Buying or selling a home is often described as one of life's most stressful experiences – but it shouldn't be.
According to Rightmove, the average property transaction in England takes around 167 days to complete after an offer has been accepted, and almost one in three sales falls through before reaching completion.
That means months of uncertainty, rising legal costs and emotional investment, only for many buyers and sellers to find themselves out of pocket and back where they started.
Lengthy conveyancing, repeated paperwork, unexpected legal issues and last-minute withdrawals have become accepted as part of the process.
Buyers are often expected to commit to one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives before they have the full picture, while sellers can spend months progressing a sale only for it to collapse.
The Government hopes to change that with its newly published Home Buying and Selling Reform Roadmap, which sets out plans to modernise England's property transaction process, reduce delays and improve transparency.
If successful, the reforms aim to reduce transaction times by around four weeks, cut the number of failed sales, and create a more efficient home buying process.
Dirk Dette, Director of Compliance at Campions Group, believes the proposals could mark a turning point.
"Buying or selling a home is one of the biggest financial decisions most people will ever make, yet the current system often asks consumers to commit before they have the full picture. This creates needless pressure and uncertainty.
“Anything that improves transparency, reduces unnecessary delays and gives buyers and sellers greater certainty should be welcomed.
"Campions’ brands including Chestertons and Chase Buchanan have long encouraged vendors to prepare as much information as possible before their property reaches the market because it helps maintain confidence and pace.
“Combined with calm, practical advice and the right use of technology, these reforms have the potential to create a way better experience for everyone involved."
England has one of the slowest home-buying systems among comparable developed markets, making it significantly dated.
Countries including Norway, Denmark, Australia and the Netherlands already provide buyers with more information upfront, make greater use of digital conveyancing and introduce legal commitment much earlier in the transaction.
As a result, property sales in some of these markets can be completed in as little as six weeks, compared with almost six months in England.
The Government's roadmap draws on many of these proven approaches, adapting them for the English market to reduce delays, improve certainty and create a faster, more transparent home-buying process.
One of the most significant proposals is the introduction of mandatory sales packs before a property can be listed.
These are expected to include title details, searches, Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data, property condition reports and, where relevant, leasehold information.
Currently, much of this information only becomes available after an offer has been accepted. Conveyancers are instructed, searches are ordered and legal documents reviewed, often adding weeks to the transaction. If unexpected issues arise, buyers may renegotiate the price or withdraw altogether.
Under the proposed reforms, buyers would have access to far more information before making an offer, allowing them to make better-informed decisions while enabling conveyancers to begin legal work much earlier.
"This is a common-sense change," says Dirk. "When buyers understand what they're purchasing from day one, they can make decisions with confidence. It should also reduce delays later in the transaction because much of the legal groundwork has already been completed."
England's home buying process has long been criticised for being slow, expensive and uncertain.
Buyers are frequently expected to commit to one of the biggest purchases of their lives with relatively little information about the property. Weeks later, surveys, searches or legal enquiries can reveal problems that delay the transaction, trigger renegotiations, or cause the sale to collapse altogether.
The process is equally frustrating for sellers, who can spend months progressing a sale only to find themselves back at square one. Conveyancing has become lengthy, expensive, and unnecessarily complicated, leaving both sides carrying the financial and emotional risk.
Another major proposal is the introduction of binding conditional contracts earlier in the process.
England remains unusual in allowing either party to walk away until contracts are exchanged, leaving buyers vulnerable to gazumping (when a seller belatedly accepts a higher offer from another buyer) or a seller suddenly inflating their price.
For buyers, gazumping and last-minute price changes can be financially and emotionally devastating. By the time they're outbid, they may already have spent hundreds or even thousands of pounds on surveys, mortgage valuations and legal fees, while emotionally investing in a home they believed was theirs.
"Greater certainty benefits everyone," Dirk adds. "If buyers know more about a property before making an offer, and sellers know those offers are backed by greater commitment, everyone starts the process on much firmer ground."
The roadmap also proposes a new Code of Practice for estate and letting agents, a consultation on mandatory qualifications and wider use of digital technology, including digital identity checks, qualified electronic signatures, reusable anti-money laundering (AML) checks and AI-assisted conveyancing.
These measures are designed to improve consistency across the industry while reducing unnecessary administration.
While technology has the potential to speed up transactions, Dirk believes people will remain at the heart of every successful move.
Adds Dirk: "Technology should support professional advice, not replace it. Buying or selling a home is still a significant life event, and experienced property professionals will continue to play an essential role in guiding clients through the process."
The reforms will require significant changes across the sector. Preparing sales packs before marketing may increase work and costs upfront, while agents and conveyancers will need to adapt to new systems and, potentially, new qualification requirements.
However, if implemented successfully, the reforms could deliver:
Greater transparency from day one.
Faster, more predictable transactions.
Better-informed buyers.
Fewer surprises during conveyancing.
Reduced risk of sales falling through.
Less paperwork through increased digitalisation.
For Campions, the reforms reinforce a principle the business has long championed: well-prepared sellers, informed buyers and experienced property professionals create better outcomes for everyone involved.
Dirk concludes: “For years, the industry has recognised that the home buying process could work better. These reforms won't solve every problem overnight, but they represent one of the biggest opportunities in decades to improve the way homes are bought and sold."