulled out just two days before exchange, and they are ‘absolutely gutted’ after months of planning a move back home.

Our neighbour started harassing viewers whenever we had a viewing booked – shouting over the fence about parking and noise.

By the time our second purchase fell through we’d already paid a mortgage broker fee, survey and solicitors twice, with nothing to show for it.

My house sale fell through twice and both times I could pinpoint the moment it went wrong: the buyers suddenly went quiet and stopped replying to messages.

Worst legal firm... so slow and not responsive to chasing things up.

Buyer says their lender had still not picked up a survey report more than a week after it was sent, leaving them waiting around with no clear timeframe for the mortgage decision.

A cash buyer alleges the agent misled them and pushed them to look elsewhere, calling the conduct unprofessional.

Leasehold sale stuck: management pack delays and high fees stall transactions even when everyone is chasing.

On JustAnswer, a seller was told that even a ‘resolved’ driveway dispute might still need to be disclosed because it created a formal record with the council.

Interest rates jumped twice while we waited for the chain to sort itself out; by the time we were ready to exchange, the payments were no longer affordable and we had to walk away.

The same buyer says their mortgage offer expires mid-December and they’re panicking about whether they need an extension because no one will confirm what’s holding things up.

After our original sale collapsed, our previous agent’s only idea was to shove us into a low-reserve auction, then asked for another huge price cut when that didn’t work either.

They encourage sellers to explain honestly why a previous sale collapsed, because hiding it just makes new buyers more suspicious when they inevitably find out.

The buildings insurance quote nearly doubled after we declared past movement; our broker said some lenders would flat-out refuse, so we withdrew before it got that far.

We’ve now had two purchases collapse, each costing a couple of thousand in fees. Nearly a year of trying to buy and we’re about £5,000 down with nothing to show.

Advice pieces on selling land with boundary issues say that in many cases only specialist cash buyers or auctions will touch it, which limits options and drives down the achievable price.

Nobody would give us a straight answer for hours; we eventually found out our buyer’s side simply hadn’t got the money together.

Our buyer’s lender refused the mortgage after seeing the valuation report, and there was nothing we could do but wait for a new buyer and start again.

Seller says a chain-free sale ran for roughly six months with minimal progress until the buyer finally withdrew.

Our conveyancer never clearly explained that we’d be responsible for insuring the property from exchange, which nearly delayed things when the lender checked the policy details.

In ‘Sellers’ solicitors are moving slow’, a buyer says their own lawyer is fast and responsive, but the seller’s solicitors are dragging things out and risking the deal.

The stress from our house sale falling through has wrecked my sleep and my mood; I feel like I’ve been living in limbo for months.

Described as unethical/incompetent with poor communication and high charges.

The seller admits they just ‘lost interest’ in the house because nothing seemed to improve with the neighbour, so they put it up for sale.

Some say their flats are basically unsellable because buyers and mortgage lenders walk away as soon as they see the service-charge schedule.

After buying a repossessed property, the new owner got a charging order letter in the old owner’s name, creating fear of legal fallout.

Refusing the in-house mortgage broker made the buyer feel frozen out of viewings and offers, like access was being used as leverage.

We felt completely stuck in limbo because our agent gave us no clear plan or communication about the sale.

We felt pushed to accept this surveyor via the lender, then got an experience of poor communication and avoidable hold-ups.

Even though the sellers’ solicitor already had the contract pack ready from a previous buyer, it still took far longer than expected to send anything across.

The solicitor failed to explain that the 'flying freehold' element of the property could cause remortgage problems. Our next lender refused the security and we faced extra legal costs to resolve it.

Buyer says the estate agent dismissed survey findings, claimed repair quotes were too expensive, and pressured the buyer not to renegotiate despite roof concerns.

A Guardian investigation into ‘affordable’ homes says some shared-ownership residents have seen service charges increase by up to 400%, leaving them effectively trapped.

Poor communication, all words no action… had to beg for viewers…

JMP Solicitors received a review from a client whose sale fell through twice; they praised the firm for staying on top of things and pushing both sets of lawyers so the eventual purchase didn’t drag forever.

Solicitor misread the lender’s mortgage conditions, resulting in extra documentation and delays close to completion.

Buyer says a lender pulled a mortgage offer after exchange, leaving them unable to complete the onward purchase and facing the loss of a 60,000 pound deposit plus seller costs.

Daylight robbery! Connells have taken my money for several valuations during the past year.

A buyer says their purchase is stalling because the vendor’s estate agent won’t reply, and getting basic information about a management pack is ‘like getting blood out of a stone’.

People keep saying ‘don’t buy a leasehold’ because of hidden management charges and ground rents that buyers only appreciate after moving in.

Buyer says they are three months into a chain-free purchase and still have not exchanged, asking what is normal when there should be no chain delays.

Buyer alleges constant delays and poor updates put their mortgage offer at risk and nearly cost them the property.

Our solicitor vanished off the radar just when we needed to complete before the mortgage deadline, and we nearly lost the house as a result.

The ‘automated updates’ never matched what was actually happening; messages felt generic and didn’t answer the real questions.

Gaddes Noble handled a very simple, no-chain house sale but repeatedly asked for documents we’d already sent months earlier and then ignored emails showing this. No apology, just silence.

Now facing the risk of incurring unnecessary stamp duty costs.

The Legal Ombudsman’s conveyancing work shows many complaints centre on poor communication and delay – buyers left chasing solicitors who don’t reply for weeks.

I’ve got a mortgage offer that’s valid for six months on a house that’s now fallen through; I’m being told the lender may not honour it for the next place.

Despite repeated requests, the conveyancer didn’t flag a restrictive covenant on the title. We only discovered it after completion, when we received a legal threat from a neighbour.

They warn that if an agent won’t explain what went wrong, you can’t fix the issue or properly prepare for the next buyer.

