How to Counter Offer on a House

A counter offer is a normal part of buying or selling a house in England and Wales. It happens whenever one side responds to a price with a different figure of their own, rather than simply accepting or rejecting it outright. If you've had an offer turned down, or you've received an offer below your asking price, a counter offer is usually the next move, not the end of the conversation.

This guide covers counter offers from both sides of the transaction. If you're buying, you'll find guidance on how much to increase your offer by and what to say to the estate agent. If you're selling, you'll find a framework for evaluating an offer and deciding how hard to push back. Both sections use real numbers rather than vague advice, because how much you move by matters more than the general principle of negotiating.

What counts as a counter offer?

A counter offer is any revised price or set of terms put forward in response to an offer that hasn't been accepted as it stands. It differs from a straight rejection because it keeps the negotiation open. Rather than saying no, either side is saying "not at that price, but here's what would work." Counter offers usually happen through the estate agent, who relays each side's position and often adds context, such as how many other buyers are interested or how quickly the seller needs to move.

Crucially, a counter offer is not legally binding in England and Wales. Nothing agreed at this stage, however firmly, commits either party until contracts are exchanged. A seller can accept another buyer's offer even after verbally agreeing a price with you, and a buyer can withdraw even after a counter offer is accepted. That's why gazumping and gazundering remain a risk right up until exchange, and why both sides benefit from moving toward a written agreement as soon as terms feel settled.

When to make a counter-offer

You make a counter offer as a buyer once your initial offer has been rejected or the seller has come back asking for more. This usually happens within a day or two of your first offer, once the estate agent has relayed the seller's response. Don't rush straight back with your maximum figure: a small, considered increase leaves you room to negotiate again if the seller comes back a second time.

How much to increase your offer by

Most successful counter offers move by 1% to 3% of the purchase price. On a £280,000 property, that's an increase of roughly £2,800 to £8,400. Jumping straight to a much bigger figure can signal you have more to give, which invites the seller to hold out for even more. If your first offer was well below asking price, say 10% under, a bigger jump of around 5% might be needed to be taken seriously.

What to say to the estate agent (example script)

Keep your counter offer factual and specific rather than emotional. A workable script sounds like this: "Thanks for coming back to us. We can't stretch to £295,000, but we're able to increase to £288,000. We have a mortgage agreed in principle, no chain, and can complete within 8 to 10 weeks if that timeline works for the seller." This gives the agent a clear, quotable position and reminds the seller of your strengths as a buyer.

Strengthening your counter-offer beyond price

• Proof of funds: Attach a mortgage agreement in principle or bank statement showing your deposit is ready.
• Flexible completion date: Offer to match the seller's preferred timeline rather than insisting on your own.
• No onward chain: Make clear if you're not tied to selling a property first.
• Fewer conditions: Drop requests for fixtures or fittings to be included if they weren't essential to you.
• Solicitor already instructed: Showing you're ready to move quickly reassures a seller who wants speed over the very highest price.

Evaluating the initial offer

Before you counter, weigh up more than the headline price. A buyer's position in the chain, whether they have a mortgage agreed in principle, and how quickly they can complete all affect what an offer is really worth. A cash buyer offering £5,000 less than a chain-dependent buyer may still be the stronger option if it removes the risk of the sale collapsing later on.

How much to counter by

If an offer comes in 5% to 10% below your asking price, countering at half that gap is a common starting point. On a £320,000 asking price with a £300,000 offer, countering at £310,000 splits the £20,000 difference and signals you're willing to negotiate without giving away your full margin. Where an offer is more than 10% under asking, a firmer counter closer to your original price is usually justified, especially if you've had recent interest from other buyers.

Working with your estate agent to respond

Your estate agent should relay your counter offer promptly, usually within 24 hours, along with any context that strengthens your position, such as other viewings booked or a second offer received. Ask them to confirm the buyer's proceedability, including mortgage status and chain position, before you counter, so your response reflects the full picture rather than price alone.

When to hold firm vs. when to compromise

• Hold firm when you have multiple interested buyers or your property has been on the market for under four weeks.
• Compromise when your property has been listed for more than 8 to 12 weeks with limited interest.
• Hold firm when the buyer's offer ignores clear evidence from recent local sold prices.
• Compromise when a chain-free, mortgage-ready buyer offers slightly under asking but removes significant risk from the sale.

Most house price negotiations in the UK settle within 2 to 3 rounds of counter offers. The first counter usually narrows the gap significantly since both sides are testing where the other stands. The second counter tends to bring both parties close to a workable figure, and a third, if needed, is usually enough to finalise terms. Negotiations that stretch beyond 4 or 5 rounds often signal a mismatch in expectations rather than genuine progress toward a deal.

Excessive back-and-forth can damage a sale even when both sides genuinely want it to complete. Sellers may start doubting a buyer's commitment if the increases keep shrinking, while buyers may worry the seller is testing the market rather than negotiating in good faith. Estate agents typically notice when a negotiation has gone on too long, since a listing sitting "under offer" without progressing to exchange can put off other potential buyers.

