Industry group launches initiative to improve property sales
Home Buying and Selling Group Chair Kate Faulkner says estate agents can help by testing and piloting new ways of moving home.
The Home Buying and Selling Group (HBSG) is asking estate agents to help test and pilot new ways of moving home as it continues its mission to overhaul the process with government help.
The Group, an informal mix of people from across the property, legal and finance sectors, has launched a Discussion Paper revealing ways in which the process can be improved. You can share your views on special LinkedIn page HERE.
COME TOGETHER
But securing change is tough and the HBSG says that the whole home moving industry needs to come together to agree on what solutions would work ‘on the ground’ and ‘test and pilot’ upfront initiatives.
Property Logbooks, Property Packs and Digital Identity are just three areas where the industry can agree on changes and make for itself but where both government and media help would be beneficial.
The HBSG paper which you can read HERE covers areas such as instructing a legal company on day one of marketing, or before; buyers being financially qualified prior to viewings and aiming to move everyone by 13:00 on the day of completion.
REVOLUTIONISE THE SECTOR
The HBSG has also set out the help required by government to revolutionise the sector for the future including implementing the already agreed changes to the leasehold sector; mandating upfront information which meets recognised standards; delivering single Digital Identity verification for sellers and buyers and digitising the process so data can be trusted by all.
Kate Faulkner (main picture), Chair of the Home Buying and Selling Group, says: “We have worked hard to identify all the issues by working with trade and professional bodies, Ombudsman, regulators and redress schemes from all sectors involved in the home moving process, as well as government and importantly, practitioners, from small independent companies through to franchises and corporates.
By putting the consumer front and centre, we think we have a roadmap that will work.”
And she adds: “It’s an incredibly difficult job to secure support and agree on the best way forward for such a diverse industry.
“By putting the consumer front and centre, we think we have a roadmap that will work.
“What we need now is feedback and hopefully support, including testing and piloting new ways of moving home from those that haven’t been involved in the group’s work to date.”
If you want to share your views on the HBSG paper, please post feedback on LinkedIn HERE.
Read the HBSG paper HERE.
Sadly unless this all gets a government mandate, the vested interests and commercial gatekeepers of a very imperfect system of transferring the title of property from one party to the other will continue.
And even when the government sets up ‘think tanks’ such as the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation’s (CDEI) advisory board, which was meant to be advising all on Ai, despite there being the brightest minds on the job, after millions of funding it got closed down and failed. Reasons, it got Ai wrong was number one, number two the revolving doors of prime ministers, three after half a decade it had covered very little ground … and is being overtaken by private industry stuffing Generative Ai into just about everything.
Whilst I fully support the HBSG and know many of the players I think that it will be a large private company that solves the problem of getting sstc to exchange. Again a shame as it should be the property industry users who build this – maybe time that property practitioners funded such a thing.