Does my estate agent have to tell me about every offer?
Published 7 July 2026 · 5 min read · By Evren Ergin
Yes. By law your estate agent must pass on every offer to you promptly and in writing, right up until contracts are exchanged, unless you have told them in writing to stop. Holding an offer back, or being slow to tell you about one, breaks the rules that all UK estate agents work under.
TL;DR
- •UK estate agents must forward every offer to you promptly and in writing, up to the moment contracts exchange.
- •This holds even after you have accepted an offer, unless you instruct the agent in writing that you no longer want to hear later ones.
- •An agent must also declare any personal interest in a buyer, and concealing one is a criminal offence.
- •If your agent is filtering offers or going quiet, ask for a written record of every offer and, if needed, complain to their redress scheme.
What does the law say about passing on offers?
Your estate agent works for you, the seller, and must act in your best interest. Under the Estate Agents Act 1979, in force since 4 April 1979, agents have legal duties to the people who instruct them. The Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices) (No. 2) Order 1991 makes it an undesirable practice to fail to pass on offers promptly and in writing.
On top of that, every agent must belong to a government-approved redress scheme, and the codes those schemes enforce say the same thing. The Property Ombudsman Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents requires an agent to forward all offers promptly and in writing until contracts are exchanged, unless you have told them otherwise.
An offer is a buyer's formal proposal to purchase your home at a stated price. Passing it on in writing means by letter, email or message, so there is a record, not just a quick word on the phone that disappears.
Does my agent still have to tell me about offers after I have accepted one?
Yes, until the moment contracts exchange. A higher offer arriving after you have accepted a lower one is real, and it is more common in a busy market. Your agent must still pass it to you and let you decide what to do with it.
Gazumping is when a seller accepts a higher offer from a new buyer after already agreeing a sale with someone else. It feels unfair to the buyer who misses out, but in England and Wales it is legal right up until exchange, because nothing is binding before that point.
When can an agent stop passing on offers?
Only when you tell them to, and only in writing. If you have found your buyer and you do not want to hear about any more offers, you can instruct the agent in writing to stop forwarding them. Until you do that, the default is that every offer comes to you.
What if my agent has a personal interest in the buyer?
They must declare it to you. Section 21 of the Estate Agents Act 1979 requires an agent to disclose any personal interest, for example if the buyer is a relative, a business partner, or the agent themselves. Concealing a personal interest in a transaction is a criminal offence under the Act.
Your offer rights at a glance
| Situation | What your agent must do | Where the rule comes from |
|---|---|---|
| A new offer comes in | Pass it to you promptly and in writing | Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices) Order 1991 |
| An offer arrives after you accepted another | Still pass it on, until contracts exchange | TPO Code of Practice, 2022 |
| The agent or a relative wants to buy | Declare the personal interest to you in writing | Estate Agents Act 1979, section 21 |
| You do not want to hear later offers | Stop, but only once you say so in writing | TPO Code of Practice, 2022 |
| Serious or repeated breaches | The agent can be banned from estate agency work | Estate Agents Act 1979, enforced by Trading Standards |
Common questions about offers and your agent
Can an estate agent refuse to put an offer to me?
No. An agent cannot pick and choose which offers you see. Every offer, high or low, must be passed on promptly and in writing, unless you have told the agent in writing that you do not want later ones.
Do verbal offers count?
Yes, an offer is an offer however it is made, and your agent should confirm it to you in writing. No offer is legally binding on either side until contracts are exchanged, so an accepted offer can still change.
Is an accepted offer legally binding?
No. In England and Wales nothing is binding until exchange of contracts. Until that point either side can walk away or change the price, which is why keeping a backup buyer warm is sensible.
What can I do if I think my agent hid an offer?
Ask in writing for a record of every offer received on your home. If you are not satisfied, complain to the agent's redress scheme, either The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme, and Trading Standards enforces the Estate Agents Act itself.
The offers on your home belong to you. A good agent shows you all of them and lets you decide.
ValuQ gives UK homeowners free, side-by-side property valuations from competing local estate agents, so you can choose your agent on the quality of their valuation and their fees before you hand over any details. The instruction is yours, and so is the right to see every offer that comes in.
Sources
- [1]Estate Agents Act 1979 (legislation.gov.uk) · 1979-04-04 · https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/38
- [2]The Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices) (No. 2) Order 1991 (legislation.gov.uk) · 1991-04-25 · https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1991/1032/made
- [3]The Property Ombudsman, Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents · 2022-09-09 · https://www.tpos.co.uk/tpo-code-of-practice
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