How House Buying Companies Work: Real Buyers, Lead-Generators, and How to Tell Them Apart

What a house buying company actually is

A house buying company buys your home directly, for cash, rather than listing it for you and waiting for a buyer to appear. There is no chain, no mortgage application on the buyer's side, and no estate agent in the middle. A genuine one holds the money itself, either in a UK bank account or already on its solicitor's client account, so it can complete without waiting for a lender to say yes.

That last point is the whole difference. In UK conveyancing a cash buyer is simply a purchaser who can complete without applying for a mortgage, a bridging loan, or any other secured borrowing. The funds have to be cleared and available. A company that first needs to raise finance, sell something else, or find an investor before it can pay you is not a cash buyer, whatever its website says.

The reason these companies can move in days rather than months is that they remove the two things that usually cause a sale to collapse: the chain, and the lender. When neither of those can change its mind, the timeline shrinks and the certainty goes up. That certainty is what you are really buying when you sell this way.

Genuine own-funds buyers vs lead-generators

This is the single most important distinction, and most sellers never hear it explained. There are two very different businesses hiding behind the same "we buy any house for cash" wording.

A genuine own-funds buyer owns property, has its own money, and buys your home to keep, refurbish, re-let, or resell. Its offer is its own decision because it is the one paying. It can prove funds, it appears at Companies House with filed accounts, and it has no reason to tie you into anything, because it intends to buy the house itself.

A lead-generator is a marketing front. The polished website looks like a buyer, but the company behind it does not own any property and has no money set aside to buy yours. It takes your enquiry, runs an online "valuation", and shops your details to a network of small investors who then decide whether to buy and at what price. The brand you contacted never had the funds. You end up dealing with whoever they sold your details to, on terms you never agreed to at the start.

You can usually spot the difference in one question: "Are you the company that will actually buy my house, and can you prove your funds?" A real buyer answers yes and sends proof within a day. A lead-generator gets vague.

Why last-minute price drops happen

The complaint sellers make most often about house buying companies is that the price agreed at the start is not the price offered at the end. There are two common versions, and both trace back to how the company is structured.

The first is the lowball-after-survey. A company agrees a strong headline price to win your agreement, then runs a survey weeks later and uses it to renegotiate down, often by 10 to 20 percent. The "findings" are usually things any real buyer should have priced in from day one, such as damp, a dated kitchen, or single glazing.

The second, more aggressive version is a completion-day price drop. The company waits until you are fully committed, with solicitors instructed, removals booked, and notice given somewhere, then drops the offer by a further chunk. By that point most sellers accept rather than collapse everything and start over. That is the entire point of the tactic. It pushes your commitment earlier than the price is ever locked in.

Both patterns are far more common with lead-generators and loosely funded operators than with a direct buyer using its own money, because a direct buyer has already decided it can pay the figure it quoted. The trade body for genuine buyers, the National Association of Property Buyers, runs a code of practice that caps any post-agreement reduction at 0.5 percent of the agreed offer, and only where a survey or legal search turns up something genuinely material. A company that drops 10 or 15 percent late in the process is operating well outside that code.

The six checks that verify a genuine buyer

You can separate a real buyer from a marketing front in under five minutes, mostly using free public records. These are the six checks worth running before you commit to anyone.

1. Companies House. Look the company up by name on the official register and confirm it is incorporated, active, and has filed accounts. A brand new shell with no accounts is a warning sign. While you are there, check the directors against the disqualified-director register and see whether the company has changed its name repeatedly.

2. Trade body membership. Check whether the company is a member of the National Association of Property Buyers or registered with The Property Ombudsman, and verify it on those bodies' own registers rather than taking a logo on a website at face value. Membership means a code of practice and access to independent redress.

3. Proof of funds. Ask for written proof dated within the last 30 days, either a redacted bank statement or a solicitor's letter naming the buying company. A genuine buyer sends this without fuss. A lead-generator cannot, because the money was never theirs.

4. A named solicitor. A real buyer will name a solicitor regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority before you commit to anything.

5. No upfront fees. A legitimate buyer never charges you a valuation fee, an admin fee, a booking fee, or an exclusivity deposit. If anyone asks you to pay something before completion, walk away.

6. A written offer with a held price. The offer should be in writing, with a fixed figure and timeline that only changes if something genuinely material is later uncovered, not because you have become too committed to argue.

Also be wary of exclusivity or option agreements that lock you to one buyer for 28, 56, or 90 days. A direct buyer that intends to buy your house has no need to tie you down.

The honest maths: what the discount is really for

Genuine cash buyers in 2026 typically offer between 80 and 85 percent of open-market value. That is not a trick figure, it is the price of certainty and speed. The buyer absorbs any refurbishment, the holding costs while the property is repaired or re-let, stamp duty (often at the additional-dwelling rate), legal fees on both sides, and the risk that the property does not resell at the assumed price.

