How to Move House Without Killing or Divorcing Anyone

Originally published as an advertorial in the January 2026 issue of Ealing Living Magazine.

Rethinking Home Moves in a System Designed for Collapse

A System That Accepts Failure as Normal

Every year in England and Wales, around 300,000 property sales collapse. That is more than one in every three agreed transactions falling apart after an offer has been accepted. Put another way, a home move collapses roughly every two minutes.

Not because people suddenly change their minds. Not because houses stop being houses. But because the system quietly tolerates uncertainty, misalignment and avoidable risk.

Moving home is consistently ranked alongside bereavement and divorce as one of the most stressful experiences in adult life. That is not hyperbole. It is data. Abraham Maslow identified shelter as one of our most fundamental human needs nearly eighty years ago, yet the way we buy and sell homes has barely evolved since.

The stress is rarely about the property itself. It is about not knowing whether the other side is really committed. About spending thousands of pounds with no protection. About poor communication, slow processes and discovering critical information far too late. About chains collapsing, surveys being weaponised and weeks of emotional investment disappearing overnight.

Every Year, One in Three Home Moves Collapse

On average, when a sale collapses, home movers lose £3,337 in wasted fees and costs. That figure does not include the six months of lost time or the frustration and heartache of watching a carefully planned move unravel.

Perfectly Legal. Utterly Unethical.

Gazumping and gazundering sit right at the centre of this dysfunction. Both are entirely legal. Both are common. And both leave people exposed to risk at exactly the point they feel most invested.

At Leslie & Co, we believe this is not inevitable. And we believe accepting it is a choice.

I came into estate agency relatively late, in 2018, at the age of 34. But by then I had already experienced property from almost every angle possible. And every time, I found myself asking the same question: Why does this feel harder than it needs to be?

That outsider's perspective has remained an advantage. I never accepted the phrase "but it's always been done this way". It is one of the most dangerous sentences in any industry. It excuses bad practice, resists change and ignores the fact that people's expectations have moved on.

Designing Out Stress

So we built Leslie & Co around one simple principle: reduce emotional and mental load, not increase it.

We start by tackling the real causes of collapse. We frontload the legal and practical legwork, so buyers are properly informed before they make an offer, not weeks later when surprises derail deals. This speeds up conveyancing and removes the stop-start anxiety that defines so many transactions in this country.

Crucially, we also encourage mutual commitment. Buyer and seller enter into a fair financial agreement, meaning that if either party withdraws unreasonably, they agree to compensate the other. It is not about punishment. It is about alignment. When everyone has something to lose, behaviour improves dramatically.

And we do not trap homeowners in long contracts. If either party feels the relationship is no longer working, it can be ended at any time. Control stays where it belongs: with the homeowner.

What Changes When Commitment Comes First

The impact is tangible. Fewer sleepless nights. Fewer emotionally charged conversations. And far fewer sales collapsing at the last minute.

In a market where over 30% of agreed sales still fall through, calm, transparent and accountable processes are not a luxury. They are essential. Wellbeing is not just about where you live. It is about how you get there.

Find out more about Leslie & Co and how we do things differently.