An astonishing 90% of home buyers are attempting to “gazunder” — seeking last-minute reductions in agreed property prices — as the UK housing market remains weak, a well-established property lawyer has warned.

Simon Nosworthy, head of residential conveyancing at Osbornes Law, says almost every residential sale now involves buyers pushing for an eleventh-hour price cut, compared with just 50% three years ago.

Gazundering typically takes place just before contracts are exchanged, with buyers citing issues uncovered during surveys, such as damp, plumbing faults, or electrical problems, to justify their demands.

Nosworthy said: “The rise in gazundering has been nothing short of staggering in the past year. A chronically weak property has meant buyers are taking advantage to the point where trying to get money off at the last minute has become standard practice.

“It used to be that gazundering was seen as really bad form and an underhand tactic that most people wouldn’t consider but now I expect it to pop up on every deal. It seems to be that only people of absolute principle don’t consider doing this. The attitude seems to be that if everybody else is doing it then why not me as well?

“The property market is the weakest it has been since the first three months of the pandemic when property moves fell off a cliff. That result of that is sellers are desperate to keep hold of their buyers and tend to let them have money off.”