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Assuming we're talking about private sales and not plot sales, what "skin in the game" will the seller have?

If the government in its wisdom(?) wants to be able to discourage parties withdrawing from transactions, perhaps the fairest solution is to amend the Protocol to the effect that a party to a residential sale must deposit a defined sum (say £500) with their solicitor at the start of the transaction. If that party withdraws before contracts are exchanged, the deposit is automatically paid to the other party to compensate them for any loss they may have suffered, unless the withdrawal arises from one of a defined set of causes; e.g defect in title , material misrepresentation by the other party, or survey which would render the property not Lender-Handbook compliant. In the event of dispute, there would be a binding resolution procedure by an independent solicitor acting as expert.

I would think that in the current market conditions, any additional hurdles placed on prospective buyers is a bad idea.