Valuation shortfalls and lender requirements are reopening price discussions late in the mortgage process, brokers say
For mortgage brokers, price renegotiation is no longer confined to the margins of the transaction. In a softer housing market, it is emerging as a late-stage complication, one that can disrupt chains, force reoffers and stretch already fragile conveyancing timelines.
While the term ‘gazundering’ carries moral weight, advisers say the reality is often more technical than tactical. Many reductions emerge not from buyer opportunism, but from valuations and lender requirements that reshape affordability once a case reaches underwriting.
That distinction matters as transactions slow and the window between offer and exchange widens, increasing the scope for lender criteria to reopen discussions late in the process.
“I have seen a bit of this but it mostly ties in with the valuation coming back lower or issues being found in the property that must be dealt with before the lender will lend,” said Rebecca Wilkins of Cutting Edge Mortgages. “So from my point of view the reasons are legitimate.”
In practice, a down-valuation or survey issue can leave borrowers short of funds, forcing conversations that neither party anticipated when the price was agreed.
Wilkins warned that late renegotiations can do more harm than good once a deal is under way.
“Yes it's certainly a threat to chains and timescales but I certainly don't advise my clients to be going in with late offers due to the unreliability of conveyancers,” she said. “Their timescales are awful and to lengthen the process by organising a reoffer is usually not in the client's best interests.”
For advisers, this can become a difficult balancing act: protecting a client’s affordability position without introducing delays that jeopardise the wider transaction.
Not all brokers are seeing an uptick in late-stage renegotiation. Guy Nyirenda of Altura Mortgage Finance said it has not featured prominently in his recent experience.
“It is not something I have personally seen in a while, nor heard about from our brokers,” he said. “Although the market is soft, this is not something I would be expecting to become commonplace in a reducing rate environment and lenders being able to increase lending through easing of affordability rules.”
Nyirenda acknowledged, however, that valuation gaps can still trigger price discussions. “There may be instances where valuations fall short of expectation and this can be a discussion point in negotiations to cover off areas that may require funds to improve the property, such as a roof inspection, damp issues etc.”
Experiences also vary sharply by property type. Rhys Cox of The Mortgage Store said the issue is barely visible in some segments of the market.
“To be honest, for me and where I sit, I haven’t heard that floating around as an issue,” he said. “For example, in our new build team it’s very rare that anyone will get away with gazundering a developer.”
In the second-hand market, he accepts, dynamics are different. “I suppose it’s something that happens, but it’s more of a buyer’s market problem,” he said, pointing to structural differences in Scotland. “They are legally bound to offer and acceptance, which helps prevent gazundering. So maybe our system doesn’t work as effectively in the best interests of the seller as much as it does for the buyer.”
Where renegotiation is possible, leverage becomes a gamble. “If the buyer is in a position where they’re freely able to gazunder and, actually, the home is perfect for them, the solution’s right for them, they gazunder,” Cox said. “It’s a risky move that could end up with a negative outcome for all involved, but on a rare occasion it can end up with a better deal for the buyer.”
For brokers, the implications are practical rather than philosophical. Longer transaction timelines increase exposure to valuation risk, place additional pressure on chains and demand more expectation management between offer and exchange.
As Cox put it: “The market will always shift up and down – it ebbs and flows. It comes back to agility.”
Until exchange becomes faster and more certain, mortgage advisers will continue to sit at the centre of renegotiations driven as much by process and policy as by market sentiment, long after a price was thought to be agreed.
