It’s not Halloween yet, but ghosts are already out and about in the housing market. Rising prices in property hotspots around the country such as the London and the South East have raised the spectre of a new peril for buyers – the ghost gazumper.

This is essentially the same as the old practice of gazumping, when someone else makes a better offer on the property which is accepted at the last minute. The difference this time around is that there is no other buyer. Rather the seller decides that the value of their property has risen further during the conveyancing period and now wants several thousand pounds more than the agreed price. If the buyer refuses to cough up, the seller puts the property back on the market.

It’s not a nice thing for the seller to do, however there is no law saying that they cannot increase their asking price at any point up until contracts have been exchanged.

You could argue that in some cases it may be understandable, if a buyer is taking too long to organise their finances for example. However delays may not always be caused by the buyer. When it comes to buying a leasehold property, it’s not uncommon for the freeholder to hold up the process by not responding promptly to questions from the purchaser’s solicitor or the seller taking their time over sorting any leasehold issues out.

Either way, the buyer could well find themselves out of pocket either in having to fork out more cash to secure their home or losing conveyancing and survey fees if they are forced to pull out.

So what can you do to help your clients? There are of course the usual top tips of advising them to have everything in order before they make an offer – that includes having their solicitor and finances in place – and keeping the communication channels open so that everyone knows how the transaction is progressing.

You can also offer them peace of mind with insurance cover. A one-off cost can provide cover towards conveyancing fees, survey and valuation costs and mortgage arrangement fees. And this cover doesn’t just offer protection from ghosts. There are host of other unexpected events that can get in the way of a successful transaction – unforeseen illness or death, redundancy, even damage to the property that will cost a significant sum to repair.

Moving house is stressful enough as we all know, through personal experience as well as our clients. Nothing is certain until contracts are signed and even the most optimistic homebuyer will appreciate being able to protect their pocket against the perils and pitfalls that come with buying a home.

Brian Coulton is national sales manager at Source Insurance