The pain of a property chain: Why more than half of buyers nearly walked away from their deal.

With property buyers and sellers involved in an estimated 49,000 property chains in 2024 alone, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the common process would be streamlined and frictionless.

However, that’s not what the UK homeowners surveyed as part of Together’s latest study found, with many left incredibly stressed by delays caused by property chains. Here we look into the issues and the public’s thoughts on how bridging loans can help.

So, how do homeowners really feel about being in a property chain?

In a word…. Frustrated.

That’s the phrase that 50% of UK homeowners surveyed used to describe the process of being stuck in a property chain. It was quickly followed by stressed (46.5%) and impatient (36.2%), highlighting that the process of buying property in the UK is broken.

In fact, over half (59.4%) said that the additional cost, time and admin involved with being part of a property chain meant that they had been tempted to walk away from their own deals.

Here are some of the other key insights we uncovered from the survey of 2,001 homeowners throughout the country:

• Over 42% said their purchase was delayed by 2 months or more due to being in a chain, with 6% responding that their delay was 6 months or over.


• 51.5% of homeowners tied up in a chain said their costs increased.


• 67.5% of homeowners tied up in a chain were frustrated by the number of emails and admin tasks involved.


• 55.7% had sleepless nights worrying about being stuck in a property chain.


• 57% are now hesitant to make offers on other homes.

What is the Government doing about property chains?

The Labour Government agrees with the thousands of homeowners that have suffered through the property chain and has proposed a major overhaul of the home buying and selling system to reduce the stress, disruption and delays caused.

Currently under consultation with a full road map expected in 2026, the Government’s proposals include:

Requiring up front property information

Sellers and estate agents will be responsible for providing comprehensive information when listing a property as only 2% of buyers believe they received sufficient details before making their offer.

This could include providing information on the chain status, property report, leasehold terms and service charges, title information, seller ID verification, EPC rating, flood risk and planning consents.

Optional binding contracts

Our survey suggests that 55 % of homeowners that we’re involved in a property chain have seen at least one deal collapse due to either the buyer or seller pulling out of the process before exchanging contracts. This can lead to stress and lost costs (as you won’t be able to get a refund on things like legal services or conveyance fees, for example).

The Government is proposing that buyers and sellers can opt in to an optional binding contract that would financially penalise a buyer or seller should they pull out of the agreement.

Providing additional digital tools

The Government wants to improve the digital tools on offer to buyers and sellers, with the hopes of streamlining and speeding up the conveyance process. For example, the introduction of trusted digital verification services will reduce the need for buyers and sellers to prove their identity at different stages of the process.

How can bridging loans help if you’re stuck in a property chain?

Although a step in the right direction, the Government’s proposals may take some time to come into fruition. Even when they do pass into law, there will still be circumstances where a chain break is unavoidable.

Bridging loans could provide the short-term financial certainty for buyers and sellers trapped in these situations, allowing them to buy their next property before the sale of their current home has been completed.

In our survey:

• 25% of respondents had used bridging loans to break chains.


• 52% said they’d either not heard of a bridging loan or didn’t know very much about how they work.


• 59% would consider bridging finance if it guaranteed breaking the chain.

Ryan Etchells, Chief Commercial Officer at Together, explains “While a common occurrence, maddening property chains can ramp up the costs involved with buying a home and adding to the emotional stress and admin that home movers have to deal with. Our property market is broken and needs a thorough overhaul; we must take steps to address it.

This is why it’s important to increase the awareness of simple solutions like bridging as a significant portion of potential buyers and sellers simply aren’t aware of how beneficial these loans can be. Whether to break out of a time and money draining property chain, to help fund renovations or for buying at auction; this type of financing can be quickly accessed and help people move forward with their property plans now and in the future.”

At Together, our bridging loans give you up to 12 months to repay your loan and any accrued interest and fees in one lump sum , giving you the confidence and flexibility to move at your own speed.