Government to crack down on gazumping with new plans to make buying a house 'cheaper, faster and less stressful'

The Government wants to tackle sharp practices including gazumping with a new plan to make buying and selling a home "cheaper, faster and less stressful".

Sajid Javid has called for evidence from estate agents, solicitors and mortgage lenders to ensure buyers and sellers can save time and money and focus more on finding their "dream home".

The Government is looking for views on gazumping - when a seller accepts a higher offer from a new buyer - and building trust with new "lock-in agreements" to build confidence in the housing chain. Although a million homes are bought and sold in England every year, a quarter of sales fall through

They are also looking for digital solutions including putting more data online to speed up the process, which is currently "too slow" and costs time and money.

Mr Javid said: "We want to help everyone have a good quality home they can afford, and improving the process of buying and selling is part of delivering that.

"Buying a home is one of life's largest investments, so if it goes wrong it can be costly.

"That's why we're determined to take action to make the process cheaper, faster and less stressful.

"This can help save people money and time so they can focus on what matters - finding their dream home.

"I want to hear from the industry on what more we can do to tackle this issue."

The Government also published a survey of 2,000 people which showed 69 per cent of sellers and 62 per cent of buyers report stress and worry as a result of delays.

Nearly half of sellers had concerns about buyers changing their minds after making an offer and almost a quarter would use a different estate agent if they had to go through the process again.

Almost a third of sellers and 28 per cent of buyers were dissatisfied with the other party's solicitor, the Department for Communities and Local Government said.

The call for evidence will run for eight weeks from Sunday.