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How to Make an Offer on a House
A step-by-step guide to submitting, negotiating and winning your offer, with a written template and the mistakes that get offers rejected.
Making an offer on a house is the moment your search turns into a negotiation, and getting it right can save you thousands of pounds or cost you the property altogether. This guide walks through exactly how much to offer, the steps for submitting it, how to negotiate once the seller responds, and what changes if you're buying in Scotland.
Before you pick up the phone to the estate agent, a bit of preparation now saves you from losing out later. Sellers and agents take offers from prepared buyers far more seriously than from those who are still assembling the basics, and in a competitive market that preparation can be the difference between an accepted offer and a rejected one. Getting three things sorted first puts you in the strongest possible position.
An agreement in principle (AIP), also called a decision in principle, is a lender's initial confirmation of how much it would consider lending you based on your income, credit history and outgoings. Most AIPs take 15 to 30 minutes to arrange online or over the phone and remain valid for 60 to 90 days. Estate agents routinely ask to see one before passing your offer to the seller, because it proves you can actually afford the property rather than just wanting it. If you're a first-time buyer, an AIP also gives you a realistic budget ceiling before you fall in love with a house you can't finance, and it's worth reading a first-time buyer mortgage guide to understand how much you're likely to be offered.
Asking prices are aspirational, sold prices are factual. Check the Land Registry's sold price data and portals like Rightmove or Zoopla for what comparable properties on the same street or postcode actually sold for in the last 6 to 12 months. This tells you whether the asking price reflects the market or is inflated, and gives you evidence to justify any offer below the asking figure.
You don't need to have chosen a solicitor before you make an offer, but having one lined up speeds things up considerably once your offer is accepted. Many buyers waste a week or more scrambling to find a conveyancer after acceptance, time that can allow a competing buyer to gazump them. Starting the conveyancing process conversation early, including getting a quote for your likely conveyancing fees, means you can instruct immediately the moment the seller says yes.
There's no single right answer to how much you should offer on a house, it depends on how hot the local market is, how the property is priced, and how quickly the seller needs to move. In most parts of the UK in 2026, first offers land somewhere between 5% and 10% below the asking price, though this varies enormously by region and property type. Understanding the local dynamics before you offer stops you either overpaying unnecessarily or offering so low that you insult the seller and get ignored.
Start by working out how long the property has been on the market. A listing that's been live for more than 8 to 10 weeks with no sale usually signals room to negotiate, particularly if the price has already been reduced once. A property that went live last week in a sought-after postcode, by contrast, may attract multiple offers within days, and asking price or above may be needed to secure it. Estate agents can be cagey about how many other viewings or offers a property has had, but a direct question about interest levels is a fair one to ask.
Calculate a fair offer by taking the average of comparable sold prices in the last 6 months, adjusting for condition, size and any work needed, then comparing that figure to the asking price. If the seller is asking notably more than recent sold comparables suggest, you have solid grounds for a lower offer backed by evidence rather than guesswork.
Your own position affects how much room you have to negotiate too. Cash buyers and those who are chain-free can often secure a larger discount because they remove risk and speed for the seller, while buyers still needing to sell their own home usually have less leverage. If your finances or timeline are flexible, telling the seller their preferred completion date works for you can sometimes achieve a price reduction without any haggling at all.
Once you've settled on a figure, the actual process of submitting an offer is straightforward, but doing it properly protects you if there's ever a dispute about what was agreed.
Most offers start as a phone call or in-person conversation with the estate agent, who is legally obliged to pass every offer to the seller regardless of how low it is. A verbal offer is quick and lets you gauge the agent's reaction, but it carries no evidential weight if there's later confusion about the figure or the conditions attached. Always follow a verbal offer with something in writing within 24 hours.
State the exact figure, your position (first-time buyer, chain-free, cash buyer, or the stage your own sale has reached), your ideal completion timeframe, and any conditions such as the offer being subject to survey or specific fixtures being included in the sale. Vague offers, such as somewhere around £280,000, get treated less seriously than precise ones.
Being chain-free, a cash buyer, or flexible on completion dates makes your offer more attractive even if it's not the highest one on the table. Sellers who need to move quickly, for instance those who've already found their onward purchase, will often accept a slightly lower offer from a buyer who can complete in 8 weeks over a higher offer from someone stuck in a lengthy chain.
Send a short email to the agent confirming the figure and conditions immediately after your call. A simple template: Following our conversation, I'd like to formally offer £[amount] for [property address], subject to survey and contract. I have a mortgage agreement in principle for £[amount] and am currently [chain position]. I'd be able to complete within [timeframe]. Please confirm receipt of this offer. This creates a paper trail the agent must act on and gives you something to refer back to if the details of your offer are later disputed.