By the time we dropped the price repeatedly and paid all the ongoing fees, the investment had turned into a financial drain the family couldn’t escape.

Hundreds of us have joined support groups because we’re effectively homeless in the middle of a transaction – our old homes gone, our new homes blocked, and nobody giving clear answers.

I really regret choosing Yopa, a waste of 6 ...

At Lang Town & Country, a reviewer talks about an ‘exhausting 11-month journey’ where their chain collapsed several times before the team finally got it over the line.

Commenters advise setting money aside for disputed charges, because until the account is settled, buyers and their solicitors may simply walk away.

They note that if rates have risen or your circumstances have changed, you might not even qualify for the same deal again.

After documenting over £2,000 in direct costs... they initially offered... £250 compensation

Our solicitor at Proddow Mackay stopped answering calls after the closure notice. The phone is constantly engaged and the website has vanished.

We had to rely on the buyer's agent to get information because our own agent did not do their job.

They say even the broker got involved to chase the solicitor, but it still felt impossible to get straight answers or timely action.

The buyers fell in love with the house, then pulled out when they realised the garage was legally separate and could, in theory, be sold off on its own.

We’d paid for searches and surveys before anyone mentioned that some lenders simply won’t touch that type of construction at all.

A buyer on r/HousingUK says their solicitor ‘never gives any updates’ – emails go unanswered and they have no idea if searches have even been requested.

Our mortgage broker passed us between multiple handlers. No one knew the case history, so documents kept getting ‘lost’.

Endless delays, lies and inefficiencies.

We had our sale and onward purchase both with the same PM Law brand. Overnight closure means both transactions are frozen, movers booked, and we’re looking at the real prospect of having no home to go to.

BLB Solicitors emphasise that the TA6 requires sellers to disclose complaints or anything that might lead to a future neighbour dispute, not just full-blown court cases.

The Sun highlights a couple whose service charges jumped from £2,800 to £7,500 a year, leaving them unable to sell and delaying plans to grow their family.

Client claims solicitor failed to act on a query from the buyer’s solicitor for nearly a month.

The surveyor valued the property far below what we’d agreed to pay; our mortgage offer was cut and we couldn’t make up the difference, so the purchase collapsed.

Several prospective buyers said point-blank that the service fee made the numbers unworkable compared with similar flats, so they walked away.

We have had a terrible experience with a bills management company called The Bunch, who are supposed to collect money from us and pass it to suppliers. They have taken money but not paid the suppliers, sent random extra charges and demanded ridiculous sums, and overall it has been the worst time dealing with them.

Avoid like the plague! Very poor competence and communication.

Our buyers pulled out after their broker finally admitted he’d put them with the wrong lender for our property type, and their new bank wouldn’t lend enough.

Unacceptable delays, inaccurate paperwork, slow follow-ups, no sense of urgency

On another MSE thread, posters discuss buying the previous buyer’s searches and survey after a fall-through to avoid paying again for the same checks.

“I am extremely disappointed… purchase attempt that fell apart due to a lack of critical information disclosed upfront.”

Communication was well below expectations and we got almost no notice of completion.

We have a mortgaged house with no insurance and untreated subsidence. Every insurer we approach refuses cover and I don’t see how we can ever sell in this state.

We ended up frantically shopping around for a specialist insurer just to keep the chain from collapsing.

The HomeOwners Alliance says rising legal complaints often relate to slow updates, lost documents and clients only discovering problems once their sale collapses.

Guidance stresses sellers and agents must share all they know about a property; buyers have the right to these facts before committing.

Campaigners accuse housing associations of mis-selling by massively under-estimating future charges, leaving owners stuck in properties they can’t sell or afford long-term.

Valuer seemed positive in person for the remortgage, then later down-valued the property. It caused shock and immediate mortgage stress.

Restrictive covenant discovered on the eve of exchange. We were told the garden was 'private' but found out access rights were shared.

For that client, having a proactive solicitor was the difference between yet another collapse and finally getting over the line after months of setbacks.

We asked the completion date three times. No answer, then a last-minute demand for extra funds. No prior warning.

Houses usually sell quickly in our village but our agent could not generate interest or keep us informed.

Our buyer pulled out after a survey that felt wildly inaccurate, including basic safety items allegedly missing that were plainly there.

The Times reported on a family who have spent roughly £43,000 on service charges and council tax while trying for years to sell their late mother’s retirement flat with no success.

A broker site warns that if your mortgage offer expires before completion, you may have to reapply, redo credit checks and risk losing the original interest rate entirely.

They’d paid for surveys and solicitors on their onward purchase and said they were so angry they ‘could throttle’ the would-be buyers.

A first-time buyer with a mortgage offer expiring in five days said they hadn’t even exchanged yet and were frantic that one missing bit of paperwork could blow the whole deal.

“Lost two buyers due to lies he told our buyers.”

Seller reports their sale collapsed because the buyer s solicitor repeatedly failed to send a simple redemption statement for weeks, while the estate agent just kept saying it was with the lawyers.

A seller says they needed a management pack for a sale and waited weeks while getting little help or clarity.

We lost our dream home because our buyer’s mortgage offer expired after months of chain problems; the lender wouldn’t redo the application on the same terms.

Our sale was held up because the freeholder’s managing agent took nearly six weeks to answer basic pre-sale enquiries.

We were even looking at school waiting lists for our planned move, but when the house sale fell through the whole relocation – and the school plans – just stopped.

A Waterstone Legal article lists causes of slow conveyancing including overworked law firms, unmotivated sellers and simple lack of communication between parties.

A guide on why flats aren’t selling in 2025 points to cladding, short leases, high service charges and poor management as recurring reasons buyers walk away.

Can't give zero otherwise I would... we were ready to complete the sale after 8 weeks.

On their case-study hub, the Ombudsman lists common themes in conveyancing complaints: poor communication, delay, weak advice and unexpected costs.

