To confront sellers who pulled out last minute

Definitely don’t confront them it will make things a lot worse . Awful behaviour from them but I am hoping you will find a better property without all this nonsense from sellers .

I really feel for you. This happened to us. Just before Christmas too. Someone came in at the last minute and offered more money than us. I was absolutely gutted. I know it is a cliché but it just wasn't meant to be. We spent six months in a grotty rental - including Christmas - but bought something so much better.

Joked not Jones!

Just add a comment on Facebook saying this is not a joke for us

I would assume something like this and try to accept it as graciously as possible, and focus on sorting out my living situation.

However - OP says they’ve Jones about it on Facebook. If I saw such a post, the grace would disappear and I would respond to that post pointing out what it has cost me and that I don’t take kindly to them joking about. I’d follow that with a warning to anyone reading that post never to put an offer in on their house in the future unless they’re willing to pour money down the drain.

Welcome to house buying. Of course you can’t go around to theirs - what a ridiculous thing to say. You might be frustrated and angry but they haven’t done anything wrong. We have totally been there and I understand your frustration but getting angry and wanting to go around and get money is a bit mafiaesque. Those are the rules - they didn’t break them. Move on.

Sorry, op
They sound like absolute shits.

This happened to me 3 years ago...the couple whose house i was buying had split up and were going their seperate ways...a few months down the line and they decide to stay together and take the house off the market...I was devastated and forced to keep the chain going as I didn't want to lose my buyers.
It meant i had to move in with a friend for 6 weeks and put all my stuff in storage...It was an utter nightmare.
The only good thing is my solicitor only charged me £300 ish for the work she had done on the house.

And if you make an offer and then a survey or area searches find something offputting that means the property isn't suitable?
Or if you accept an offer and then get outbid on the property you were intending to buy and there's nothing else suitable for sale?

Life happens and sometimes plans don't work out. I would thoroughly support a rule that requires the party who triggers the collapse of a planned sale to contribute to the wasted costs of the other party but I am absolutely opposed to the idea of creating a legal obligation to force the sale to happen.

I’ve been there, it’s horrendous, it’s heartbreaking, and there’s absolutely bugger all you can do about it.
They are legally, well within their rights unfortunately.
Best thing you can do for yourselves is to move on. Don’t confront them, absolutely no good will come of it, they could even report you for harassment

You can’t confront but sympathise. We had similar but with a rental when we were between houses. Sold ours removal van booked moving cities pregnant with a toddler. Landlord rings on the Friday before we moved in on the Tuesday to say he decided not to let it after all. Fun times.

Actually we did get revenge as we were moving near my parents who know “everyone” and made sure “everyone” knew about the landlords shit behaviour. The landlord even hid when he saw my dad a few months later !

Ah, this happened to me, lost money on the solicitor and surveys etc, couple who had separated, got to about a week before we were due to complete and then he decided to buy her out. Nothing you can do i'm afraid but I feel your pain, I was gutted and this was 20 years ago - I still think about that house - it was perfect

Not a good idea. They've done nothing legally. It's a risk you take when buying.

(a) legally they’ve done nothing wrong- surely you were warned that this is (rightly or wrongly) how the system works in England and Wales- nothing is binding until exchange on either side;
(b) there could be thousands of reasons behind the scenes which you don’t know about and which they are not obliged to tell you, like illness, job loss, family problems. Putting one joke on Facebook means nothing.

Obviously it’s frustrating and disappointing but you’d be much better off focussing on your own situation. If the landlord hasn’t sold yet, would they let you stay there on a rolling contract? Can you get something better on a short term let? It’s a buyers market at the moment so I’d throw myself into finding another house- probably more will come into the market in Jan. Leave karma to deal with your sellers.

Not being legally bound by an offer is not terrible concept as it encourages competition, which is necessary thing in a healthy economy. It just doesn’t work well for buying/selling houses.

Sounds like you might have dodged a bullet. If they are as bad as they seem they cover ups in the house might have been awful and cost you alot of money. Convince yourself they have a burst pipe they have hidden under a floor board etc.

This happened to us twice, on the days we were supposed to exchange. It's beyond horrible. Unfortunately you have no recourse, the best thing you can do is walk away with head held high and put it down to experience. We did eventually move to a much better new home, and have since moved again without major problems. I'm so sorry for what you're going through. Perhaps your current landlord can renew your tenancy on a month by month basis until he sells?

This is not exactly true but sort of. You can pull out if you can’t get finance- that’s a legitimate reason to pull out and is accepted as so. We’ve never paid 10% upfront though. When we were cash buyers we had to show proof of funds to the EA on the day of the visit! I think most people see a mortgage broker or their bank beforehand so they know whether they will or won’t be able to get a mortgage on the whole. It does seem less risky here and I really don’t understand in the UK why buyers have the right to pull out at the end stages?? What’s the point or advantage of it really. Sorry op x

Love the sentiment, but don't be bonkers - the heels are the best part. 👀

No, you can’t, that would be an insane thing to do.

Curse them as the absolute arseholes they are, and send a daily wish into the universe that every day of their lives they tread in water while wearing socks and open the bread packet to find only the heels left. May their toilet seats always be up or down, depending on what is more inconvenient, and may they only realise there is no toilet roll when they’ve just finished their business. May they always be slightly too hot or too cold, and never able to get a seat on the train. May every apple they bite be mushy and flavourless.

I hope your next selling experience is better ♥️

No you can’t do that, it actually sounds quite threatening.

Going forward be very wary of anyone who gives red flags and causes problems early in the process.

I agree with @SugarIsHardtoAvoid this is the best option moving forward. If you’re willing to have your home photographed and viewed in good order for your landlord’s sale, it’s unlikely to complete for a few months. As you know, 8 weeks is fast to exchange, the completion can take a few weeks more.

Your landlord may still want to serve you notice, so they can proceed to court if it looks like you won’t budge. But you can keep negotiating with them on your actual move out date, which can be after the notice has expired.

OP that's shit. I've actually had similar happen to me 3 times. People talk about nightmare buyers but SELLERS have decided not to sell their house at the last minute to me 3 times in the last 15 years. It is absolutely shit behaviour and very unfair. 1 time actually left me homeless as well so ended up staying with family for 5 months.
What I would do is speak to your solicitor. Even at the point of exchange (which we were) we were given a 25% discount off the fees which saved us about £700 I think and the surveyor. He VERY kindly agreed to do our next survey for free if it was within the next 3 months.
So even though you've lost the property hopefully you won't lose quite as much money as you think.

For the love of God, don't go round there. You have my sympathies, it's such a shit situation, but you'll make things worse by marching there for an explanation. I'd be on to my solicitor first thing this morning to see if they can tactically ask about the circumstances about this "change of mind". There might be a legitimate reason. Probably not as they sound prickish, but you never know. You can also ask about the wasted surveyor costs etc and see if they're willing to pay anything as a goodwill gesture, but expect that to be a fat no.
Don't post about your experience on the local Facebook page by a means of revenge. You'll only paint yourself in a bad light and, you never know, your future potential seller might see it and put them off dealing with you.

Absolutely do not approach them. They have acted entirely legally (although also shittily). You can't reasonably approach people for acting within the law.