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.
A mixed data picture
Where data is available electronically, there are no established protocols for accessing, sharing and verifying that data, which leads to more delays. The UK Government has launched a 12-week project to create rules to allow data to be shared easily between customers, agents, conveyancers, lenders, and other parties involved in a transaction. The Digital Property Market Steering Group, of which Propertymark is a member, will be closely involved in the project, so our members will be at the heart of the development process.
Information such as building control and highway information is still predominantly paper-based or recorded in non-machine-readable formats. HMLR will build on its work in digitising property information and lead 10-month pilots with several councils to identify the best approach to making more of their data available.
Data (Use and Access) Bill
The Bill lays out the legal framework for Digital Verification Services (DVS) in the UK, which are long-awaited tools to speed up property purchases, reduce fraud and improve the experience of home buying and selling.
Agents and landlords will be able to use DVS to complete digital Right to Rent checks using service providers who are registered and approved by the UK Government. This shift towards digital identity verification is expected to make processes faster, more efficient, and safer.
Digital identities will remain voluntary, and the option to use physical documents will still be available. The Bill aims to empower individuals to make informed decisions about trusting digital identity services.
