Leading businesses from the property industry have formed a coalition to urge the government to aid in improving the efficiency and speed of the home buying and selling process.
In an open letter addressed to the Housing Secretary, Michael Gove, prominent companies such as Landmark Information Group, Mortgage Advice Bureau, L&C Mortgages, Yopa, Simplify, O’Neill Patient, Enact, and TwentyCi, have expressed their joint intention to work with the Government to optimise the home buying and selling process for movers and businesses alike.
This plea for Government intervention comes as the property market is becoming increasingly sluggish, with transactions taking an average of 133 days to complete, a delay almost 80% longer than in 2007, according to data from Landmark Information Group.
The letter requests the government to cooperate with businesses across the sector in devising a new ‘Time to Buy’ strategy. This strategy aims to outline a future plan for the market and encourage businesses to adopt technology and innovative solutions.
Simon Brown, CEO for Landmark Information Group, commented: “The UK’s home-moving process suffers from systemic challenges, with duplication and inefficiencies causing delays for home-movers. This is stressful for home-movers and wasteful for property professionals.
“We aim to create a more efficient, better-connected market where shared data and insights benefit everyone. To achieve this goal, we’re uniting the industry to call on the government to expedite reform and improve the home-moving process for all.”
Verona Frankish, CEO for Yopa, added: “The ‘Time to Buy’ strategy is vital for the continued health of the property market and for the needs of home movers across the UK, ensuring transactions can occur within a reasonable time frame and with certainty.”
Deputy CEO for Mortgage Advice Bureau, Ben Thompson, stressed the broader economic benefits of a streamlined property market: “The UK needs a fluid housing market where people needing to move home can do so with confidence and ease. Solving this problem and achieving this will not only simplify people’s lives, but the UK economy will also benefit from the multiplier effect of more home moves each year. That can only be a good thing.”
