A seller in the South East recently watched her buyer slash their offer by £15,000 the day before exchange of contracts - a stark illustration of gazundering's quiet resurgence in the UK housing market. The practice, where a buyer exploits their position late in the transaction to demand a lower price, thrives in exactly the conditions the market has produced over the past 18 months: elevated mortgage rates, cautious surveyors, and chains that take months rather than weeks to complete. What was once considered a fringe tactic confined to opportunistic chain-breakers is now a live risk for anyone selling a property in England or Wales, where the absence of a binding contract until exchange leaves both parties legally free to walk away or renegotiate at any point.