If you find yourselves on a fourth or fifth counter offer with no meaningful movement in price, it's usually more productive to ask for a single best and final offer from each side rather than continuing with small incremental exchanges. This forces clarity and stops the negotiation dragging on for weeks while surveys, mortgage applications, and conveyancing searches wait to begin.

Anchoring with evidence

Back up your counter offer with hard data rather than opinion. Recent sold prices for comparable homes nearby, or issues raised during a survey, give your position credibility instead of sounding arbitrary. If a survey has flagged £4,000 of remedial work, referencing that figure directly in your counter offer is far more persuasive than a round-number reduction plucked from nowhere. This is exactly why property surveys and searches can shift a negotiation firmly in your favour once the results are back.

Time pressure and deadlines

Setting a response deadline, typically 24 to 48 hours, keeps momentum in a negotiation and discourages the other side from using your offer to test the market elsewhere while they wait. Be realistic, though: deadlines that are too short can feel aggressive and cause a seller or buyer to walk away from the table rather than engage constructively.

Non-price negotiation

Price isn't the only lever available to you. Completion dates, included fixtures and fittings, and chain flexibility can all be negotiated alongside or instead of price. A seller who needs a quick sale might accept a slightly lower offer in exchange for an 8-week completion, while a buyer might accept a higher price if white goods, curtains, and garden furniture are included in the sale.

The "split the difference" approach

When both sides are within 2% to 3% of each other, splitting the remaining gap is often the fastest way to reach agreement. On a £10,000 difference, meeting halfway at £5,000 from each position avoids a fourth or fifth round of counter offers and signals goodwill that can carry through the rest of the transaction.

Certain counter offer mistakes come up again and again in property negotiations, and most are avoidable with a bit of restraint. Countering too aggressively, whether by asking for too much as a seller or offering too little as a buyer, often ends a negotiation before it properly starts. Equally damaging is a slow response: leaving an offer unanswered for several days can make the other party assume you're not serious, prompting them to look elsewhere.

Emotional language has no place in a counter offer. Comments about how "insulting" an offer is, or how a buyer "doesn't deserve" a discount, rarely help and can sour a relationship that still needs goodwill to get through conveyancing. Ignoring the other party's position is another common error: a seller who counters without acknowledging a buyer's proceedability, or a buyer who counters without recognising a seller's timeline needs, is negotiating blind.

If your counter offer is rejected, you have three realistic options: accept the other side's original terms, put forward one final offer, or walk away from the negotiation altogether. Which makes sense depends on how much you want the property or sale, and how much room you genuinely have left to move.

• Accept the original terms: Sensible if the gap is small, for example under 2% of the purchase price, and the property or buyer is otherwise right for you.
• Make a final offer: Worth doing when you have a small amount of flexibility left and want to signal this is genuinely your last position.
• Walk away: The right call when the gap remains wide, 5% or more, after two or three rounds, or the other side isn't engaging seriously.

If you do put forward a final position, label it clearly as a "best and final offer" with a short deadline, typically 24 to 48 hours. This removes ambiguity and forces a decision rather than inviting yet another round of counter offers that goes nowhere.

The counter offer process works differently in Scotland, and it catches a lot of buyers and sellers moving from south of the border by surprise. Offers are typically made in writing through solicitors from the very first offer, rather than verbally through an estate agent as is standard in England and Wales. Once a formal offer and acceptance are exchanged between solicitors, known as concluding missives, the agreement becomes legally binding immediately.

This is a sharp contrast to England and Wales, where nothing agreed during counter offers is binding until contracts are formally exchanged much later in the process. In Scotland, by the time you've agreed a "counter offer," you may already be contractually committed, so there's far less room to negotiate again once missives are concluded.

Properties in Scotland are also often marketed at a fixed "offers over" price with a set closing date, meaning buyers submit sealed bids on a single occasion rather than negotiating back and forth through several rounds of counter offers. If you're buying or selling in Scotland, speak to your solicitor before you make or respond to any offer, since the negotiation stage carries far more legal weight than it does in England and Wales.

Once you and the other side agree a price, whether after one counter offer or five, move quickly to formalise it. Verbal agreements can unravel, so putting the essentials in writing and getting your conveyancing underway protects the deal from gazumping, gazundering, or a simple change of heart on either side.

• Confirm the agreed price in writing: Ask the estate agent to send written confirmation, known as a memorandum of sale, to everyone involved.
• Instruct your conveyancer: Don't wait for the memorandum of sale to arrive before you start the conveyancing process, since early instruction saves weeks later on.
• Confirm mortgage details: If you're buying, tell your lender the agreed price so your formal mortgage offer reflects the correct figure.
• Understand your costs: Get a clear breakdown of conveyancing costs before you commit to anything, so there are no surprises once the transaction is underway.

For a full breakdown of what happens once terms are agreed, see what happens after your offer is accepted. And if new issues come up once your survey is back, you may need a further round of negotiating the house price after offer accepted before you can move on to exchange and completion.