"Selling your home is often far more stressful than it should be, and your sale falling through is the ultimate headache"
- Simon Dawson - Outra
Sellers are facing increasing challenges in the property market, with data from property insights and analytics company Outra revealing that over 1 in 7 (15%) property sales fell through on average between January and July 2025.
This represents just over 111,000 fall-throughs out of nearly 710,000 UK sales during that period. The median time between a property going under offer and the sale falling through was 35 days.
With house prices declining and listings on the rise, sellers are navigating a range of obstacles to secure a successful sale, and the risk of deals falling through adds another layer of uncertainty.
South-East leads on fall-throughs
The South-East recorded the highest rate of property sale fall-throughs in the UK, at 17%. It also had the largest number of failed sales, just over 17,000.
By contrast, Scotland had the lowest fall-through rate at 8.1%, with only 4,145 sales failing to complete, reflecting lower market activity in the region.
London was among the regions with the highest fall-through rates at 16.5%, with 11,178 failed sales.
Fall-throughs by region
London: 11,178 – 16.53%
East Midlands: 8,263 – 15.89%
East of England: 11,040 – 16.51%
North East: 3,945 – 14.58%
North West: 12,666 – 16.57%
South East: 17,244 – 17.07%
South West: 11,102 – 16.83%
West Midlands: 8,925 – 16.24%
Yorkshire and The Humber: 7,507 – 14.54%
Scotland: 4,145 – 8.14%
Wales: 5,061 – 16.05%
Total UK: 111,112 – 15.11%
Fall-throughs by property type
Semi-detached: 30,897 – 15.13%
Detached: 30,184 – 16.20%
End-terrace: 8,722 – 16.03%
Mid-terrace: 24,088 – 15.75%
Purpose-built: 10,907 – 15.04%
Converted: 4,318 – 17.35%
Total UK: 109,116 – 15.11%
“Selling your home is often far more stressful than it should be, and your sale falling through is the ultimate headache," comments Simon Dawson, chief revenue officer at Outra. "A fallen-through sale costs you time and money, whether it’s having to go another round with your solicitor or estate agent or cancelling moving plans you’d already made. You could also end up high and dry if you’re relying on this sale to buy your next property – a broken chain could cost you your new home, as well as leaving you stuck with the old one.”
Converted homes most likely to fail
Outra’s analysis found that converted properties are most likely to fall through at 17.4%, with 4,318 sales failing to complete. End-terrace homes had the second-highest rate at 16%.
Purpose-built properties had the lowest fall-through rate at 15%, with 10,907 sales failing to complete. Semi-detached homes were at the average fall-through rate of 15.1%, significantly higher than last year.
Simon added, “There’s a limit to what you can do to prevent your sale falling through – when you’re dealing with a buyer, some things are out of your control. That’s where accurate data and insight can make a real difference. By understanding market trends and buyer behaviour, you can make better-informed decisions, reduce risk and increase certainty in the selling process.”
