The Government is to digitise the ‘cumbersome’ and slow-moving home buying and selling process and put key information about properties at ‘people’s finger tips’, significantly reducing the time it takes to complete property transactions, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook (main image) has announced.

Measures include digitising existing paper-based documents such as highways information and building control data and setting up a common electronic protocol for accessing, sharing and verifying data, something the Residential Logbook Association and others have been pushing successive governments to embrace for many years.

Pennycook claims that under a fully-digitalised home buying and selling process, the information key parties need – from mortgage companies to surveyors – will be “within reach immediately, with the necessary identity checks carried out [just] once”.

The Minister says the average ‘offer to completion’ time of nearly five months is too slow, and is the most common frustration cited by those moving home.

No suprises

The solve this, the Government wants to see clear information made available much earlier on in property transactions so that there are no surprises late on in the transaction which might cause a fall through, a problem that is often costly and frustrating for vendors, buyers, conveyancers and agents and sees 300,000 sales collapse every year.

Given that much of the groundwork for this initiative has already been completed via a liaison committee with the property industry, the Home Buyers and Sellers Group – the Government clearly hopes to move fast and says a 12-week project to set up the system will first be completed, followed by several 10-month pilots with selected councils. Also, it will finalise existing work that has aimed to standardise digital identity verification.

“We are streamlining the cumbersome home buying process so that it is fit for the twenty-first century, helping homebuyers save money, gain time and reduce stress while also cutting the number of house sales that fall through,” says housing minister Matthew Pennycook.

Just a few weeks ago Zoopla completed a survey that found nearly two thirds of those moving home found moving home more stressful than they expected with only 11% finding the process ‘smooth’, with Ric Dawson CEO of the Alto Software Group commenting that: “This sense of frustration, and often real loss, aren’t limited to buyers and sellers – agents have a tricky time navigating their role as the middleman, often judging the role of communicating between all parties whilst trying to close the transaction as quickly as possible.

“We know through working with agents that early access to housing transaction data is the key to a smoother process.”

Ahead of this announcement, Pennycook took over the chairing of the Digital Property Market Steering Group. The group consists of organisations that represent the various professions involved in the buying and selling process and has been – and will be – the driving digitalisation of the home buying and selling system.

Industry reaction

Beth Rudolf, The Conveyancing Association

“We have been heavily involved in pushing forward the digital property data agenda and what greater provision can achieve,” she says.

“This is not just about its use for home buying and selling – it will provide far greater benefits across the lifecycle of property, enabling parties to have the right view of the property data whenever they transact or need to act, whether that is a remortgage, altering or finding a planning application, for letting purposes, or retrofitting to meet net zero targets.”

Rudolph also says that while there are wider benefits to the economy and nation, the key gain would be a reduction in waste and duplication of tasks “which often adds significant amounts of time to property transactions”.

“What we want is a much more joined-up, digitally-enhanced process that reduces the stress of buying and moving for people by cutting down on the uncertainty, the frustrations, the wasted money, and the simple time spent waiting for all aspects to progress,” she adds.

“We at the CA are very supportive of this announcement and will be working with the Government and all other stakeholders to make it a reality as soon as possible.”

Kate Faulkner, OBE, Chair of the Home Buying & Selling Group

“The government’s support for digitalising property data is a game-changer for the entire home moving ecosystem,” she says.

“Currently, the process is bogged down by paper-based information, causing delays and inefficiencies for everyone involved.

“By digitising a process that can involve hundreds of pieces of crucial information required for property transactions, this helps to pave the way for faster, more seamless transactions.

“This digital transformation will enable the technology that supports agents, surveyors, legal firms, mortgage lenders and other home moving services to provide ‘one source of truth’ from the start of buying and selling process, ultimately benefiting home buyers and sellers with quicker, more transparent transactions and fewer fall- throughs.”

Johan Svanstrom, Rightmove’s Chief Executive 

“Digitalising the property market is key to helping speed up the moving process,” he says.

“If the plans set out today can further the access to information and an improved transaction process, it’s also critical to drive industry-wide adoption of tech solutions and collaboration to make it a success.

“The current process also contributes to an average of more than one in five home sales falling through, and hopefully a better process can help reduce this as well.”

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark

“We welcome plans to help speed up the buying and selling process via the proposal of making better use of technology,” he says.

“The housing sector will benefit enormously from digitalisation of property transactions; such commitment will ultimately bring vast consumer value and help streamline systems that have long needed progression.”

Mike Sainsby, Property Searches Direct

“The current system remains clunky, outdated and needs an overhaul and we believe our platform gives buyers and sellers a much needed opportunity to do things differently,” he says.

“Conveyancers only look at ordering searches  – which will often reveal a multitude of issues – when they have seen a contract and the mortgage offer.

“If buyers could find out that the property is fundamentally wrong for them during the first 48 hours after making an offer they have the opportunity to withdraw and find something more suitable. If they find an issue at the 11th hour it is much harder to pull out as removal vans are booked and wider plans have been made.”

Simon Brown, CEO, Landmark Information Group

“Landmark welcomes this step from Government to improve the home buying and selling process; it is a significant step forward for the housing market after years of slowing growth.

“Our data shows that the average property purchase transaction takes 120 days, owing to the complex and fragmented transaction process.

“We believe that the first priority should be to fix the process itself through the collaborative efforts of the wider property industry. Thereafter, the digitalisation of the sector and greater sharing of data will undoubtedly help to streamline the process further.

“For this transformation to be truly effective, it’s essential that government and industry work together to ensure seamless implementation and ensure a wide range of industry voices are engaged in future work on this issue. We look forward to collaborating with Government to drive this forward.”

Read the recent ViewMyChain-sponsored report ‘The Future of Property Sales’ which includes key figures from the industry examining many of the issues facing the property sales process including the need for digitalisation.