Our mortgage offer is due to expire before completion because the legal work has dragged on for months; the broker says we might have to reapply on worse rates if we miss the deadline.

“Land Registry can take time… should she be worried?”

Our first buyer walked because they couldn’t get searches back in time; the local authority was quoting 10–12 weeks and their rate was about to end.

Our house sale fell through at the very last minute but, to be fair to the agent, they had viewings and a new offer arranged within days.

Our sale fell through a couple of times during COVID; each time the solicitors seemed to drag things out while everyone’s circumstances kept changing.

Our whole chain depended on PM Law. Overnight their offices shut, staff were locked out, and nobody can contact them. They’re holding mortgage money in their client account and it feels like chains across the country are about to fall apart because of this.

The solicitor acting for us forgot to send the leasehold enquiries to the seller’s solicitor. This added nearly three weeks to the process and pushed us into penalty fees with our landlord.

“They purposely told me information late… rushed into purchasing it.”

We are being forced to pay our agents Yopa even though they did not sell our property. I did the viewing, sold the property myself and we lost the original sale because the house was listed incorrectly and key material information was missing.

“Only the seller pulled out… they aren’t giving me my money back.”

They’ve dropped the asking price by tens of thousands but say no buyer wants to take on such eye-watering annual costs.

Our buyers pulled out four days before exchange. The property opposite came on the market later and we ended up buying that instead – in better condition.

I’m terrified of putting the house back on the market because the last two buyers have walked away after survey – I’m just waiting to be ‘shafted’ again.

Our chain collapsed after five months when the top property fell through; nobody seemed to have a backup plan and we had to start completely from scratch.

A leasehold specialist says cladding issues, huge remediation bills and inflated service charges have created a whole class of ‘hard to sell’ flats that ordinary buyers and lenders avoid.

The whole process of buying a house has been painful and this is largely down to our solicitor.

Buyer’s premium refused even after the purchase attempt fell apart.

A Times story described a family who’ve spent over £43,000 on service charges and council tax trying for years to sell their late mother’s retirement flat.

Our chain broke because the buyers at the bottom decided not to complete before the SDLT deadline – everyone else in the chain is now facing thousands more in tax and interest.

On Gransnet, a mum said her son had two flat sales fall through at the point of exchange, with boxes packed and everything ready to go.

One adviser in the FCA’s Financial Lives survey said they’d been told they could change the property address on their mortgage if the first purchase fell through, only to find the lender wouldn’t honour that when it actually happened.

We’ve had two buyers pull out at late stages; each time we find a new one, it feels harder to believe the sale will actually happen this time.

Our rental property sale fell through twice in a row. Each time we paid for more solicitor work and never got close to exchanging contracts.

A Connells report nearly derailed our sale by flagging lots of serious issues as high risk, which didn’t align with reality.

The advice seems to boil down to ‘hope the lender plays ball’, which doesn’t feel like much protection with a legally binding contract hanging over us.

Some property lawyers argue the revamped property information form is unworkable but it does force more detail on flood risk and charges upfront.

An Alexander Grace Law client complained that when their initial sale fell through, the firm still charged the full amount even though the transaction never reached exchange.

An article on poor communication by a legal complaints firm advises clients to keep a log of unanswered emails and calls when their conveyancer goes quiet for weeks.

It still meant another valuation, more paperwork and weeks of delay, all because somebody else’s side of the deal collapsed.

One JustAnswer question comes from a seller who filled in the TA6 with ‘no disputes’, then later had to complain about a neighbour using their driveway.

They highlight how often buyers first learn of historic feuds only after they’ve moved in and started receiving aggressive letters or noise complaints.

The lender placed our case ‘under manual review’ with no timescale. We waited 23 days while the seller threatened to remarket.

Another poster described a buyer dropping out on the day of exchange for vague ‘personal reasons’, after everyone had booked removals and arranged time off.

They were also dual-listed with a big name high street brand and felt the smaller firm actually did more to keep finding new buyers when the chain kept breaking.

They expected a reduction after the collapse, but instead got a bill that didn’t reflect the stress or the fact the sale never actually completed.

They say their solicitor chased the buyer’s solicitor six times with no response, and even when the buyer chased them it took days to hear back.

A whole chain collapsed when one buyer let their mortgage offer expire, proving how fragile everything is when lenders set tight deadlines.

Hearing that a property has already been under offer and fallen through makes you wonder what the survey or searches turned up that you’re not being told.

Despite big price cuts, the flat is still unsold, and exit fees mean they’ll lose a chunk of the inheritance even if a buyer eventually appears.

Several of my clients have seen deals collapse because surveyors knocked tens of thousands off agreed prices and sellers refused to negotiate.

Reviews alleging organised scamming and attempts to remove genuine negative reviews.

Our buyer's buyer pulled out, breaking the chain. The agent suggested giving them two weeks to find a new buyer, but we are unsure whether that is reasonable or too short.

The agent never checked basic details with the seller and we constantly got conflicting information.

Our first-time buyer walked away after eight months because the managing agent took four months to produce a service charge pack and nobody chased them.

A law firm warns that down-valuations and buyers’ mortgage issues are increasingly common reasons for sales to collapse or be painfully renegotiated at the last minute.

Portal/communications blamed: buyers and sellers left chasing basic updates to keep the chain alive.

A MoneySavingExpert user said their buyer’s mortgage offer expired after months of delays, forcing everyone to sit and hope while a new lender was found.

“Offered £50 compensation… adds salt to the injury.”

Completion has been ‘next week’ for ages. Our conveyancer hardly answers calls or emails and I’m terrified the purchase will fall through.

Posters argue that without proper due diligence on service charges and ground rent, buyers can end up stuck with a flat they can’t afford.

Land Registry told us fixing the title problem could take up to a year because of a queue of older applications, so any hope of salvaging the original sale vanished instantly.

The amount of delays, no communication and me chasing them is utterly unacceptable!

