Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Property Industry Eye. Read the original article for full details.

Estate Agents Face £21m Increase in Property Fall-Through Costs

The cost of failed residential property transactions in the UK rose by nearly £21 million in the first quarter of 2026, according to new figures from the House Buyer Bureau. The number of property sales falling through increased by 9.8% compared to the previous quarter, creating additional disruption for estate agents.

Analysis of TwentyCi data by House Buyer Bureau found that 67,489 property transactions collapsed between January and March 2026. While this represented a quarterly increase, the total was still 12.1% lower than in the first quarter of 2025.

For estate agents, the rise in fall-throughs means more agreed sales are failing to reach completion, resulting in extra time spent on transactions that ultimately do not complete. The estimated cost to the wider housing market increased from £218.3 million in the final quarter of 2025 to £239.2 million in Q1 2026.

The House Buyer Bureau’s analysis was based on TwentyCi transaction data and updated estimates of the average cost of a failed sale, factoring in inflation, higher legal fees, and changes in average house prices. Despite the increase in failed transactions, the estimated average cost per fall-through fell slightly. Sellers were estimated to lose £3,544 on average when a sale collapsed during the quarter, which is 0.2% less than in Q4 2025 but 2.1% higher than a year earlier.

The figures indicate that although the average cost per failed sale changed little, the higher volume of collapsed transactions increased the overall financial impact on sellers, buyers, and estate agents during the first three months of the year.