An estate agency boss has urged the Government to bring in a ‘MOT’ style system for homes coming to market in the UK which, she claims, will help speed up the house sales process.

The comments by sales director Amy Reynolds of London agency Anthony Roberts follow the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s announcement that it wants to digitise the conveyancing process, and ongoing efforts by Trading Standards to make agents and vendors supply ‘mandatory information’ to prospective buyers ahead of offers.

Reynolds points out that the average time to complete a home purchase in the UK is just over five months and that such a slow system has real-world impacts for the estimated 71,000 hoping to get their purchases through before the March 31^st Stamp Duty deadline.

Reynolds says: “The current system is fraught with unnecessary delays.
“For example – we get a buyer, and the seller’s solicitor sends whatever they’ve got and waits for the buyer’s side to ask questions.

Missing certificate

“The buyer’s solicitor comes back and says ‘we’re missing a Fensa certificate for two windows from 2023. Do you have one?’ And then it goes back and forth on every point including or example gas safety certificate, roof, buildings insurance and so on.

“If the seller’s solicitor found the gaps at the beginning, before they got a buyer, sales would be significantly sped up. Where possible, we encourage sellers to get ‘sale ‘ready and those that do have a much better experience.”

The ‘MOT’ she suggests would be a form with a standardised checklist of questions agreed on by the industry. It would be given to the vendor by their solicitor before the property goes on the market, so all the information is ready if they receive an offer.

Reynolds, who is about to put her own house on the market this spring, adds: “In preparation for my own sale, I got my house files out over Christmas.

Getting ready

“I realised I was missing a building certificate for my extension, so emailed the council straight away. I’ve had my fireplace serviced – I know that’s going to get asked. I’ve got my Fensa certificates, copied my building insurance, my council tax, I’m getting my gas service done, getting the chimney swept. I know I have an indemnity policy from when I bought it. I’ve got all of this together, so that when I find a buyer, I can exchange quickly.”

Reynolds also says she’s aware that an MOT will be criticised as ‘HIPs through the back door’, referring to the lastLabour government’s attempt to make agents provide more material information up front, a proposal which was defeated after an energetic campaign by TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp, who claimed they would prompt extra red tape and cost for sellers.

“The problem with HIPs was that they deterred casual sellers from speculatively putting their house on the market to see if it got any interest; the packs took a long time to assemble and cost up to £400.

“My ‘MOT’ system would not be mandatory; sellers could download the form online for free if they wanted to plan ahead.

“Speculators could still test their house on the market without an MOT and just wait a little longer if they got a buyer. If even half the market used an MOT and got their documents together up front, it would break the present logjam.”