In 2025, the UK Government announced plans to reform the homebuying and selling process, with the aim of making it faster, cheaper, and far less stressful for both buyers and sellers.
Currently, around one in three property transactions fall through. The average home purchase takes around five months from offer to completion, often being delayed by conveyancing issues, slow communication, or changes in circumstance.
Under the proposed reforms, the Government believes the process could eventually be reduced to as little as four weeks in straightforward cases.
These changes are still in the early consultation phase, with discussions involving estate agents, conveyancers, lenders, and technology providers having been conducted at the end of 2025.
Below, we explore the key proposals and what changes may be on the horizon for homebuyers and sellers.
Innovation in technology used during property transactions
A core part of the proposed reforms is the use of modern digital technology to streamline property transactions.
The Government’s vision is for buyers, sellers, and professionals to have access to secure digital systems that allow:
- Real-time progress tracking
- Faster identity and anti-money laundering checks
- Immediate access to verified property information
- Fewer delays caused by manual paperwork
The intention is that digitising the homebuying process would help remove duplication, reduce human error, and improve transparency at every stage of a transaction.
Important property information available upfront
One of the most significant proposed changes is the requirement for key property information to be available at the very start of the marketing process.
Currently, many issues only come to light weeks or months after an offer is accepted, often resulting in renegotiation or people choosing to withdraw. If you are part of a chain, this could lead to multiple transactions falling through. The Government is exploring ways to ensure buyers have access to essential details before making an offer, including:
- Title information
- Council Tax band and utilities information
- Leasehold details (where applicable)
- Local authority searches
- Building safety information
- Property information (similar to what is currently provided by the Seller in the “Property Information Form” – which is commonly only available post-offer acceptance)
- Property condition assessment – i.e. similar to a survey
The Government is considering introducing a mandatory requirement for sellers to appoint conveyancers and surveyors to assess a property before it is listed for sale.
By providing this information upfront, the principle is that buyers can make better-informed decisions, reducing the risk of fall-throughs later on.
Digital property packs and standardised data
Building on the idea of upfront information, the buying and selling reforms are also considering the introduction of standardised digital property packs.
These would act as a single, trusted source, accessible to all parties involved and including buyers, sellers, estate agents, conveyancers, and lenders. Rather than each person gathering the same information separately, data could be shared securely across the transaction.
Digital property packs are already mandatory in some countries. For example, in France they are required for all new-build properties. New-build homes provide an ideal starting point for the introduction of digital property packs, as developers already hold comprehensive records of property data, making it more straightforward to incorporate this information into new-build transactions. This approach would help establish a clear benchmark for the wider property market in adopting digital property packs.
To ensure consistency of information, the Government is considering the introduction of standardised core data linked to Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) and Land Registry records. For these digital property packs to be effective, they must be capable of integration via APIs with platforms used by conveyancers, local authorities, and planning departments, ensuring seamless and accurate access to the same data across the board.
Improved identity verification and security
The Government is considering the use of digital identity verification, allowing buyers and sellers to verify their identity once and reuse this verification at other stages throughout the process.
The intention is that this would speed up:
- Anti-money laundering checks
- Proof of funds verification
- Mortgage and legal onboarding
Enhanced security measures should also help reduce fraud while improving consumer confidence.
More regulations for estate agents
Estate agents play a significant role in the home buying and selling process, however, despite this, they remain one of the least regulated parts of the industry. It is suggested that this lack of regulation has contributed to low levels of consumer trust, which in turn can lead to increased workloads for other professionals, such as conveyancers.
To address this, the Government is proposing the introduction of a Code of Practice to define the standards expected of estate agents. This Code would also be used by National Trading Standards, redress schemes, and the courts to help raise levels of professionalism and improve service quality across the sector.
Earlier in 2025, the Government consulted on the introduction of mandatory minimum qualifications for agents managing leasehold, commonhold, and share-of-freehold properties, and is now proposing to extend this approach to estate agents and letting agents.
Binding conditional contracts
Under the current process, either buyer or seller can withdraw from a property transaction at any point before contracts are exchanged. This can result in significant financial losses for those involved and may disrupt multiple transactions where a property chain is in place.
The introduction of conditional contracts could make transactions legally binding at an earlier stage in the buying and selling process. Typically, this would mean that once an agreement is reached, any party withdrawing without valid cause would face a financial penalty.
This approach would bring the system in England more closely into line with other regions, such as Scotland, where transactions become legally binding much earlier. As a result, only around 9% of transactions in Scotland fall through, compared with approximately 25–35% of house sales in England.
Conditional contracts would commit both buyers and sellers to the transaction for a fixed period, helping to reduce the risk of gazumping, gazundering, and last-minute withdrawals. This approach could:
- Significantly reduce transaction fall-through rates
- Give buyers greater confidence to incur upfront costs, such as surveys and searches
What does this mean for buyers and sellers?
If actioned successfully, these reforms could represent the biggest shake-up of the UK property market in decades.
For buyers, it could mean:
- Faster transactions
- Fewer surprises
- Greater confidence when making an offer
For sellers, it could mean:
- Reduced fall-through rates
- More committed buyers
- Shorter timescales to completion
When will these changes happen?
It’s important to note that these proposals are not yet law. The Government consultation was completed at the end of 2025, and any changes that do come from it are likely to be introduced gradually rather than all at once. However, the direction the Government is taking is clear: a more transparent, digital, and consumer-friendly homebuying and selling process.
By embracing technology, increasing the quality and accessibility of upfront information, and increasing certainty, the Government aims to create a system that works better for everyone involved.