Sold.co’s own guidance on neighbour disputes says properties with an ongoing row next door are simply ‘less valuable’ because buyers have to take on the hassle.

One buyer said their heart sank seeing properties pop back on Rightmove with ‘sale fallen through’ – it felt like a huge red flag that something was wrong.

Buyer says the process became an emotional grind because basic actions took too long and nobody owned it.

They said the idea of starting again with a new offer and higher rates was terrifying, and they felt powerless to speed up solicitors or the vendor.

I was told I should not expect replies the same week because they were so busy.

By the time our sale collapsed we’d spent nearly three thousand pounds on fees and reports, which is apparently close to the average loss when a transaction fails.

Seller says the buyer's mortgage application was still delayed after eight weeks, leaving the seller being advised to put the property back on the market rather than wait indefinitely.

A Trustpilot review for Agent & Homes describes switching agents after an initial sale fell through; the new agent actively marketed the property instead of just relying on a big brand name.

An Everys Solicitors article on the ‘hidden costs’ of leasehold says some owners face escalating ground rents and service charges that make it difficult to sell or remortgage at all.

On Property118, a leaseholder fears their aggressive freeholder is deliberately hiking service charges to make flats unsellable except to them.

Another ReviewSolicitors profile shows glowing feedback for one conveyancer, but notes that many people come to them after bad experiences with other firms’ slow progress and poor communication.

Mortgage offer took so long the seller lost patience. We lost the house after chasing constantly with no clear answers.

The Guardian reports average service charges for leasehold flats rising 11% in a year to £2,300, with over half of leaseholders now paying more in service charges than in council tax.

“This company should be shut down… nearly 8 months… simple house purchase.”

“Calls, voicemails, emails… all ignored for days.”

Transaction dragged on so long the buyer pulled out; emails ignored and no urgency at all.

A Trustpilot reviewer says a Countrywide survey ‘down-valued and ridiculed’ their home when they were trying to borrow more, leaving them angry and stuck on their existing mortgage.

We lost our sale purely because nobody at the firm picked up the phone or answered emails in time for the chain to hold together.

She said each collapse cost them more money and made their listing look ‘tainted’ every time the SSTC tag disappeared and it went back on the portals.

Client claims their solicitor repeatedly sent documents with names spelled incorrectly, delaying mortgage approval.

I have zero idea of a timescale

SmoothSale reviews include people whose original sale fell through, threatening their whole chain, until the company re-listed and sold again within a week.

Another Trustpilot reviewer says they pulled out on the day they were due to exchange because the search pack revealed high flood risk only at the last minute, even though the firm had held the results for weeks.

They only replied after I threatened to complain formally about the lack of communication.

Agents say prospective purchasers now walk away as soon as they see the service charge schedule, leaving some flats effectively unsellable unless prices are slashed.

They describe the leasehold system as ‘unregulated and vile’, with no real way out once the annual costs have spiralled.

We’re now onto a second buyer after the first one walked away just before exchange; both times we paid for searches that effectively ended up in the bin.

Buyer says final enquiries are still outstanding after months because the freeholder is supposedly unavailable, risking the purchase even after the seller agreed a deadline.

A Guardian feature on a cladding-blighted block describes residents living for years under scaffolding and blue netting, with flats practically unmortgageable.

Our buyers walked away because they suddenly didn’t like that the garage was on a separate title. It had been on the deeds the whole time yet they only panicked six months in.

My solicitor says the buyer’s solicitor hasn’t even contacted Barclays yet

Buyers pulled out after a survey that we believe was inaccurate, with basic items seemingly missed or misreported. The chain collapsed because of it.

Myerson’s guidance for sellers bluntly says that if you omit key details on the TA6, a buyer could both refuse to complete and sue for losses.

Their reports were described as factually wrong often enough that we’re escalating complaints to professional bodies.

Another ReviewSolicitors entry for Gilson Gray describes ‘communication consistently poor’, with phone calls rarely answered promptly and emails often waiting days for a reply.

It’s gutting to realise that in England you can get right to the brink of exchange, have the other side change their mind and you simply eat the costs.

I had to push them to negotiate properly instead of just telling me to accept a rock-bottom offer so they could bank their commission and move on.

Estate agent and we both called the seller’s solicitor. They said they’d ‘try to call back’ and then vanished. The chain collapsed two days later.

Buyer can’t get hold of their conveyancer by phone or email the week they hoped to exchange.

The advice everywhere is to look very closely at lease length and ongoing service costs, or you risk being stuck with something buyers keep walking away from.

We’re paying for a short-term rental an hour from the kids’ school because our sale completed but the purchase can’t go through until the PM Law situation is sorted. We did everything right and still ended up effectively homeless as a family.

Completion chaos and long delays created serious mortgage timing pressure for the sellers.

Our buyers backed out when they learned about historic arguments with the freeholder; their solicitor said taking on an active dispute was too risky.

Complaint that the firm is slow, hard to reach, and blocks a purchase because nobody responds.

More than a year after the transaction fell apart, the firm suddenly chased us for a conveyancing bill we’d never agreed, adding to the frustration.

Poster says their agent was poor at handling basics, kept them out of the loop and communicated badly throughout the sale.

They also highlight slow solicitors and local authority searches as classic deal-killers – by the time results arrive, some buyers have simply lost patience.

They guessed the first-time buyers had offered more than they were comfortable with, then panicked once reality and the survey costs hit.

They say they repeatedly had to prompt the firm to send documents and then struggled to get any response about refunding a deposit.

A seller says repeated non-responses made their transaction drag and created avoidable delays during conveyancing.

Our solicitor refused to communicate with the estate agent, slowing everything down. Basic updates took days because they would not speak to anyone but us directly.

Buyers complain their solicitors take days or weeks to reply, leaving them in the dark about progress.

