How your reservation fee is protected — 2 min
The reservation fee you've paid to secure your UK property is held securely by Stripe until exchange or refund of the fee as per the terms of the agreement. Stripe Payments UK Limited is an payment institution (FRN 900461).
It's a small deposit you pay to legally reserve a property after your offer is accepted. Here's exactly how it works.
Once your offer is accepted, you pay a small reservation fee (typically £500-£1,000) via a secure Stripe payment link. The fee is held securely by Stripe until exchange or refund of the fee as per the terms of the agreement.
The seller is legally bound. They cannot accept a higher offer (no gazumping). You're not exposed for months while surveys and conveyancing happen. The property is genuinely, contractually yours to buy.
Your reservation fee is paid on top of the purchase price — it isn't deducted at completion. Many sellers and agents accept a lower offer with certainty over a higher one with no guarantee it will complete. The fee is what gives them that certainty, and makes you the buyer they choose.
The single most important question: is the £1,000 you just paid actually safe? Here's the technical answer.
Stripe is an payment institution (Firm Reference Number 900461). Your reservation fee enters their UK conditional payment infrastructure the moment you pay it.
The traditional model is dangerous: you hand cash to an estate agent and hope. PurchaseSecured is built differently — by design, your money is out of reach of anyone who could misuse it.
We don't hide refund terms in legal small print. Every scenario is defined upfront, in writing, in your reservation agreement.
Sale completes successfully: you got the property, because you were the buyer the seller could count on.
This is the trade-off: you commit, they commit. Both sides risk the same.
⚖️ Important: The exact refund rules for your specific reservation are in the agreement you sign. Read it carefully before paying. If anything is unclear, contact us before you proceed — never sign something you don't fully understand.
In England and Wales, an accepted offer means almost nothing legally. The seller can accept a higher offer the next day. You can lose the property at any moment until exchange of contracts. This is the danger zone.
The fee enters Stripe Payments UK Limited's conditional payment infrastructure — an Secure payments. It is held securely by Stripe until exchange or refund of the fee as per the terms of the agreement. The seller becomes legally bound to sell to you, at the agreed price.
You spend on a survey, your solicitor begins searches, your mortgage offer progresses. The difference: you know the property is yours. The seller cannot legally accept another offer. Your money sits safely in Stripe the entire time.
Your solicitor and the seller's solicitor exchange contracts. From this point, English property law takes over — the same as any traditional sale. Your reservation fee remains in Stripe, ready to be applied at exchange.
Your solicitor transfers the purchase price and the keys are released. The reservation fee was paid on top of the price — and it is what made the seller choose you and stay with you all the way to completion.
This is exactly what you'll see when your estate agent sends you a PurchaseSecured reservation link. Clear, simple, never any hidden charges.
14 Acacia Avenue is now legally reserved for you. The seller cannot accept another offer. Your £1,000 is held securely by Stripe until exchange or refund of the fee as per the terms of the agreement. You'll receive your reservation agreement and Stripe receipt by email within 60 seconds.
Buyers who use PurchaseSecured are statistically far less likely to lose money on a failed sale. Here's the maths.
The average UK buyer loses to a failed sale (survey, searches, solicitor) — none of which is recoverable without a reservation agreement
Of unprotected UK property sales fall through between offer and exchange. With PurchaseSecured, the figure is under 3%
UK buyers have been gazumped or experienced a serious fall-through — making upfront protection the rational choice
Your reservation fee is held securely by Stripe until exchange or refund of the fee as per the terms of the agreement. Stripe Payments UK Limited is an payment institution.
The reservation fee is paid on top of the purchase price, so account for it when you make your offer. Many sellers and agents take a lower offer with certainty over a higher one with no guarantee it will complete. PurchaseSecured lets you be that buyer — you give them confidence you'll complete, they give you the property.
The UK Government's "How to Buy" guide explicitly recommends reservation agreements as a way for buyers to protect themselves between offer and exchange.
Your reservation fee is held securely by Stripe until exchange or refund of the fee as per the terms of the agreement. Stripe Payments UK Limited is an payment institution.
The 2026 Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act introduces new consumer protections for property transactions. Our process is aligned with all required disclosures from day one.
We're GDPR-compliant, never sell your data, and never share it with third parties beyond what's strictly required to process your reservation (you, the seller, your solicitors, Stripe).
Yes. Your reservation fee is held securely by Stripe until exchange or refund of the fee as per the terms of the agreement. Stripe Payments UK Limited is an payment institution (Firm Reference Number 900461). You can verify Stripe's authorisation yourself at register.fca.org.uk.
If you applied for a mortgage in good faith and were refused, you'll receive a 100% refund of your reservation fee — released by Stripe once you provide written evidence of the refusal from your lender. This is only in the event that the refusal was caused by something the seller failed to disclose (an undisclosed planning issue, ownership dispute, etc.), you receive 100% back.
You receive 100% of your reservation fee back AND the seller becomes legally liable to compensate you for wasted costs (survey fees, solicitor fees, searches) up to £10,000. The seller can be challenged through independent arbitration. Gazumping is, in practical terms, legally blocked while your reservation is active.
No. The reservation fee is always paid on top of the purchase price, so factor it into your offer. On a £350,000 property with a £1,000 fee, your total outlay is £351,000. In return, you become the buyer sellers and agents want — many will accept a lower offer with certainty over a higher one with no guarantee it will complete.
Yes, if you walk away without a valid reason defined in your agreement — for example, you simply change your mind, you try to renegotiate the agreed price (gazundering), or you miss the agreed exchange deadline without seeking an extension. This is the trade-off that makes the system work: both you AND the seller are bound. The valid reasons for getting your money back are spelled out clearly in your agreement before you sign anything.
Reservation agreements are recommended by the UK Government's "How to Buy" guide as the way to reduce the ~33% fall-through rate in English & Welsh property sales. They are increasingly standard practice with modern estate agencies. The fee is what makes the agreement legally meaningful — without skin in the game, both parties remain free to walk away. With it, both are committed.
PurchaseSecured is a trading name of Purchase Secured Limited (registered in England & Wales, company number 16649859). We provide reservation agreement software for UK estate agents. We do not hold client money — that's handled by our payment processor, Stripe Payments UK Limited. The fee is held securely by Stripe until exchange or refund of the fee as per the terms of the agreement.