The Government has announced a roadmap to modernise the homebuying and selling process, aimed at reducing transaction delays, lowering fall-through rates, and accelerating the digitisation of the home-moving journey.
The Government estimates that the average home purchase currently takes around 120 days to complete and that one in three transactions falls through. The reforms are intended to halve fall-through rates, reduce transaction times by around four weeks, and save first-time buyers an average of £650.
Key measures include upfront Sales Packs, earlier binding agreements between buyers and sellers, digital property logbooks, digital identity verification, electronic signatures, AI-assisted conveyancing, and higher standards for estate agents.
MAB sees the direction of travel as strategically positive. The reforms are intended to reduce friction across the home-moving process and improve transaction certainty over time. As sellers become more transaction-ready before marketing, buyers will increasingly need to become mortgage-ready earlier in the process, directly supporting MAB's focus on early customer engagement, and strengthening the value MAB provides to its estate agency partners.
The reforms also accelerate the move towards a more digital home-moving journey, favouring technology-led businesses that have invested in data, automation, and workflow integration. This strongly aligns with the strategic direction of MAB 3.0 and further reinforces the rationale behind the recent HomeOwners Alliance acquisition.
Implementation will be phased over the remainder of the current Parliament, with benefits expected to emerge progressively as the reforms become embedded across the housing market.
Further details of the Government announcement are available on gov.uk.
Ben Thompson, Director of Home Moving Strategy