They also highlight complaints where properties were sold for less than they were worth, with sellers blaming poor advice and weak negotiation from their agents.

Repeated spam calls from multiple numbers, despite never requesting contact—felt like harassment and possible data misuse.

We’d booked removals and arranged child care, then got a call at 4pm saying completion wouldn’t happen because funds hadn’t been released in time.

We’re being told Land Registry is so backed up that registration might take a year. It leaves us stuck when trying to remortgage.

Our solicitor at Wilsons Solicitors was holding sale proceeds when PM Law shut. We’re now stuck waiting for the regulator to untangle it.

Seller says a buyer pulled out a day before exchange after months of progress, leaving the seller angry at how easily a transaction can collapse so late in the process.

Felt like nobody owned the case; delays and little response led to missing out on a property.

An advice site warns that a history of subsidence makes it harder for buyers to get buildings insurance, which in turn can wreck mortgage applications at the last moment.

Months of poor service from the first agent left our sale in limbo until a different firm took over.

We lost money on a failed sale after the estate agent held onto the buyer’s deposit longer than they should and both sides argued about who’d lost out.

On a first-time buyer group, someone discovered their flat’s service charge had more than tripled from £60 to over £200 a month, and was told it might now be hard to sell without cutting the price.

The seller’s solicitor insisted on posting documents instead of using email, which added weeks to an already stressful timeline and cost us our buyer.

Weeks of silence on enquiries — we asked for status, got none. The lack of information is the worst part.

We were pressured into using the in-house mortgage adviser and felt it affected how seriously our offer was treated.

After spending money on valuation and legals, we had to abandon the purchase because cash buyers were our seller’s only hope.

A Trustpilot reviewer for SAM Conveyancing explained that their first sale fell through at the last minute and the second buyers were awkward and slow because they were buying via a pension.

The system lets sellers and buyers walk away after months, leaving people like us broken, out of pocket and still without a home.

Sometimes it took over a week to get any answer to urgent questions about the purchase.

the lender has not yet come back with a reply since two weeks now and our solicitor seems least intrested

Our entire chain depends on a PM Law group firm that has suddenly closed. Estate agents and other solicitors can’t get any answers, and everyone is scared the chain will collapse.

Our solicitor sent purchase monies to a PM Law firm on completion day, but the sellers didn’t get confirmation, the agent had no key release, and we spent the day sitting in a van with our belongings waiting for an update that never came.

Survey flagged serious structural movement and other major issues. Buyer felt trapped after paying around £700 and feared the deal collapsing.

Eventually in August, I got the call I knew was coming. The buyers had lost faith and withdrew their offer.

By the time the chain finally collapsed, we’d spent thousands on surveys, searches, arrangement fees and rent on a temporary place.

Waiting months for a certificate of deeds needed to complete a flat sale.

My solicitor refuses to send me copies of communications with the buyer’s side. I feel I have no control or visibility.

A Which? piece says one of the biggest reasons sales fall through is buyers changing their minds after survey, often with almost no explanation to the seller.

A recent article notes a ‘significant rise’ in people seeking help from the Ombudsman, with conveyancing complaints heavily focused on missed purchase deadlines.

The emotional toll of the sale collapsing was brutal; months of planning and packing vanished in an afternoon phone call from the agent.

The buyer's solicitor kept raising the same enquiry four times, even though the managing agent had already provided clear written answers. Each repetition delayed things and made the buyer think we were hiding something.

They said each collapse cost them more in fees and they were starting to think the only option was selling to a quick-sale company just to escape.

I have a maisonette with only 65 years left on the lease. I cannot afford the cost of extending it and do not want to spend money I will not recover. I owe 52k on the mortgage and need around 75k from the sale but interest from buyers is minimal.

MSE’s ‘Gazumped & angry’ thread centres on buyers losing a house after months when a rival offer came in, leaving them devastated and starting again from scratch.

HousePriceCrash posters complain that surveyors are routinely down-valuing homes in some areas, effectively preventing buyers from borrowing enough to pay the agreed price.

A buyer says the title plan didn’t match what was on the ground and their solicitor suggested adverse possession and indemnity insurance, while the lender decision dragged on.

The solicitor charged us for searches twice after misplacing the originals. They insisted it was unavoidable even though the delay was their own fault.

We pulled out of a house because of subsidence, but later found the estate agent telling another buyer that the sale had fallen through for completely different reasons.

Buyer says they had an offer accepted in September 2025 but by May 2026 still had not completed, and now wants to renegotiate after months of delay.

The estate agent was insistent that we speak to their in-house mortgage advisor. It didn’t feel like guidance — it felt like coercion.

One comment there says it’s not just the time taken, but the sense of incompetence and clients being left to do all the chasing themselves.

I thought helpful until our buyer pulled out due to his survey.

It shows how often deals fail for reasons outside the agent’s control – but also how crucial fast remarketing is if you want to keep moving.

When a buyer’s mortgage problems surfaced, the agent appeared unwilling to keep marketing properly, increasing the risk of the sale collapsing.

Every time a sale falls through, you’re just throwing survey and legal money down the drain; after our second collapse we started to question the whole system.

Six months later the buyers walked away and we were left wondering why nobody had been honest about the lack of progress.

Relatives say they feel trapped between dumping the flat at a huge loss or continuing to bleed money on charges for an empty property.

We’d been told exchange meant it was ‘all locked in’, then discovered that if the funds aren’t actually in place, the whole thing can still blow up.

They described spending on surveys and legals again and again, only to be flung back to scrolling listings, too drained to get excited about anything new.

The piece warns that hiding rows with neighbours can easily lead to fall-throughs or legal claims once buyers discover the truth.

A seller says their property sale fell through again and they no longer trust the estate agent, after paying upfront and believing the sale would go through smoothly.

An e-surv article says nearly 29% of property sales fell through in 2024, with the single biggest trigger being buyers withdrawing or cutting their offer after seeing the survey.

