An Inquiry is Initiated to Enhance the Home Buying and Selling Experience

A bipartisan panel is set to scrutinize the procedure for home buying and selling, diving into the details that consumers face and the involvement of conveyancers and real estate agents.

Clive Betts, leader of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, expressed the frustrations that come with the English system of purchasing and vending homes, noting that despite the large number of annual transactions, the process remains fraught with inefficiency and dissatisfaction. He highlighted the intention to identify and address major hurdles, which include the lengthiness of transactions and difficulties in accessing necessary information, as well as investigating concerns regarding the opacity of conveyancing, the ethics of referral payments, and the lax regulation of estate agents.

The full scope of questions set by the Committee for the inquiry is outlined below.

Interviews are set to commence in late April 2024, with the Committee expected to engage with a range of consumer groups, professional bodies, and industry stakeholders, culminating in a session with the Minister of the Department for Levelling Up, Communities, and Housing.

Home Buying & Selling Terms of Reference

The committee is soliciting written responses based on the terms of reference provided below.

The deadline for contributions is Thursday, 18 April, preceding the anticipated session in April.

  • Is the current home buying and selling procedure efficient and effective? What enhancements could be made?
  • How can we make the consumer’s experience during the process of home buying and selling better?
  • Should the improvements to the process be mandated by law rather than left to voluntary initiatives?

The Transaction Process:

  • How do issues like gazumping or gazundering affect transactions, and what are possible solutions?
  • Could reservation agreements streamline the process?
  • What hinders the widespread implementation of reservation agreements and why hasn’t a simple standard agreement been instituted as the government promised in 2018?

Information Provision:

  • Do buyers get the necessary information at the right time?
  • How would the process change if sellers had to disclose specific property details when it went on the market?
  • What housing transaction data still require digitization and how can we speed up the process?
  • What are the obstacles to providing digitized information or details at the time of listing?

Conveyancers:

  • Can consumers easily find information to choose a conveyancer and how can we improve this?
  • Would instituting a compulsory professional qualification for estate agents make a difference?
  • Is it necessary to have a legally enforceable, unified Code of Practice for property agents?
  • What are the effects of referral fees, and what could standardizing, reviewing or banning them mean for transactions and consumers?