The Home Buying and Selling Group (HBSG) has launched a new discussion paper with the aims of improving the home buying and selling process.
The paper sets out a different way of moving home which the industry can deliver now, including instructing a legal company day one of marketing, buyers being financially qualified prior to viewings and aiming to move everyone by 1pm on the day of completion.
The HBSG also set out the help required by Government to revolutionise the sector for the future including implementing the already agreed changes to the leasehold sector, mandating upfront information which meets recognised standards, delivering single Digital Identity verification for sellers and buyers and turning a very paper led system into one that is digitised, where quality data can be trusted by all.
Collaboration has been key in delivering for the HBSG, including working on home moving industry guidance during covid and extending the SDLT.
As such, the HBSG has published this paper with the aim of creating discussions within the industry, government, and the media on whether – and how – the solutions proposed would improve the process, not just for consumers, but for the industry too.
Kate Faulkner, chair of the Home Buying and Selling Group, said: “We have worked hard to identify all the issues by working with trade and professional bodies, ombudsman, regulators, and redress schemes from all sectors involved in the home moving process, as well as Government and importantly, practitioners, from small independent companies through to franchises and corporates.
“It’s an incredibly difficult job to secure support and agree on the best way forward for such a diverse industry, but by putting the consumer front and centre, we think we have a roadmap that will work.
“What we need now is feedback and hopefully support, including testing and piloting new ways of moving home from those that haven’t been involved in the group’s work to date.”
