§ Mr. George Grantasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if he will consider changes to legislation on property sales to seek to restrict the activities of estate agents so that (a) once an offer has been accepted by the vendor, the property is withdrawn from the market; (b) when a contract is sent out, no more offers be considered till it 593W is cleared and (c) a reasonable time be given to a prospective purchaser, whose offer has been accepted, in which to make pre-contract inquiries, have mortgage arrangements finalised, and have the property surveyed.
§ Mr. John FraserNo. The freedom to withdraw prior to contract in these circumstances is equally available to buyer and seller and may have advantages for both. The Law Commission, in its 1975 Report, found that this system served its purpose well in the vast majority of cases, and I am not convinced that changes in the law designed to deal with such matters might not create more problems than they solved.