Biggest Shake-up of Home Buying in Decades
Families and first-time buyers set to save time, money, and stress under major changes to the homebuying process – supporting the next generation and those locked out by a slow and unfair system
New sales packs to ensure buyers have the information they need upfront, earlier binding agreements, and digital tools will halve the number of sales that fall through saving millions
Reforms will cut buying times by around four weeks, save first-time buyers an average of £650, and get the housing market moving more quickly
Buying and selling a home is set to become faster, cheaper, and less stressful under major reforms unveiled today (Friday 19 June) to cut delays, reduce and digitalise paperwork, and stop sales collapsing.
At a time when families are feeling the squeeze, new changes will cut homebuying times by around four weeks, save first-time buyers an average of £650, and stop the nasty surprises that cost time, money, and heartbreak. This will ensure the chance to own a home isn’t determined by who can afford to take the biggest risk.
Sellers and estate agents will have to provide key information upfront in ‘sales packs’ at the point of listing. This will set out a home’s condition, leasehold costs, and chain status so buyers can make informed decisions, and property professionals can get to work sooner – while creating a fairer, more transparent process for everyone involved.
Changes will also see new earlier binding agreements to stop parties walking away months into negotiations without a legitimate reason. This will help to give young people confidence in the system and better plan for their next steps, not put them on hold.
In addition, a new Code of Practice will raise standards for estate agents, alongside proposals for mandatory qualifications for the sector which could ensure agents are properly equipped to support efficient transactions and rebuild trust in the sector.
With the average home purchase taking around 120 days, one in three sales falling through costing sellers around £400 million per year, and failed transactions costing the economy up to £1.5 billion every year – these reforms will fix a broken system.
Housing Secretary, Steve Reed said:
Buying or selling a home should be one of life’s great moments and not a drawn-out nightmare of delays, hidden costs, and failed deals.
These changes will make the system faster, fairer, and more secure – giving families and first-time buyers the certainty they need all while saving them time and money.
Phil Spencer, Property Expert & Move iQ Founder said:
For as long as I’ve worked in property, one of the biggest frustrations I’ve heard from buyers and sellers is that the process simply doesn’t work as well as it should. It can be slow, stressful and uncertain, with too many transactions falling through after months of time, effort and expense.
I welcome these proposals – they address many of the issues consumers have been grappling with for years, from a lack of upfront information to unnecessary delays and last-minute surprises. Giving people a clearer picture from the outset and creating greater certainty throughout the transaction process can only be a positive step.
These have the potential to make moving home a far better experience for everyone involved. Having spent decades at the heart of the housing market, I’ve seen first-hand the emotional and financial toll that a failed transaction can take. Anything that helps buyers and sellers move with greater confidence and fewer obstacles is to be applauded.
I look forward to seeing these changes brought forward and the difference they could make to the way we buy and sell homes.
Paul Whitehead, CEO, Zoopla said:
Zoopla sits at the heart of the UK property market and over 6 million homeowners are tracking the value of their most important asset and planning their next move. They deserve better than a home-buying process that takes months, falls through too often, and leaves everyone poorer for it.
These proposed reforms change that. Upfront sales packs, digital logbooks and binding contracts aren’t just technical reforms – they are the foundations of a market people can trust. Zoopla will continue to be an active partner to the Government and industry in building a faster more transparent system that makes moving simple.
Johan Svanstrom, CEO, Rightmove said:
This is an encouraging step towards a faster and more efficient property market, addressing some of the biggest frustrations that home-movers and industry participants face. By making more information available upfront, there is a clear opportunity to reduce fall-throughs and increase transparency. Our UK-wide data shows that it takes a lengthy 170 days on average to complete a transaction and that over one in five transactions initially falls through. Last year, fall-throughs alone meant that approximately £900 million in potential stamp duty receipts and estate agency commission in England was lost, and consumers lose both precious time, certainty and money when needing to repeat transaction processes. The implementation and phasing of these initiatives will be key to ensure consistency and adoption. It needs to be helpful to the vital role estate agents play in the marketplace, and to avoid any unintended consequences.