Our first sale collapsed when the estate agent failed to pass on vital information about a historic flood; the buyers found out from their own searches and lost all trust.

Seller says their estate agent did not tell them for weeks that the buyer had pulled out after memorandum of sale, only raising the issue much later when discussing what to do with the property.

I sent trust documents several times and still heard nothing back for weeks.

It says flat owners vent on forums about being stuck with homes that won’t shift unless they slash the asking price to offset ongoing charges and risks.

Reallymoving tell buyers to comb the TA6 form for past or ongoing neighbour rows; if anything looks worrying or vague, they say buyers are right to consider walking away.

I moved out to help my buyers complete before their mortgage expired, then the law firm acting for them went AWOL and left us in limbo.

The agent and sellers were aware of a major issue with the property but did not disclose it. We discovered it later from their social media and had to fight to recover our costs.

Our solicitor never explained what ‘subject to contract’ really meant; we assumed it was all done, then watched the buyers walk away with no penalty.

The freeholder’s quote to extend the lease was so outrageous that our solicitor advised against the purchase; it turned a ‘bargain’ flat into a ticking time bomb.

They also note sellers who believe their agent undersold the property, leaving them worse off financially and fuelling disputes after completion.

The new firm stepped in after that collapse, found another buyer and actually kept the seller updated throughout negotiations.

We discovered after completion that the solicitor had never checked whether the solar panel lease met our lender's requirements. The bank later queried the documentation and we had to pay for additional legal work to satisfy them.

By the time they understood there were cheaper, quicker options, the transaction had already fallen apart and they’d incurred avoidable costs.

A Trustpilot review for a national conveyancing firm praises them for being proactive and communicative, while noting that the biggest complaint people usually have about conveyancers is lack of updates.

Another poster in the same thread described two sales collapsing before they finally found a buyer, saying they had ‘no idea how people cope’ with the stress.

Incredibly slow start to conveyancing process: a month in and we’ve had no contact from the seller’s solicitor yet.

Homeowners are told to check listings carefully and insist missing material information is provided before they even book a viewing.

Process dragged on for months with radio silence and a clunky online portal.

Our conveyancing through Angela Viney Conveyancing Services stopped overnight. We’ve got buyers, removals booked and a mortgage ready, but nobody answering.

Another Trustpilot review says the seller endured a year of chain collapses and frustration with other agents before finally completing with an agent who actively managed the chain.

Move stalled for weeks waiting for a response; even formal complaint routes went unanswered.

Calls went to voicemail, emails ignored, I had no idea what stage my purchase was at.

Our buyer pulled out after their mortgage offer expired while waiting for the chain to inch forward – nobody warned us that offer dates could literally kill a sale.

My solicitor really good we were ready to complete the sale after 8 weeks But pm property lawyers started to find lots of different things to querie

They’re clear that hiding a live row is likely to end in either a fall-through or a nasty legal fight after completion.

We’re racing the clock before our fixed-rate with consent to let ends – if we can’t sell, we’re stuck with a rental that barely covers the costs.

The agent seemed far too busy and just left our listing to go stale without any real effort.

They’ve slashed the asking price far below what they paid, but buyers are scared off as soon as they see the yearly heating and management bills.

They explained that if you can’t get an extension, you may be left reapplying at worse rates, which can make the numbers no longer stack up for the house you wanted.

Our sale fell through several times with a previous solicitor and housing association. It was only when Watson Ramsbottom took over that things finally moved.

On two occasions we have been told things have been done (over the phone) when in fact several days later we get the notification to tell us they have only just been completed.

They’re left wondering if they can withhold payment while they wait, and whether the dispute will scare off future buyers if they try to sell.

By contrast, our previous agent had basically left us drifting when the first buyer walked away, with no clear plan to get things moving again.

We’re out of pocket on valuations, legals and searches and the lender just walks away. It makes you feel like the whole process is stacked against ordinary buyers.

My flat has been on the market since April. I paid £280k for this new build but listed it for £270k as it had already lost value, then dropped to £260k in July and have only had two viewers all year. I am wondering whether to take it off the market until after Christmas or drop to £250k.

Conveyancing dragged on with weak competence and communication, frustrating both the lender and the other side’s solicitor.

Appalling communication… our buyers have used this solicitor… delayed.

We thought we were on a genuine no-move-no-fee deal but still had to pay for searches and extras when the chain fell apart, which no one had clearly explained.

As of today, I still have not received my refund.

Even after dropping the price further by tens of thousands, the property still didn’t sell, leaving the owner feeling cornered and undervalued.

Posters said sellers often blame ‘flaky buyers’, but usually it’s something real: finance issues, survey results or information that should have been clear earlier.

It made us realise how little control you actually have – one cautious valuer can halt a whole chain regardless of what everyone else thinks the property is worth.

They described eight months of uncertainty with buyers dropping out, saying they genuinely didn’t know how they’d survived financially.

As a Butterworths client we were never clearly told they’d been absorbed into the PM Group. Only when the closure hit the news did we realise our wills and documents were locked away with no response to our emails.

Solicitor kept asking for documents already sent and claimed files were ‘mislaid’, stalling progress.

Our solicitor sent the wrong property address in correspondence twice. The buyer became suspicious and nearly pulled out due to the incompetence.

We’d planned everything around completing before the stamp duty deadline. When the chain broke the day after, we were left paying higher tax and facing a collapsed sale at the same time.

Action Fraud warns criminals hack email chains between buyers/sellers and solicitors/agents and send spoof emails on completion day claiming bank details have changed.

LandlordZONE reports landlords stuck with ‘unsaleable’ leasehold flats as service charges climb above £2,000 a year and buyers balk at the costs.

A right-of-way article points out that unresolved access disputes and unclear easements can seriously put off buyers and push sellers towards auctions or cash-only buyers.

