Major new plans to modernise home buying and selling to save people time and money and further measures to improve the lives of leaseholders
Millions of people are set to benefit from improvements to the way homes are bought and sold, saving them both time and money by helping stop property transactions from falling through.
Under major new plans, the government has announced today [February 9] it will modernise the way the process works to bring down current delays of almost five months. One of the key reasons the buying and selling process can be long and frustrating is a lack of digitalisation and join up in the sector, which is why the government is opening up key property information, ensuring this data can be shared between trusted professionals more easily, and driving forward plans for digital identity services to slash transaction times.
These reforms will make home buying fit for the 21st Century and give much-needed certainty to everyone involved in property transactions, with one million taking place in the UK every year. By making information available at people's fingertips, it will be far less likely for surprises to be encountered later on in the process. This will make it easier for people to get onto the housing ladder, reduce the requirement to share ID in-person in the long-term, and decrease the number of transactions collapsing.
Currently, fall throughs - which impact one in three transactions - cost people around £400 million a year, on top of the four million working days lost by conveyancers and estate agents alone which is equivalent to £1 billion. By bringing the process into the digital age, and learning from success stories such as Norway where transactions complete in around one month, the government is putting more money into the pockets of hardworking people and delivering on our Plan for Change to grow the economy.
Meanwhile changes to improve the lives of leaseholders - who have already achieved the dream of homeownership but found it falls short of what they were promised - will also be introduced from next week, with secondary legislation for the Right to Manage measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 being laid tomorrow - ahead of the schedule the government committed to last year.
These changes, which will come into force on 3rd March, will empower more leaseholders to take control of their buildings more easily, giving them power over how their service charges are spent, and removing the requirement for leaseholders to cover the legal fees of their freeholder when making a Right to Manage claim - potentially saving them up to £3,000 for the most costly claims, and reducing the incentive for landlords to obstruct the process.
Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook said:
"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.
"Our modernisation of the system sits alongside further reforms to improve the lives of leasehold homeowners across the country, allowing them to more easily and cheaply take control of the buildings they live in and clamp down on unreasonable or extortionate charges.
"These reforms build on the government's Plan for Change to deliver higher living standards and 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament, and our ongoing efforts to protect leaseholders suffering from unfair and unreasonable practices as we work to end the feudal leasehold system for good."
Currently, information such as building control and highways information is predominantly paper-based or recorded in non-machine-readable formats. On top of this, where data is available electronically, there are not established protocols for accessing, sharing and verifying that data which leads to more delays.
But 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 once. Clear information early on will mean there are no surprises late on in the transaction which might cause it to fall through, so instead the transaction is completed smoothly without unnecessary time, energy or money spent.
That's why the department is working hand-in-hand with the property market, supported by HM Land Registry (HMLR), and is today announcing a 12-week project to identify the design and implementation of agreed rules on data for the sector, so that it can easily be shared between conveyancers, lenders and other parties involved in a transaction. HMLR will also build on its work in digitising property information and lead 10-month pilots with a number of councils to identify the best approach to opening up more of their data and making it digital, whilst the government pushes ahead with plans for digital identity verification services including in the property sector.
This will all be carried out in conjunction with the Digital Property Market Steering Group - a collection of industry and government experts committed to digitalising the home buying and selling process and delivering this change.
The government has already:
Launched a New Homes Accelerator to unblock thousands of homes stuck in the planning system.
Set up an independent New Towns Taskforce, as part of a long-term vision to create large-scale communities of at least 10,000 new homes each.
Awarded £68 million to 54 local councils to unlock housing on brownfield sites.
Awarded £47 million to seven councils to unlock homes stalled by nutrient neutrality rules.
Announced an additional £3 billion in housing guarantees to help builders apply for more accessible loans from banks and lenders.
Extended the existing Home Building Fund for next year providing up to £700 million of vital support to SME housebuilders, delivering an additional 12,000 new homes.
Notes:
More than 300,000 property transactions fall through in the UK every year at a cost to sellers of £400 million, according to a survey commissioned by the HomeOwners Alliance (HOA) and online homebuyer IMMO.co.uk in 2018.
Almost a third of adults surveyed by the Homeowners Alliance in 2024, when asked how the conveyancing process could be improved, said it should be faster.
MHCLG has recently taken 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 is committed to driving digitalisation of the home buying and selling system.
Right to Manage is the only way for leaseholders to take back control over extortionate fees and mismanagement of their homes, without being forced to buy the freehold.
The Right to Manage Statutory Instrument will be laid in parliament on Monday, and will come in to effect from 3rd March 2025
This marks the next step on government's timetable for further leasehold and commonhold reform which can be found here: Sweeping reforms to give leaseholders more powers and protections - GOV.UK
