Matthew Pennycook, MP, stated that the UK Government will work with HM Land Registry to digitise property data, making information more accessible and reducing delays caused by manual processes. This move is expected to streamline transactions and provide agents quicker access to essential property details.
Propertymark has long campaigned for improvements to home buying and selling, and we welcome the Housing Minister’s commitment to digitisation, which will benefit the sector, boost consumer value and help streamline systems that have long needed progression. Fall-throughs impact one in three transactions and 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.
To fully understand the frustrations within the process and to ensure that the positive elements can be highlighted, Propertymark conducted a series of member roundtables when researching our position paper in 2024. Many of the challenges facing agents were consistent across the country, with some issues more pronounced than others. Following discussions from our roundtables, our reform proposals were grouped into three topics; increasing consistency and transparency, improving the speed and quality of the process, and reducing fall-throughs.