Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a process whereby the formal acceptance of a home purchase offer creates a legally binding contract between the buyer and the seller.

We recognise that the home buying and selling process in England and Wales is inefficient and costly for consumers and professionals with one in three property transactions falling through. On 9 February, we announced that we are launching a series of projects to improve the availability of property information through digitalisation that will help towards reducing the number of transactions that fall through. We continue to review evidence from other jurisdictions, including on protections such as reservation agreements, as we consider next steps.