According to the report of Life Insurance Company Scottish Widows 3.3 million buyers in Britain had been victims of gazumping. Gazumping accounts for behaviour where a house seller accepts an offer from a purchaser but later accedes to a higher proposal from a second purchaser.

Laws in Scotland make gazumping impossible there, but figures still put Britain ahead of European countries like France, Spain and Germany.

Other factors such as financial problems, availability of homeowner loans, mortgages or a change of heart might have contributed to the growth of gazumping.

The report also says that people in Britain spend little time considering a future home before making a deal to buy. More than a 33 per cent viewed future assets just once with 66 percent spending less than an hour examining the purchase.

Experts warn against this trend of spending little time on buying a house as it is one of the long term financial commitments.