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 FCA-authorised payment institution (FRN 900461). Deducted from your purchase price at completion.
Held by FCA-authorised payment institution
Stripe Payments UK Limited · FRN 900461It's a small deposit you pay to legally reserve a property after your offer is accepted — and it's deducted from your final purchase price at completion. 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.
On completion day, your reservation fee is applied as a credit against your final purchase price. So if you paid £1,000 to reserve and the property is £350,000, you owe £349,000. It's not an extra cost — it's an early payment.
The single most important question: is the £1,000 you just paid actually safe? Here's the technical answer.
Stripe is an FCA-authorised 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: your fee is deducted from your purchase price. Net cost: zero.
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 FCA-authorised institution. 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 completion.
On completion day, your reservation fee is applied as a credit against the final purchase price. You owe the remainder, your solicitor transfers it, the keys are released. Your net cost of the reservation fee: £0. It was never an extra cost — just an early payment that locked the deal.
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 FCA-authorised payment institution.
At completion, every penny of your reservation fee is applied as a credit against your purchase price. If you pay £1,000 to reserve a £350,000 property, you owe £349,000 at completion. The net cost of the reservation fee, if the sale completes, is zero.
Reservation agreements aren't a new gimmick. They've been tested and upheld by UK courts, and are recommended by the UK Government's official property buying guides.
Reservation agreements have been enforced by UK courts — buyers and sellers have legally recovered compensation under them.
The UK Government's official "How to Buy" and "How to Sell" guides both recommend reservation agreements as the mechanism to reduce fall-throughs.
Disputes are resolved by an independent expert panel — no costly court action required from you.
Our agreements operate under English & Welsh property and contract law — the framework you'd expect for any UK property transaction.
A buyer and seller signed a reservation agreement with a £35,000 compensation clause. The buyer attempted to gazunder — reduce their offer days before exchange.
The reservation agreement was upheld. The buyer was ordered to pay the £35,000 compensation. Legal certainty confirmed.
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 FCA-authorised 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).
You don't have to take our word for any of this. Stripe Payments UK Limited's FCA authorisation is publicly verifiable at register.fca.org.uk under FRN 900461. PurchaseSecured is registered at Companies House under company number 16649859.
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 FCA-authorised 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 50% refund of your reservation fee — released by Stripe once you provide written evidence of the refusal from your lender. If 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.
At completion. The full reservation fee is applied as a credit against your final purchase price. So if you pay £1,000 to reserve a £350,000 property, you'll owe £349,000 at completion. The fee is not an extra cost — it's just an early payment that locks the property in.
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 Transforming Everyday Decisions 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 FCA-authorised 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.
If you've been searching for answers about a reservation fee, a reservation agreement, or what purchase secured means in a property context, here's a plain-English glossary of every related term you might come across.
A sum paid by a property buyer (typically £500–£2,000) to legally reserve a UK property after an offer has been accepted. With PurchaseSecured, the reservation fee is held securely by Stripe until exchange or refund of the fee as per the terms of the agreement. It is deducted from the final purchase price at completion.
A legally binding contract between a buyer and seller, supported by a reservation fee, that commits both parties to complete the property purchase on agreed terms within an agreed timescale (typically 28 days to exchange). UK Government "How to Buy" guidance recommends reservation agreements to reduce the ~33% fall-through rate in English & Welsh property sales.
The state of a UK property sale once a reservation fee has been paid and a reservation agreement signed — meaning the seller cannot legally accept a higher offer (no gazumping), the buyer cannot legally renegotiate the agreed price (no gazundering), and both parties are committed up to and including exchange of contracts. Also the name of our service: PurchaseSecured.
Partly or fully, depending on the reason. Under a PurchaseSecured reservation agreement: 50% refunded if your mortgage is refused after genuine application, or your survey finds a serious undisclosed defect. 100% refunded if the seller hid material information, or if the seller withdraws from the sale (plus up to £10,000 compensation). The fee is forfeited if you change your mind without valid cause, attempt to gazunder, or miss the exchange deadline.
When a seller accepts a higher offer from a different buyer after already accepting yours but before exchange of contracts. In a traditional UK sale, gazumping is fully legal. Under a PurchaseSecured reservation agreement, the seller is legally bound to honour the agreed sale and cannot accept another offer — so gazumping is, in practical terms, blocked.
When a buyer attempts to reduce their offer days before exchange — usually after surveys and searches are complete and the seller is most exposed. Under a PurchaseSecured reservation agreement, gazundering breaches the contract and the reservation fee is forfeited to the seller (or paid as compensation up to the agreed maximum).
An FCA-authorised payment institution (Firm Reference Number 900461) regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority. PurchaseSecured uses Stripe to receive reservation fees, which are held securely by Stripe until exchange or refund of the fee as per the terms of the agreement. You can verify Stripe's FCA authorisation at register.fca.org.uk.
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2026 — UK legislation introducing new consumer protections in property transactions, including stricter rules on material information disclosure by estate agents. PurchaseSecured agreements include the required SDLT disclosure notices and maintain the full digital audit trail the DMCC Act requires.
A pre-prepared bundle of property information (title, searches, fittings & contents, energy performance, etc.) made available to your solicitor on day one of the reservation. This is one of the most effective tools for compressing the conveyancing timeline from the UK average of 130 days down to under 60 days.
The legal point in a UK property transaction at which the buyer and seller become irrevocably bound to complete the purchase. Under a reservation agreement, exchange typically takes place within 28 days of the reservation fee being paid. After exchange, English & Welsh property law fully takes over.