Leading businesses from the property industry have joined forces to call on the UK government to back initiatives aimed at improving the speed and efficiency of the home buying and selling process. In an open letter addressed to Michael Gove MP, the Secretary of State for Housing, prominent companies including Landmark Information Group, Mortgage Advice Bureau, L&C Mortgages, Yopa, Simplify, O’Neill Patient, Enact, and TwentyCi have expressed their collective determination to collaborate with the government in order to enhance the home buying and selling experience for individuals and businesses alike.
The industry’s plea for government support comes in response to a sluggish and unresponsive property market. According to data from Landmark Information Group, transactions currently take an average of 133 days to complete, which is nearly 80% longer than in 2007.
The open letter urges the government to collaborate with businesses across the sector to develop a new strategy called “Time to Buy.” This strategy aims to outline a comprehensive plan for the future of the market and encourage businesses to adopt technology and innovative solutions.
Simon Brown, CEO of Landmark Information Group, emphasized the challenges inherent in the UK’s home-moving process. He stated, “The UK’s home-moving process suffers from systemic challenges, with duplication and inefficiencies leading to delays for home-movers. This is both stressful and frustrating for home-movers, and enormously wasteful for property professionals. We want to create a more efficient and better-connected market, where everyone benefits from shared data and insights. To achieve this ambition, we’re bringing the industry together to call on the government to drive forward reform to make the home-moving process work better for everyone.”
Verona Frankish, CEO of Yopa, emphasized the significance of the “Time to Buy” strategy for the property market’s continued well-being and the needs of home movers across the UK. She stressed the importance of ensuring that transactions can be completed within a reasonable timeframe and with certainty.
Ben Thompson, Deputy CEO of Mortgage Advice Bureau, highlighted the necessity of establishing a fluid housing market that allows people to move homes confidently and with greater ease. He noted that solving this issue would not only improve people’s lives but also benefit the UK economy by generating a multiplier effect through increased annual home moves.
With the property industry rallying behind this call for support, stakeholders are hopeful that the government will heed their plea for collaboration, enabling the implementation of reforms that will ultimately benefit all participants in the home moving market.
