Landlords buying or selling homes will soon enjoy a smoother and quicker property transaction process after the Government announced that it is to digitise the system.
This will see key information about properties put at people’s finger tips, hugely reducing the time it takes to complete a sale, housing minister Matthew Pennycook (main image) has announced, claiming the initiative will make the process easier.
Measures include digitising paper-based documents such as highways information and building control permissions and setting up a common electronic protocol for accessing, sharing and verifying data.
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 that to solve this, he wants to see clear information made available much earlier on in the process so that there are no surprises late on in the transaction which might cause a fall through.
First steps will be a 12-week project to set up a framework for the sytem followed by 10-month long 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.
Beth Rudolf, The Conveyancing Association (CA)
“We have been heavily involved in pushing forward the digital property data agenda and what greater provision can achieve, and 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,” she says.
“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.
“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.”
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 digitisation; such commitment will ultimately bring vast consumer value and help streamline systems that have long needed progression.”
Kate Faulkner, OBE, chair of the Home Buying and Selling Group
"The government's support for digitising 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, 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."
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