First-time buyers Natalie Quail, 31, and her husband Nick, 34, have a tale of woe from the other end of the property ladder. The couple lived with Natalie’s parents in Radlett, Hertfordshire, during the pandemic but were keen to buy a home of their own.

In January 2021 the vendor of a modern three-bedroom house in Southbourne, Dorset, accepted their offer of £490,000. “We offered the full asking price the day we saw it, it was beautiful,” said Natalie, who runs her own oral cosmetics company, SmileTime.

Solicitors were instructed and searches and surveys commissioned. “Then our sellers got in touch saying they had been looking at houses to buy and had realised they were going to need another £20,000 to get what they wanted,” said Natalie. “We were shocked. We had a deal, we had our mortgage set up, and we were not convinced they wouldn’t do it again. It was heart wrenching, but we pulled out.”

With prices rising strongly on the coast the couple decided they would be better off buying in London. They had a £520,000 offer accepted for a four-bedroom period terrace in Charlton, south-east London, but it turned out to have subsidence issues. A second offer of the same amount for a two-bedroom flat in Bayswater, central London, was withdrawn after the building was found to have structural faults.

Luckily their story has a happy ending. Natalie and Nick, a banker, have bought a two-bedroom maisonette in Charlton. But Natalie estimates they have wasted almost £5,000 in fees – and countless hours of their time – along the way.

“There should be some sort of obligation on the seller to act in good faith,” she said. “Unfortunately, there is no recourse in law.”