Can Estate Agents Lie About Offers? UK Rules, Proof & Red Flags

No. Estate agents cannot invent offers, exaggerate competing bids or deliberately misrepresent an offer to pressure a seller or buyer. If you are selling a property, your estate agent must also tell you about offers received, including offers made after you have already accepted one and before contracts are exchanged. The agent should give you enough information about the buyer's position to help you decide whether the offer is genuinely proceedable.

3 Key Takeaways:

Estate agents must pass offers to the seller and cannot invent or misrepresent competing offers.
Sellers should compare the buyer's position as well as the headline price.
Buyers generally cannot demand documentary proof of another person's offer, but agents must keep proper records and handle negotiations fairly.

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Can Estate Agents Lie About Offers?

No. An estate agent cannot lawfully invent a competing buyer, make up a higher offer or give misleading information about an offer in order to influence a property negotiation.

The Property Ombudsman's March 2026 Code of Practice states that agents must not misrepresent or invent the existence or details of another offer or the status of another buyer. Consumer protection law also prohibits misleading commercial practices that could cause someone to make a different transactional decision.

In simple terms, an agent can negotiate firmly on the seller's behalf. They cannot create a fake offer to manufacture urgency.

Do Estate Agents Have to Tell Sellers About Every Offer?

Yes, with a limited exception.

Estate agents are legally obliged to pass offers to the seller right up until contracts are exchanged.

This includes offers:

below the asking price
above the asking price
from cash buyers
from buyers needing a mortgage
received after another offer has already been accepted

A seller can, however, give written instructions that they do not want certain types of offers passed on.

For example, you could tell your agent not to contact you about offers below £300,000.

Outside an instruction like that, the agent should pass the offer on promptly.

What Information Should an Estate Agent Give You About an Offer?

The price is only part of the decision.

When an offer is being considered, the agent should take reasonable steps to establish the source and availability of the buyer's funds and pass relevant information to the seller.

That can include whether the buyer:

needs to sell another property
already has a buyer
requires a mortgage
has a mortgage agreement in principle
claims to be a cash buyer
has proof of funds available
has conditions attached to the offer

For sellers, this information can be just as important as the amount offered.

The Highest Offer Is Not Always the Strongest Offer

Buyer	Offer	Position
Buyer A	£310,000	Has a property to sell and still needs a mortgage
Buyer B	£305,000	Chain-free with mortgage agreed in principle

Buyer A is offering £5,000 more.

But Buyer B may offer a simpler route to completion.

Rightmove reported in 2026 that 23% of property transactions initially fall through before later either returning to market or completing through another sale.

A seller should therefore compare:

offer amount
chain position
mortgage position
deposit
proof of funds
proposed timescale
conditions attached to the offer

Price matters, but so does the likelihood of reaching completion.

Do Estate Agents Have to Tell Buyers About Other Offers?

There is an important distinction here.

An estate agent's primary duty is to the seller.

However, The Property Ombudsman's 2026 Code says member agents should keep buyers who have recently made offers, and whose offers have not already been rejected, informed of the existence of other offers submitted to the seller.

That does not automatically mean the buyer is entitled to know the amount.

So an agent might legitimately say: Another offer has now been received.

Without saying: The other buyer has offered £315,000.

Can Estate Agents Tell You How Much Someone Else Has Offered?

Sometimes, but they need to handle this carefully.

Under The Property Ombudsman Code, if an agent intends to disclose the amount of competing offers, they should first obtain the seller's agreement.

If an offer amount is disclosed to one buyer, the agent should disclose offers consistently to all buyers currently involved in negotiations.

For sellers, the simplest approach is to agree with your estate agent at the start how you want competing offers handled.

Can You Ask an Estate Agent for Proof of an Offer?

If You Are the Seller

Yes, you can reasonably ask your agent to confirm the offer in writing.

The agent should be able to tell you:

the amount
when it was received
any conditions attached
the buyer's chain position
how they intend to fund the purchase

The Property Ombudsman Code requires member agents to keep a written or electronic record of offers received, including the date, time and seller's response.

This gives sellers a clear audit trail of the negotiation.

If You Are Another Buyer

You generally cannot demand to see another buyer's email, mortgage agreement or proof of funds.

Those documents can contain personal or financial information.

You can ask:

whether another offer genuinely exists
whether it has been submitted to the seller
whether the seller has accepted it
whether the property remains available

But there is not generally a right to inspect another buyer's private offer documents.

What Is a Phantom Offer?

A "phantom offer" is the informal term for a competing offer that does not actually exist.

For example:

"We've just had £320,000 from another buyer, so you'll need to increase immediately."

If no such offer exists, that would be a serious problem.

The difficulty is that a buyer usually cannot independently verify every competing offer.

That is why sellers should insist on good record keeping and buyers should avoid increasing their bid purely because they feel pressured.

What Should Sellers Ask Their Estate Agent When an Offer Comes In?

Before deciding whether to sell, our team would check these five figures first:

Question	Why it matters
What is the exact offer?	Establishes the headline price
Is the offer conditional?	Survey, timescale or included items may affect it
Does the buyer have a property to sell?	Shows whether a chain is involved
If they are selling, is their property under offer?	Helps establish how proceedable they are
Do they need a mortgage?	Mortgage approval can affect certainty
Has funding been checked?	Helps identify whether the offer is realistic
What completion timescale do they want?	May matter if you need to move quickly
Have you confirmed the offer in writing?	Creates a clear record

Expert insight from our property expert, Paul Gibbens:

"When sellers receive several offers, the highest one naturally gets the most attention. But I would always ask how proceedable that buyer actually is. A slightly lower offer from somebody with their finances ready and no complicated chain can sometimes give the seller a much clearer route to completion."

What We See When Homeowners Need to Sell Soon After Buying

From the sellers our team speaks to, the reason for moving quickly often matters less than the numbers surrounding the sale.
The main issues we look at are:

Situation	What matters most
Bought within the last six months	Whether the buyer's lender will accept the short ownership period
Recently started a fixed mortgage	Size of the ERC and whether the mortgage can be ported
Property value has fallen	Whether there is enough equity to repay the lender
Unexpected property problems	Cost of repairs compared with selling as-is
Urgent relocation	Whether waiting six months is realistic
Sale needed quickly	Whether the seller needs a mortgage-funded buyer or can consider cash

Estate Agent Sale vs Direct Cash Sale

Estate agent sale	Direct cash sale
Usually best route for pursuing full open-market value	Offer will normally be below full market value
May involve competing offers	One direct buyer
Buyer may depend on a mortgage	Genuine cash buyer does not require mortgage finance
May involve an onward chain	Can be chain-free
Offer can change or fall through before exchange	Fewer third parties involved

Neither route is automatically right for every seller.

If achieving the highest possible price is your priority and you have time, an estate agent sale will usually make more sense. If certainty and speed matter more, a direct cash offer can give you another figure to compare.

Housebuyers4u buys properties directly using its own funds, so sellers do not have to rely on a mortgage-funded buyer or onward chain.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1Can an Estate Agent Make Me Use Their Mortgage Broker?

No. An agent cannot make passing your offer conditional on using their mortgage broker or another related service.

2Does an Estate Agent Have to Tell Me if My Offer Has Been Rejected?

The agent should communicate the seller's response and maintain a proper record of offers and responses. If you have not heard back, ask for confirmation in writing.

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