Lockings Solicitors list slow mortgage valuations, late survey bookings and missing paperwork as classic conveyancing bottlenecks that can stall a chain for weeks.

Conveyancing fraud has left families unable to complete while still being liable for rent and fees.

A mortgage valuation by Countrywide undervalued my property by £50k.

They said the idea that someone can buy your freehold as an investment and then strip your disposable income through escalating charges is exactly why they’d never touch a leasehold flat.

Our sale fell through but the solicitor still billed us, which I later discovered is extremely common. Most people lose thousands when a sale collapses.

Sam Conveyancing warns that mortgage offers often last around six months and can be withdrawn if they expire before completion unless the lender grants an extension.

Movuno only got involved after our first agent let the sale drift for four months and then it collapsed without any real explanation.

We were told the surveyor was independent, but the valuation matched the mortgage offer almost exactly and left us unable to renegotiate a clearly over-priced house.

Another MSE thread, ‘Delay in exchange, I don’t understand why?’, shows a buyer confused about why nothing is progressing and why no one will commit to an exchange date.

Automated responses discouraged follow-up while issues remained unresolved; felt like deliberate slow-walking.

Communication from Angela Viney was awful. I was told my deeds had arrived and would be sent, but even after repeated chasing weeks later nothing turned up.

Our agent seemed more interested in protecting their relationship with a pushy developer than in being honest with us about why our sale had collapsed.

The whole chain is ready but we’re told the funds can’t be released in time. Bank and CHAPS delays are now threatening completion.

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They warn that these issues quickly turn into missed deadlines, frustrated clients and sometimes failed sales when chains lose patience.

They’re left unsure whether the weak marketing or the fragile buyers are to blame, and worry about losing their onward purchase.

Every time I called, the receptionist said the solicitor was out or in a meeting; by the time they finally rang me, the buyer had withdrawn.

We contacted building control and were told the foundations are adequate, but insurers still won’t touch us after previous subsidence issues. I’ve no idea what to declare when we try to move.

Another reviewer calls the Ombudsman ‘a complete waste of time’, feeling the body tends to side with agents and surveyors despite evidence from consumers.

We’re buying a new build and the developer’s timetable means our mortgage offer will run out before completion – we’re terrified we’ll be forced to reapply on worse terms.

Buyer alleges their transaction would have collapsed without constant chasing because nothing moved proactively.

We kept renewing our mortgage offer while chains kept failing further up; after the third collapse we finally walked away, thousands of pounds lighter.

One seller says their first house sale fell through, so they switched to a different branch who actually chased the chain and gave proper advice about the offers.

Survey valuation came in significantly low versus expectations, causing stress, renegotiation pressure, and wasted weeks in limbo.

A lender-arranged mortgage valuation slot was booked, the estate agent waited at the property, and nobody arrived. Then we were told nobody was available.

Our buyers are using this shambolic firm... now in month 6 of a simple conveyancing... no chain.

They’re frustrated watching deadlines slip while the other side gives no clear explanation for the hold-ups.

Our sale collapsed because the deeds plan didn’t match the actual garden; nobody noticed the error until the buyers’ solicitor dug into it.

Guidance article cites cases where failure to disclose key ‘material information’ led to complaints, delays and collapsed transactions.

Our buyer was relying on a gifted deposit from parents, who changed their minds halfway through; the agent only told us when the chain had already collapsed.

Our buyer’s lender refused to accept the cladding paperwork, so they pulled out and we were left with yet another unsellable leasehold flat.

Another Guardian piece profiles residents facing service charges up to £8,000 a year and planning legal action because their ‘affordable’ homes have become unaffordable.

A PM Law / PM Property Lawyers client says even the complaints team showed ‘prolonged delays, lack of communication and repeated errors’, and that they waited weeks just to get their completion statement and money back.

On r/HousingUK someone said you can start with a flat that has a modest £50 service charge and £100 ground rent, only to watch a new freeholder hike both to the point the flat becomes almost unsellable.

They felt the agent wasn’t big or proactive enough to rescue the chain in time, and were weighing up the risk of dual fees against the risk of losing their onward purchase.

Before we switched agents we’d had a year of chains falling apart and feeling like nobody was really steering things or keeping us updated.

It summed up the whole experience as ‘stress, delays and financial uncertainty’ – exactly how most people describe a chain once it starts wobbling.

We’ve reported serious disrepair and mould for years and nothing’s been done. The house is barely habitable, but councils almost never prosecute landlords so they just carry on.

“We pay significant service charges… poor service… negligent and actively endangers residents.”

As soon as I refused to use their expensive mortgage broker I was brushed off and wasnt allowed to view properties or put offers forward.

Off-plan delays left us paying for temporary accommodation far longer than budgeted.

A Legal Ombudsman case study described a conveyancing firm that repeatedly failed to update a client about a buyer’s intentions; by the time they realised the sale was in trouble, it had already fallen through.

Our mortgage offer expired after six months of conveyancing; four weeks later the chain collapsed and we were back to renting with no house and no offer.

HomeSellingExpert estimates that around 30% of UK property sales collapse, and many buyers only find out what happens to their mortgage offer after their sale has already fallen through.

They estimate the wider economic cost of failed transactions at up to £1.5 billion a year, which is insane when you remember every collapse is someone’s real life on hold.

Selling agent called ‘totally incompetent’; after 6+ months the buyer pulled out the day before completion.

The deposit wasn’t properly handled when the sale fell through and we spent months chasing the agent to get our money back.

We were told our complaint would be handled under the firm's internal procedure and that someone would respond within 28 days. Three months later nothing had happened, and we had to escalate straight to the Ombudsman.

Buyer says they had a mortgage offer approved, but the seller pulled out only four days later, leaving them with a mortgage offer tied to a purchase that had already collapsed.

“No one can provide any form of timescales for a resolution.”

Chased them… 6 times… not had a response.

