292 thoughts on “Dealing with property auction issues”
Hello,
1- My plots been sold by modern auction in January 2026.
2- The full legal pack sent by my solicitor to my agent property manager at that well known auction company.
3- Only uploaded on the website the land registry deed but the legal contract between me and the solicitor not uploaded which includes the special terms and conditions of the seller cost and seller solicitor cost will be on the buyer but it been written on the my lot website : the buyer will contribute with seller frees and solicitor fees ( all are clear )
4- The buyer submit a law bid which I accept it and the buyer paid the deposit and I waited for 28 days for completion.
5- On the completion date 12th February 2026, the buyer not completed for unknown reasons.
6- My solicitor contacted with the buyer solicitor and confirmed they will proceed and complete and my solicitor sent for the second time the legal documents to sign and waited for transfer the money but nothing happened on Friday.
7- I waited till Tuesday but nothing happened so my solicitor sent a serve of notice to complete with 10 days.
8- I contacted with the auction company to push this deal by contacting with the buyer solicitor and said she will do and another one advice to send a notice then the deal will be terminated and the buyer will lose the deposit.
9- On Wednesday my solicitor told me she contacted with the auction company regarding the legal pack was sent in November 2025 and the auction company denied even there ia an email confirmed sending full legal pack and the agent property manager confirmed by an email she contacted with my solicitor after received the full legal pack.
10- I contacted with auction company by emails and by phone calls to confirm I am looking forward to proceed as soon as possible and that fault belong to auction company and they must be liable of these fees but I haven’t get any reply yet.
11- My solicitor is waiting a reply from the auction company.
12- I know it’s buyer aware and now the notice will be reach the end soon at the end of this week and the deal will be terminated and the buyer will lose the deposit and pay for notice fees plus interest of delayed days.
My Question is:
Is the auction company will be liable of the seller fees and seller solicitor fees as it’s there mistake?
Or the buyer will proceed under fact ( buyer awareness )
Or the buyer will lose all of these amounts for nothing she got?
Thank you for your comment.
It is very difficult to advise you properly without seeing all the relevant correspondence, we but suspect that the auction house will be covered for any liability by the exclusion clauses in it’s terms and conditions.
These would need to be checked and the email trail inspected before a proper opinion can be given.
If you wish to pursue this matter further, please contact our auction issues specialist Jon Stock in our Litigation department: jon.stock@cunningtons.co.uk.
I purchased a property on the auction 31-7-24, we later realised that the property was an annex of a main house which was marketed as a 3 bedroom house with land and garage at the rear. We decided to go ahead with the purchase and put in a planning application to separate the house into 2 dwellings but the application was refused, we also tried putting lawful development certificate application that got refused as well.
We are stuck now so we need to sue the auction house.
Buying property at auction is always risky and you will be bound by the auction house’s terms and conditions which are not negotiable and are presented in the legal pack which would also have contained a full description of the property. These terms and conditions will have contained what are known as limitation or exclusion of liability clauses which seek to limit or exclude liability for anything said about the property which might not be factually accurate.
It is, therefore a case of “caveat emptor” or “buyer beware” and if you did not seek legal advice on the auction legal pack it is unlikely that you will have any sort of claim against either the auction house or the seller. If you did seek legal advice, however, and that advice was wrong it may be that you will have a claim for professional negligence against the solicitors you instructed.
Brighton has always been London's favourite escape. But since Covid made hybrid working the norm, the move has started to stick in a way it never quite did before. Our Brighton solicitors look at the property market, the commute reality, the Silicon Beach tech community, and why so many Brighton buyers end up in Worthing a few years later.
Being left out of a parent's Will is a shock. The 1975 Inheritance Act does allow adult children to claim, but only for maintenance. Four cases, including one from 2026, show what the courts actually award and why most claims fail.
Cunningtons LLP has partnered with MatterSphere and Expedite Law to integrate property logbook checks directly into our conveyancing workflow. Discover how this new technology is reducing delays, cutting manual admin and helping deliver a smoother move for buyers and sellers.
Hello,
1- My plots been sold by modern auction in January 2026.
2- The full legal pack sent by my solicitor to my agent property manager at that well known auction company.
3- Only uploaded on the website the land registry deed but the legal contract between me and the solicitor not uploaded which includes the special terms and conditions of the seller cost and seller solicitor cost will be on the buyer but it been written on the my lot website : the buyer will contribute with seller frees and solicitor fees ( all are clear )
4- The buyer submit a law bid which I accept it and the buyer paid the deposit and I waited for 28 days for completion.
5- On the completion date 12th February 2026, the buyer not completed for unknown reasons.
6- My solicitor contacted with the buyer solicitor and confirmed they will proceed and complete and my solicitor sent for the second time the legal documents to sign and waited for transfer the money but nothing happened on Friday.
7- I waited till Tuesday but nothing happened so my solicitor sent a serve of notice to complete with 10 days.
8- I contacted with the auction company to push this deal by contacting with the buyer solicitor and said she will do and another one advice to send a notice then the deal will be terminated and the buyer will lose the deposit.
9- On Wednesday my solicitor told me she contacted with the auction company regarding the legal pack was sent in November 2025 and the auction company denied even there ia an email confirmed sending full legal pack and the agent property manager confirmed by an email she contacted with my solicitor after received the full legal pack.
10- I contacted with auction company by emails and by phone calls to confirm I am looking forward to proceed as soon as possible and that fault belong to auction company and they must be liable of these fees but I haven’t get any reply yet.
11- My solicitor is waiting a reply from the auction company.
12- I know it’s buyer aware and now the notice will be reach the end soon at the end of this week and the deal will be terminated and the buyer will lose the deposit and pay for notice fees plus interest of delayed days.
My Question is:
Is the auction company will be liable of the seller fees and seller solicitor fees as it’s there mistake?
Or the buyer will proceed under fact ( buyer awareness )
Or the buyer will lose all of these amounts for nothing she got?
Thank you.
Thank you for your comment.
It is very difficult to advise you properly without seeing all the relevant correspondence, we but suspect that the auction house will be covered for any liability by the exclusion clauses in it’s terms and conditions.
These would need to be checked and the email trail inspected before a proper opinion can be given.
If you wish to pursue this matter further, please contact our auction issues specialist Jon Stock in our Litigation department: jon.stock@cunningtons.co.uk.
I purchased a property on the auction 31-7-24, we later realised that the property was an annex of a main house which was marketed as a 3 bedroom house with land and garage at the rear. We decided to go ahead with the purchase and put in a planning application to separate the house into 2 dwellings but the application was refused, we also tried putting lawful development certificate application that got refused as well.
We are stuck now so we need to sue the auction house.
Buying property at auction is always risky and you will be bound by the auction house’s terms and conditions which are not negotiable and are presented in the legal pack which would also have contained a full description of the property. These terms and conditions will have contained what are known as limitation or exclusion of liability clauses which seek to limit or exclude liability for anything said about the property which might not be factually accurate.
It is, therefore a case of “caveat emptor” or “buyer beware” and if you did not seek legal advice on the auction legal pack it is unlikely that you will have any sort of claim against either the auction house or the seller. If you did seek legal advice, however, and that advice was wrong it may be that you will have a claim for professional negligence against the solicitors you instructed.