Proposals for wide-ranging reforms to the home buying and selling process in England and Wales have been welcomed by Sheldon Bosley Knight’s sales teams.
Associate director Matt Burrows said reform was “much-needed” and it was clear a lot of thought had gone into the plans.
The proposals announced by the government earlier this week as part of a consultation, aim to address the current system which it believes is too often costly, time-consuming and too often collapses, leading to financial and emotional frustration amongst both buyers and sellers.
Buying a home is for many people the most important, and financially expensive, purchase of their lives.
In the UK around 1.2 million residential property transactions take place each year, collectively contributing about £100bn to the UK economy.
However government figures show the average completion time once the buyer’s offer has been accepted, is 120 days. Transaction times have increased by 60% since to 2007 with fall throughs affecting on average one in every three transactions.
The government hopes its plans will speed up the home buying and selling process, as well as lower costs, strengthen consumer protection and reduce failed sales.
It has outlined a series of objectives including faster, more reliable transactions enabled by better digital tools, streamlined processes and reduced repetition; reduced fall throughs and risks including those caused by property chains; high professional standards ensuring competence and accountability across the sector; better informed consumers through improved education and transparency; and trust and confidence in the system.
Proposals include a requirement to publish key property information such as condition reports and chain status up front; buyers and sellers to enter binding contracts earlier in the process; mandatory qualifications for estate agents; and digital tools which would underpin the reforms including digital property logbooks.
Speaking after an industry summit in which the proposals were discussed, associate director Matt Burrows said: “The home buying and selling process in this country is different to anywhere else in the world and for many it takes far too long. These proposals aim to make transactions a lot quicker as well as provide more information to the buyer and raise industry standards, all of which are much-needed.
“It’s clear there is weight behind these proposals. There has been a lot of thought and commitment behind the scenes on it and the timescale is to get primary and secondary legislation in place before the end of this parliament in 2029.
“The key challenges will be having all parties of interest working in tune with each other – lenders, surveyors, agents and solicitors – who will all need to be in line.
“I hope we can encourage not just the general public to take part in this consultation but everyone involved in the sector so there is a balance and a range of opinions.”
Custodian Mike Cleary said: “We welcome all these measures but we’ve heard it all before. Anything that improve standards and speeds up the home buying process would be a major leap forward.
“But unless this is done quickly, which nothing is because nothing is straightforward, then it will no doubt get lost politically down the road.”
The consultation can be reached here.