Negotiation is where offers are won or lost, and a lot of buyers undermine their own position without realising it. The estate agent works for the seller, not you, so anything you say can be relayed back and used to strengthen the seller's negotiating position.
Opening with a low anchor offer works in a slow market where there's little competing interest, giving you room to move up gradually if needed. In a fast-moving market with multiple viewings booked, a best-and-final approach, where you offer your genuine maximum straight away with a short deadline attached, often performs better because sellers in competitive situations don't want prolonged back-and-forth.
Watch how the agent responds to your opening offer. A quick, firm rejection often means the seller has a clear minimum figure in mind. A vaguer response, or an invitation to come back with something a bit higher, usually signals room to negotiate further. If the agent won't budge after two rounds and you've hit your ceiling, be prepared to walk away, sellers frequently reconsider a fair offer once a property has sat unsold for several more weeks.
Sealed bids happen when a seller receives enough interest that the estate agent asks every interested buyer to submit their best offer in writing by a set deadline, usually within a few days, with the seller then choosing whichever bid best suits them. This is most common for period properties, homes in sought-after school catchments, or anywhere viewings have been unusually high. Because you can't see what other buyers are offering, sealed bids reward research rather than guesswork.
To submit a competitive sealed bid, base your figure on genuine sold price evidence rather than an emotional round number, and include your position clearly, your mortgage agreement in principle amount, chain status, and preferred completion date, since sellers don't always choose the highest figure if a lower offer comes with less risk. Many agents ask for bids to be submitted by letter or email rather than phone, so put real thought into the wording rather than treating it as a formality.
Tip: A sealed bid that's £2,000 higher but chain-free and mortgage-ready often beats a higher offer from a buyer still waiting to sell their own home.
Getting a verbal yes from the seller feels like the finish line, but in England and Wales it isn't legally binding, either side can still pull out right up until contracts are exchanged. That makes the weeks immediately after acceptance the most important part of the whole process, and moving quickly reduces the risk of losing the property to gazumping risk from a rival buyer.
For a full breakdown of every task in the weeks that follow, see our guide on what happens after your offer is accepted, which covers timescales and the conveyancing process in detail.
Scotland's system works differently from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and it catches out plenty of buyers moving from south of the border. Once a seller formally accepts your offer through solicitors' letters known as missives, it's a legally binding contract, there's no later exchange of contracts stage where either party can still walk away. This makes early preparation even more important north of the border, since you need your finances and conveyancer confirmed before you submit an offer rather than after.
Key differences to know:
Plenty of offers get rejected or undermined by mistakes that have nothing to do with the price itself. Avoiding these gives you a real edge over other buyers competing for the same property.
Most buyers offer between 5% and 10% below the asking price as a starting point, though the right figure depends on how long the property has been listed and how much competing interest there is. Homes on the market for 8 weeks or more with no price reduction often have more room to negotiate, while a freshly listed property in a popular area may need asking price or above. Check recent sold prices for comparable homes nearby before deciding your figure.
No, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland neither a verbal nor written offer is legally binding until contracts are formally exchanged, which is usually weeks after acceptance. Either the buyer or seller can withdraw at any point before exchange without penalty, which is why gazumping and gazundering remain a genuine risk throughout the process. Scotland works differently, offers become binding once missives are concluded between solicitors.
A rejected offer isn't necessarily the end of negotiations. Ask the agent for feedback on why it was turned down, whether it was the price, your position in a chain, or the completion timeframe, then decide whether to increase your offer, adjust your terms, or walk away. Many sellers reconsider a fair offer a few weeks later if the property hasn't attracted anything better, so staying in polite contact with the agent can pay off.
Yes, up until contracts are exchanged you can withdraw your offer without any legal or financial penalty, though you may lose money already spent on surveys, valuation fees or conveyancing work carried out so far. This flexibility cuts both ways, the seller can also accept a higher offer from someone else right up until exchange, which is why moving quickly through conveyancing matters once your offer is accepted.
You should instruct a conveyancer as soon as your offer is accepted, ideally within a day or two, since searches, enquiries and mortgage valuation work can then start immediately. Buyers who wait a week or more to choose a solicitor lose valuable time and increase the risk of a competing buyer overtaking them, particularly in busy markets where gazumping is more common.
Confirm that you have an agreement in principle and roughly what it covers so the agent knows you can afford the property, but avoid revealing your absolute maximum budget. Agents represent the seller, not you, and will use any information about your ceiling to push you toward a higher figure during negotiation, so keep detail about your top limit and how flexible you're prepared to be strictly to yourself.
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