Our previous sale fell through but the mortgage broker stepped in again and sorted a fresh deal without fuss when we found another property.

We asked an online group about a flat with a £2,400 service charge and ground rent. Loads of people warned it would be hard to sell on later.

Our estate agent never properly explained why the previous sale had collapsed, which made us suspicious there was more wrong with the place than they were letting on.

Our buyer’s mortgage was pulled after a change in their circumstances, and we were left out of pocket for legal work that had already been done.

The conveyancer missed a clear right-of-way issue shown on the title plan. Only when our neighbour objected after completion did we realise our access was legally disputed.

My experience… complete chaotic shambles… 16 months involvement.

They describe the system as paper-based, slow and overly complex, with average transactions taking around 200 days from offer to completion.

“This is holding up the sale… I am worried they may withdraw.”

Our flat has been on the market for months with hardly any interest. Shared ownership places like ours seem especially hard to sell right now.

We listed our house, got an offer and then watched the sale crumble. We were back on the market ranting about the whole thing just weeks later.

My daughter’s flat sale has fallen through twice now – once two years ago, and again with buyers who said they were ‘in love’ with it right up until they backed out.

I watched the chain implode when a lender refused to renew an offer that had quietly expired while the solicitors were still sending paper forms around.

Owners on the same thread said they pay around £180 a month service charge and still worry buyers will balk at the running costs when they eventually sell.

Our home in Kent has been on the market since September at what the agent says is the right price. We are chain free and motivated to sell but still have not sold and I am getting really anxious.

They add that modern estate agency feels formulaic and impersonal, and that good communication only kicked in when the situation became critical.

Says high charges on leaseholds don’t match service; described as extortionate.

We discovered after completion that our solicitor never checked whether building regulations approval existed for the loft conversion. The council later issued a notice.

“Offer accepted… middle of April… edging closer to September… no idea where the sale is.”

On MoneySavingExpert, a seller says their buyers’ solicitors passed the file around the firm and went two months with no work done at all, until everyone was ready to exchange – then the buyer simply vanished.

Our buyer’s solicitor insisted on waiting for a full local search instead of using search insurance; by the time it finally came back, they’d changed their mind about the house.

Mumsnet has posts from people saying their flat is ‘impossible to sell’ because abnormally high service charges scare buyers off the moment they read the figures.

It’s a horrible choice: stay put and live with the neighbour, or be honest on the forms and risk the buyer walking away when they see there’s an ongoing dispute.

Our flat’s annual service charge is so high that even local agents have quietly admitted it’s going to be hard to sell without a serious price cut.

They had five days left on their mortgage offer and were begging solicitors and the other side to hurry up to avoid the deal collapsing completely.

Three failed sales over ~11 months; review blames mis-management and poor communication during marketing and progression.

Repeated delays and constant chasing nearly caused the flat purchase to fall through.

Our buyers disappeared after their surveyor mentioned subsidence; no one came back to renegotiate, they just vanished and left us with the bill.

Feedback was always that buyers loved the house but were put off by being next to flats and the parking situation, even at a price below recent comparables.

After exchange, our buyer’s insurer withdrew cover because of historic subsidence; suddenly completion was at risk and nobody seemed to know what to do.

Our house sale fell through after six months because the buyers got spooked about a garage that’s clearly on the title. Citizens Advice basically shrugged and said buyers can walk away.

Carter Bells Solicitors say neighbour rows are more common than people think and can take ‘an age’ to resolve, meaning sellers often have to move while the dispute is still live.

New build warranty feels pointless: ‘always on your own’ when defects appear and claims rejected.

When the first sale fell through after months, we expected the agent to lose interest. Instead, they lined up a second sale and got it over the line in ten weeks.

Bettermove explain that high service charges make flats harder to sell because buyers don’t just compare asking prices – they factor in years of expensive running costs.

we are dealing with a similar situation and potentially loosing a lot of money to this scam company..

The panel conveyancer insisted they ‘don’t do’ phone calls and only respond via an online portal; the other side’s lawyer simply stopped engaging.

Another contributor said their agent had over-valued the property to win the instruction, then shrugged when the first sale collapsed and showed little urgency finding a new buyer.

My service charge doubled last year and I’m terrified that if I ever need to sell, buyers will take one look at the fees and run a mile.

A Trustpilot review for Conveyancing Direct says they were ‘so slow we lost our buyer’, with the sale of a chain-free home still not completed after 180 days.

They described months of chasing for updates and a final bill that didn’t reflect the lack of progress or explanation before everything fell apart.

We were told nothing could be done when the offer lapsed, even though it was delays higher up the chain that caused the problem in the first place.

The flat we are buying has no easement of access in the lease, electricity is supplied only by the freeholder, and there is no regular service charge, only ad hoc demands. We are concerned these issues may cause serious complications in the future.

We later discovered that our solicitor had never sent our formal complaint to the firm’s complaints partner, despite assuring us it was being ‘reviewed’. Months were wasted before we went to the Ombudsman.

“Our buyers are using this shambolic firm… month 6… no chain… at a complete loss.”

Delay is built into the system.

Hounded by phone calls; argumentative service when trying to discuss — stressful and relentless.

They pointed out that buyers might ignore the price and fixate on the annual charges instead, especially when they see how quickly they’ve already gone up.

Solicitor repeatedly loses documents, forcing the buyer to resend the same ID and bank statements several times.

“Paid a £3,000 ‘refundable’ Buyer’s Premium… undisclosed leasehold complications… unmortgageable.”

Our conveyancer never clearly explained why we still had to pay them when the sale fell through; we only found out from an online guide that this was common.

A 2025 article says the Legal Ombudsman now stresses that even if delays come from lenders or local authorities, law firms must still keep clients updated and explain what’s happening.

Despite paying Gaddes Noble in full, including a duplicated £300 fee, our case dragged on with missing paperwork, excuses about Covid and the Land Registry that turned out not to be true.