‘Buying a home should be a dream, not a nightmare,’ Housing Secretary Steve Reed, said. ‘Our reforms will fix the broken system so hardworking people can focus on the next chapter of their lives.’
The UK Government have unveiled new proposals to speed up the house-buying process for people in England and Wales, with an aim to shave as much as a month off the average time it takes to fully complete on a property. What’s more, officials said first-time buyers may be able to save an estimated £710.
Under the proposals, sellers and estates agents will be legally required to provide key information about a home upfront, to try and reduce reliance on surveys and searches which are currently ordered by buyers. In similar vein, another proposal includes introducing binding contracts at an earlier stage, which could help reduce the problem of collapsed property chains and prevent gazumping, where a seller accepts a higher offer after already agreeing to sell.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the plans will help ‘end nasty surprises which result in last minute collapses’ and that the idea to introduce binding contracts will discourage people from ‘walking away from agreements after buyers painstakingly spend months in negotiations’.
These plans draw on examples that are used in other parts of the UK, especially Scotland. Within the Scottish house-buying process, sellers have to provide a ‘home report’ before they can advertise their property on the market, unless it is a new-build home.
Though the proposals are positive for people looking to buy a new home, sellers could face increased costs of around £310 due to the inclusion of surveys and assessments.
Meanwhile, technology is also expected to play a central role in the wider reforms. The government said online processes, including digital IDs, would make the process smoother and referenced the Finnish digital real estate system which can see the process completed in around two weeks. In Finland, experts have eliminated the need for manual paperwork as the majority of it is done online, as well as the need for people to travel to real estate offices.
While the consultation on the reforms is still in the early stages, a full roadmap is expected to be published in the new year.
Photo by James Feaver via UnSplash
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