Q: I HAVE agreed to purchase a property that had been very popular, and I am worried that the purchaser may consider other offers should any be made. A friend of mine mentioned a ‘lock out’ agreement. What is this? Mrs T, Stroud.

A: Lock out or exclusivity agreements seek to stop a seller negotiating with any other party during the exclusivity or lock out period. However, it is important to stress that lock out agreements do not bind either the seller to sell or the buyer to buy. They do not stop the seller, at the end of the exclusivity or lock out period, selling the property to someone else.

Lock out agreements are usually drawn up by legal advisers and legal advice should always be sought before entering into any agreement.

The agreements are more usual in the context of a sale and purchase but they can also be applied to the grant of a lease or an agreement for lease.

They can provide a potential buyer with a short protective period within which to proceed with due diligence.

If, however, a potential buyer is looking for longer-term protection while they decide if they want to proceed then a lock out agreement is not the answer. The buyer should consider agreeing an “option to buy” with the seller instead.

There can be many pros and cons. For buyers, it gives them some degree of protection from losing the property to another buyer. This is because lock out agreements prevents the seller from entertaining other buyers.

However, the seller will usually have an estate agent who is duty bound to relay to them other offers for the property. Such a scenario can lead to a difficult situation for the seller and the first buyer alike.

While the seller is indeed bound not to entertain the offers, there is no agreement either way to sell to the buyer at the end of the lock out agreement. An unscrupulous vendor could just allow the period to lapse, refuse to sign the contract for fabricated reasons, and then sell to the second buyer.

So as far as protection is concerned, it provides protection from casual offers but it may not protect the buyer from very serious determined buyers dealing with a buyer.

From the point of view of the seller, most sellers find these agreements suggest that the buyers do not trust them. After all, if they did then there would be no need to draft such an agreement. This tends to turn what could have been a good deal, to one that is distasteful to both parties. With this in mind, we tend to shy away from them.

Please continue to send your property related questions to: clive@sawyersestateagents.co.uk .