As conveyancing delays spin out of hand, home purchasers are being forced to pay tens of thousands of pounds to save their property purchases from falling through.
Because of administrative delays in the real estate market, mortgage offers from purchasers are expiring before the deal can close.
Interest rates have risen so quickly that replacement loans can cost up to three times as much.
One buyer had to find a new mortgage package that would have cost an additional £30,000 over the life of a five-year fixed-rate loan due to delays at the conveyancing firm Optima Legal.
Carl Summers Financial Services' Scott Taylor-Barr expressed concern for a client.
Who had previously had a six-month mortgage offer extended by one month.