Gazumping

English Legal System: Gazumping

In the context of the English law, A Dictionary of Law provides the following legal concept of Gazumping :

The withdrawal by a vendor from a proposed sale of land in the expectation of receiving a higher price elsewhere after agreeing the price with a purchaser but before a legally binding contract has been made (See exchange of contracts). The first prospective purchaser has no legal right either to compel the vendor to sell to him or to recover his wasted expenditure (such as surveyor’s and solicitor’s charges) unless an agreement, such as a *lock-out agreement, has been signed.