November, 2017
The UK property market could be heading for a number of changes as the government plans to not only reduce the cost and speed up the process the buying a home but also take away some of the stress many buyers face by introducing new regulations.
Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid, is looking for evidence from a variety of sources such as estate agents, solicitors and mortgage lenders, in a bid to improve the home buying process through better utilisation of current technology and tackle gazumping once and for all.
“We want to help everyone have a good quality home they can afford, and improving the process of buying and selling is part of delivering that. Buying a home is one of life’s largest investments, so if it goes wrong it can be costly. That’s why we’re determined to take action to make the process cheaper, faster and less stressful,” said Javid.
According to recent data, roughly 250,000 sales fall through each year as a result of gazumping, and the government is considering new regulations that would see an agreement on the sale of property locked in until it has been completed.
Javid went on to say that “This can help save people money and time so they can focus on what matters - finding their dream home. I want to hear from the industry on what more we can do to tackle this issue."
In the latest survey from the Department for Communities and Local Government, it was found that almost 70% of sellers and over 60% of buyers found the process stressful due to delays in the transaction. In addition to this, it was reported that almost half of sellers were concerned about a buyer changing their mind. Couple this with the 32% of sellers and 28% of buyers that stated that they were not satisfied with the other party’s solicitor and it is easy to see why changes are being suggested.
Javid commented “Mistrust between parties is one of the biggest issues faced, we want to look at schemes including lock-in agreements. Although one million homes are bought and sold in England each year, around a quarter of sales fall through and hundreds of millions of pounds are wasted, we want to increase confidence in the housing chain,”
Some property experts believe that an overhaul of the process involved is long overdue, such as CEO of National Association of Estate Agents, Mark Hayward. He commented “We are delighted that Government has chosen to include further estate agents regulation in the scope of their Call for Evidence into the house buying and selling process. This is a welcome review of the process, which is currently archaic and does not reflect the twenty-first century,”
