Property buyers should be compelled to provide more ‘material information’ up-front about themselves and their financial situation, says proptech platform Gazeal.

Its comments follow the Government’s recent Levelling Up White Paper, which included proposals to ensure more upfront information is made available to prospective home buyers.

This included a promise that the “UK government and the industry will work together to ensure the critical material information buyers need to know – like tenure type, lease length and any service charges – are available digitally wherever possible from trusted and authenticated sources, and provided only once.

“If necessary, the UK government will legislate.”

But Gazeal, whose platform enables transactions to proceed more smoothly, says greater levels of buyer transparency are important to help keep more transactions on the straight and narrow.

“When it comes to upfront information, the more the better, and it needs to be from both sides to ensure the full picture is there for everyone involved before a transaction progresses any further,” says Bryan Mansell (main picture), CEO of Gazeal.

“Buyers need to state, sign and submit their offer in writing, outlining their position, the state of their finances, timescales and offer details. “This not only provides a huge deal more information, it also protects agents from having to deal with tiresome ‘he said/she said’ arguments later during the sale.”

Time wasters

Mansell says there are too often issues with unserious or time-wasting buyers, which in turn slows the whole transaction process down.

“The necessity is there for sellers to improve the upfront information they provide, but this shouldn’t negate the need for buyers to do the same,” he says.

“The two aren’t mutually exclusive. For a better property market overall, and greater levels of transparency, more material information from buyers should be just as prioritised.ters

“We need to change the agent’s mindset, too, so that they get into the same space with buyers as they are with tenants in terms of gathering all that crucial information.

“Here at Gazeal, we are rolling out a digital offer form that can help to resolve the above issues.”