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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to prevent the practice of gazumping in residential house purchases and sales.

We would like home buyers and sellers to be able to transact with more confidence. It is for this reason that we are working with industry to develop and trial reservation agreements. These legal agreements would be entered into by both parties at the point of offer and there could be financial penalties if a party withdrew without good reason. We hope to proceed to a trial later this year.