We put our house on the market and had a cash offer. A completion date was arranged and the buyer said he’d take the cash round to his solicitor. But shortly after we moved out the buyer rang to say he wanted us to drop the price by £4,000. Next thing we heard he’d bought a different house. Are we entitled to any compensation, or have we only ourselves to blame?
You laid yourself open to a reduced offer by committing yourself to moving. Phrases like “sale agreed” are worth nothing, since neither party has any legal obligation towards the other until contracts are signed and exchanged. A solicitor would have strongly advised you to stay put until you saw the colour of the buyer’s money.