§ Mr. GorstTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to introduce measures which will protect house purchasers from incurring unreasonable expenses when one party to an informal agreement retracts before contracts are exchanged; and whether he will introduce legislation to require a non-returnable deposit to be paid by both parties to a house purchase contract immediately an offer is made and accepted, and prior to contracts being exchanged.
§ Mr. YeoI have no plans to do so. The law already accommodates several methods of buying and selling property. Buyers and sellers are free to insist on a pre-contract deposit, if they wish, in order to reduce the expenditure wasted when one of the parties withdraws before contracts are exchanged.