Increased mobility, transparency and certainty is key to overall economic growth. We strongly believe that further digitisation and improvements to the home-moving process can help to speed it up and reduce friction. It will require cross-industry collaboration and innovation to achieve the aims set out today.
Countries like the Netherlands, Norway, and Finland have already shown that reforms like these deliver real benefits for buyers, sellers and the industry alike.
The Netherlands uses a live tracking system for buyers and sellers to check their transaction status helping to achieve a final completion time of 20 days on average, whilst Norway’s efforts to streamline and digitalise the system has estimated savings of up to £1.4bn over 10 years.
This package will inject fresh momentum into the housing market and help people keep more money in their pockets by cutting the hidden costs and delays in buying a home to ease cost of living pressures and support a fairer housing market that works for ordinary families.
Nathan Emerson, CEO at Propertymark, said:
Propertymark is pleased to see the UK Government come forward with a phased roadmap to reform the home buying and selling process. For too long the process has been inefficient, costly and time-consuming. Propertymark data demonstrates that transaction times continue to trend upwards, prompting a sector wide appetite and ambition for much needed reform.
A clear focus on professional standards, digitised and trusted information as well as the appropriate use of binding contracts will help to modernise and speed up home moves. A lack of upfront and timely information is regularly cited as being a major reason for transactional delays and a root cause of costly fall throughs. A phased implementation will ensure the sector has the capability and capacity to support the changes in a managed and staged way.
Lesley Horton, the UK’s Chief Property Ombudsman, said:
“We welcome the Government’s commitment to reforming the home buying and selling process and we’re pleased to see a number of measures that have the potential to deliver a more transparent, efficient and consumer-focused system.
For too long, buyers and sellers have faced uncertainty, delays and avoidable transaction failures. These reforms represent an important opportunity to improve confidence at every stage of the process.
We recognise that the proposals, if fully implemented, will change expectations on sellers in particular. Consumers will need support in understanding those new expectations, and therefore there will be an increased role for Estate Agents to support sellers and buyers through the process.
The introduction of greater upfront information will help consumers make more informed decisions earlier and reduce the risk of transactions collapsing further down the line. Buyers should be able to rely on accurate, accessible and meaningful information when making one of the most significant financial decisions of their lives, and these changes are a positive step towards achieving that.
We are also encouraged by proposals to strengthen professional standards across the property sector. This will be even more important so that agents can provide appropriate advice to consumers through the process. Consumers rightly expect those involved in the home buying and selling process to demonstrate competence, accountability and professionalism. Raising standards and ensuring consistency across the sector will help build trust, improve outcomes for consumers and enable the successful implementation of the proposals over the longer term.
The wider focus on digitalisation, including the use of digital property information and measures designed to streamline transactions, has the potential to modernise a process that many consumers still find frustratingly complex.
If implemented carefully and supported by clear guidance and appropriate training, these reforms can create a home buying and selling system that is faster, fairer and better equipped to meet the needs of consumers in the years ahead.”
Chris Rosindale, Chief Operating Officer at Connells Group said:
We welcome the Government’s commitment to modernising the homebuying process. Making key property information available earlier and embracing digital solutions will help reduce delays, increase certainty and create a better experience for buyers and sellers. We believe in reform that makes the system faster, more transparent and more reliable, and are excited to play our part in this transformation of the homebuying process.
Mark Evans, Vice President, Law Society of England and Wales said:
It is in the interests of everyone that the home buying and selling process is improved. The government’s roadmap is rightly ambitious because to make long-lasting improvements the system needs to be reformed as a whole.
The reforms proposed are a positive step towards creating a more efficient system with better informed consumers, and estate agents expected to meet good standards.
How the different proposals are implemented will be key to the success of the reforms. Solicitors play a key role in home buying and selling and are ideally placed to assess how the proposals will work in practice. We welcome the opportunity to work with the
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