Home buying reform is stopping before the finish line; we must complete the last mile – Wright
In its response to the Home Buying and Selling Consultation, the government set out important steps to make property transactions quicker, more certain and more transparent.
It should be commended. More thorough upfront information and better data interoperability across the whole chain can increase transaction readiness. That means buyers should have the information they need to make better informed decisions earlier in the process.
There is no doubt that this is needed, and it’s a welcome step forward. In fact, Pexa’s UK Home Moving Experience report, which surveyed more than 1,000 UK adults who had moved home in the previous year, found that 85% of them said the process was stressful as a result of the uncertainty throughout the process.
More specifically, almost all (95%) said they had experienced unexpected costs, up from just 62% in 2025. The uncertainty around how much moving home costs is getting worse, and the steps being taken will address some of these issues.
However, the challenge does not end with the early stages of a transaction. Delays are also driven by fragmented processes, repeated checks and disconnected organisations across the wider home buying journey. Better upfront information and a more connected ecosystem can save time, reduce errors and ease the workload for professionals, but those benefits need to carry through the later stages of the transaction too.
If reform is to deliver greater certainty from end to end, it must consider not just how a transaction starts, but how it moves through completion, transfer of title and registration.
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Fragmentation remains
The current infrastructure supporting conveyancers leaves them reliant on manual processes and disconnected systems, requiring them to repeat and rekey data.
Not only does this create greater scope for human error, especially when you consider the volume of transactions they are undertaking and the pressure they are under, it also means they spend more time on admin and less time delivering the expertise that is so valued by lenders, brokers and consumers. Such fragmentation and reliance on legacy processes leaves the transactions vulnerable to delays, additional costs and unnecessary stress when certainty is what matters most.
These delays create a constraint for the whole market. Digitising the front end while leaving completion and registration reliant on legacy infrastructure is like widening a whole motorway and leaving the exit ramp as just one lane.
While the journey starts out smooth, it will always hit a bottleneck.
Focusing on the last mile
By the time a transaction reaches its final stages, buyers, sellers and professionals have already invested significant time, money and effort in getting it to that point. It is therefore particularly important that certainty does not fall away when the financial and legal commitments are at their greatest.
Implementing technology that can release funds and lodge title almost simultaneously, once certain pre-programmed conditions are met, takes this to the next level, automatically exchanging money for title. This removes any delay between settlement and lodgement and creates far more certainty and security for all as a result.
This is no longer a question of far-off possibility but of implementation. Recognition of the challenges facing the market is an important first step, and recent industry reports and government roadmaps are encouraging signs of progress.
However, meaningful change requires greater modernisation and investment in the infrastructure underpinning the last mile of the process. Homebuyers should not move from transparency and certainty at offer stage into a completion and registration process defined by delays and uncertainty.
A truly connected process will be one where momentum remains the same from offer acceptance to the moment a homebuyer receives the keys.
