UK Government Plans Major Shake-Up to Speed Up Housing Sales

Home buyers and sellers can expect an end to "gazumping" in a major shake-up aimed at speeding up housing sales.

Legally binding sales agreements will be introduced earlier to stop buyers or sellers walking away at a late stage in the process without a legitimate reason.

In England and Wales, buyers can currently be outbid at a late stage of the sale and chains can fall apart months into the process, causing huge frustration for buyers as well as being expensive.

Previous attempts to improve the system have had limited success and few of the latest proposed changes will happen immediately.

The planned reforms, first announced in October last year, will be introduced at the end of this Parliament in 2029.

The changes include home buyers receiving more information about properties listed for sale.

Sellers and estate agents will be required to share important information about the property including its condition and status in a chain through so-called sales packs.

The government estimates buyers will save about £650 on average.

The reforms will make the system "faster, fairer and more secure," says Housing Secretary Steve Reed.

The move has some echoes of Home Information Packs introduced by a Labour government 20 years ago, which were swiftly dropped by the coalition government.

The plans have been widely welcomed by the housing sector, although some have raised concerns about unintended consequences - such as properties taking longer to get onto the market as paperwork is prepared.

At the moment in England and Wales, a buyer and seller may agree on a sale, only for the seller to pull out weeks or months into the process because someone has offered them a higher price.

For the gazumped buyer, there is currently no legal recourse.

In other countries, however, there are penalties for pulling out of a sale once both parties have agreed to the transaction.

In Scotland, formally accepted offers are already legally binding, and sellers must provide home surveys to prospective buyers. Once the buyer's and seller's solicitors have exchanged letters, known as missives, if a party withdraws from the sale they are liable for financial losses to the other party.

Under the government's proposal, binding conditional contracts would make a transaction legally binding much earlier in the process, potentially once an offer is accepted.

The government says that if a party broke that agreement by withdrawing without a valid reason or not meeting their obligations, they would face a financial penalty.

The government says binding contracts would not come into force until the sales packs were also active, ensuring buyers had key information about the property before committing to a purchase.

President of the Law Society of England and Wales, Mark Evans, said it was important for buyers to have "consistent high standards of upfront information" before binding contracts could be introduced.

"Alongside this, consistent regulation across all parts of the property process – including estate agents – is essential to build trust and confidence for consumers," he said.

Henry Jordan, Nationwide's group director of mortgages, said purchasing was often a "slow, complex and stressful process" and welcomed the proposed changes.

"Speeding up homebuying isn't just about convenience - it's about helping more people complete their purchases with less frustration and fewer surprises along the way," he said.

According to property listing portal Rightmove, it takes on average nearly six months (170 days) to complete a property sale across the UK.

Rightmove's chief executive Johan Svanstrom said their data shows more than one in five sales will initially fall through.

"This is an encouraging step towards a faster and more efficient property market, addressing some of the biggest frustrations that home-movers and industry participants face," he said.

"By making more information available upfront, there is a clear opportunity to reduce fall-throughs and increase transparency."

Lesley Horton, the UK's Chief Property Ombudsman, said: "If implemented carefully and supported by clear guidance and appropriate training, these reforms can create a home buying and selling system that is faster, fairer and better equipped to meet the needs of consumers in the years ahead."