The headline discount also looks larger than the real gap once you account for what the open market actually costs. Industry data in 2026 puts the average marketing-to-completion timeline at around 25 weeks, with roughly 30 percent of agreed sales falling through before completion. Against that you would set estate agent commission, conveyancing, and around six months of mortgage interest, council tax, and utilities while the property sits on the market. When you net all of that off, the difference between a cash sale at 80 to 85 percent and a traditional sale is often much smaller than the raw percentage suggests.

Two figures should make you cautious. Anyone quoting 95 percent or more before they have even seen the property is almost always making a bait offer they intend to revise down once you are committed. And anyone offering below about 70 percent without a clear, specific reason is simply not competitive. Getting two or three written offers is the simplest way to sanity-check whether yours is fair.

How we work, as the counter-example

We are a direct buyer. We use our own funds, so there is no lender approval, no mortgage survey, and no investor behind the scenes deciding whether to proceed. That is what lets us complete in as little as 7 days, though most sales complete comfortably within two to four weeks, and we work to a longer date if that suits you better.

The process is deliberately plain. You fill in the short form, we call you (usually within a few hours, never later than the next morning), and we arrange to see the property by photos, video walkthrough, or an in-person visit. We then make a formal written offer, typically within 24 to 48 hours of viewing. If you accept, that figure is fixed. We do not reduce offers at a late stage. We instruct our panel solicitors and cover their cost, or you can use your own, and you choose your completion date.

Everything on the six-check list above, we pass on purpose. You can look us up at Companies House, we prove funds in writing, we name a regulated solicitor, we charge you nothing, and the offer we put in writing is the offer that reaches your account on completion day. If the open market is genuinely the better route for your property, we will tell you that too.

Frequently asked questions

How do "we buy any house" companies work?

A genuine one buys your home directly with its own cash, gives you a written offer, pays your legal fees, and completes in days or weeks with no chain and no mortgage lender involved. Many brands using that phrase are not buyers at all. They are lead-generators who pass your details to a network of investors, which is where most last-minute price drops and problems come from.

What is the difference between a real buyer and a lead-generator?

A real buyer owns property, holds its own funds, and can prove them within a day, because it is the company that will actually buy your house. A lead-generator is a marketing front with no property and no money set aside. It sells your enquiry to investors who then decide whether to buy. Ask directly: are you the company that will buy my house, and can you prove your funds?

Why do house buying companies drop the price at the last minute?

Usually because the company either never had firm funds or is a lead-generator relying on an investor who renegotiates. The two common patterns are a lowball after a survey weeks in, and a drop on completion day once you are fully committed. A genuine direct buyer has already decided it can pay the figure it quoted. The NAPB code caps any post-agreement reduction at 0.5 percent, and only for a genuinely material finding.

What are the six checks to verify a genuine house buying company?

Check it at Companies House for active status and filed accounts, verify NAPB or Property Ombudsman membership on those bodies' own registers, ask for written proof of funds dated within 30 days, confirm a named SRA-regulated solicitor, confirm there are no upfront fees of any kind, and get a written offer with a price that is held to completion. All the public-record checks are free.

How much do genuine house buying companies offer?

Reputable companies typically offer between 80 and 85 percent of open-market value in 2026. The exact figure depends on condition, location, tenure, and how quickly you need to complete. An offer of 95 percent or more before a viewing is usually a bait offer that gets revised down later, and an offer far below 70 percent without a clear reason is not competitive.

How quickly can a house buying company complete?

A genuine cash buyer with funds already available can complete in as little as 7 days where searches are not strictly required, and most sales complete within two to four weeks. The bottleneck is normally the conveyancing, not the buyer's money. If you need longer, a good buyer will work to your timeline.

Do I pay any fees to a house buying company?

No. A legitimate company pays its own legal costs and usually covers your solicitor's fee too, and charges you nothing upfront. There are no valuation fees, admin fees, booking fees, or exclusivity deposits. If any company asks you to pay something before completion, treat it as a red flag and walk away.

Should I be worried about signing an exclusivity or option agreement?

Be cautious. These tie you to one buyer for a fixed period, often 28, 56, or 90 days, during which you cannot accept other offers but the company has little real obligation to complete. A genuine direct buyer that intends to purchase your house has no need to lock you in, so a demand for exclusivity is worth questioning.

Is a house buying company always the right choice?

No. If your property is in good condition, there is no time pressure, and local demand is strong, an estate agent sale will usually net you more after costs, even allowing for fall-through risk. A house buying company tends to win when speed and certainty matter more than the last slice of price, for example facing repossession, a fixed probate or divorce deadline, a property needing work, or a sale that has already fallen through once.