In the challenging world of property chains, stress is a given, but all too often that stress crosses a line. Recent comments from property lawyers expose a darker side of the housing market: developers bullying buyers and property professionals in order to try to get them to exchange of contracts before all relevant due diligence has been carried out. It’s a problem that’s more common than many non-professionals realise, and it raises questions about fairness, mental health, and what we’re reluctant to accept as “just part of the process.”
Take the case of an estate agent who recently shared how a developer bombarded their buyer with daily calls, demanding an immediate exchange of contracts. The blunt message? “Exchange or else.” Never mind that the developer knew from the outset there was a chain; they expected everyone else to meet their timescales. The result? A seller exhausted and stressed, their conveyancer distracted, and the entire process slowed down by the very pressure that was supposed to “speed it up.”
This isn’t an isolated incident of course. One conveyancer’s simple but powerful response says it all: “We estimate we are X weeks from exchange. If the top of the chain won’t wait, let’s draw a line here rather than waste more time and cost.” It’s another reminder that when a chain exists, it is only as strong and as quick as its slowest link. Pushing doesn’t change that reality. It just makes people miserable.
Others have called out this behaviour for what it is: harassment that often backfires. One lawyer pointed out the futility: “We’re making every effort to exchange urgently, but your harassment of the seller is doing more harm than good.” No amount of bullying can conjure a missing piece of paperwork, clear a mortgage issue, or magic away a local authority search delay.
Worse, it’s unprofessional. However, that does not seem to bother developers. It crosses an ethical line when developers use their financial leverage to squeeze buyers, often first-time buyers or shared ownership purchasers, who are already navigating complicated arrangements. These aren’t faceless transactions they are people’s lives, hopes, and homes.
Is there an answer? One suggestion is to hit back where it hurts: the wallet. One seasoned property professional proposed charging for every wasted hour caused by excessive, needless harassment. “Time recording from here on in… once you are in a position to exchange contracts you will present that wasted time account to the developer and expect immediate payment.” It’s a bold idea, but maybe it’s time we treated professional time and people’s mental well-being as costs that should not be collateral damage in a developer’s race to bank their profit.
At its heart, this is a conversation about power and respect. Big developers, driven by profit targets and shareholder expectations, too often forget that they do not have a divine right to bend everyone else to their will. Property transactions should be collaborations, not dictatorships.
Perhaps the best advice is the simplest: call their bluff. “Give a realistic time estimate. If they don’t want to wait, let them re-market. And if they do, tell them not to get in touch until the estimated exchange date.” It’s a small act of defiance but one that can protect buyers, and conveyancers alike from the toxic stress of unreasonable demands.
Until, as profession, we tackle this abuse of power, this behaviour will keep happening. However, each time someone stands up to the bullying, each time a buyer or seller refuses to dance to an impossible tune, we might get one step closer to a housing market where pressure doesn’t become oppression and where respect for the human side of buying and moving home is the rule, not the exception.
Rob Hailstone is founder and CEO of Bold Legal Group. These discussions are one of many taken from the BLG Forum, a voluntary forum of over 2,000 professionals covering a range of conveyancing-related topic topics with input from compliance experts, SDLT experts and HMLR.
