As the government moves forward with housing market reforms aimed at improving transparency and speeding up transactions, the elephant in the room is the clear lack of surveying capacity to make this a success. Those with a memory of the aborted Home Information Pack (HIP) scheme, an earlier attempt at similar reforms, will recall it collapsed partly because the practical realities of implementation were underestimated.
Home Information Packs were first proposed in the late 2000s and were designed to provide prospective buyers with essential property information upfront, including an Energy Performance Certificate and, initially, a Home Condition Report. Sound familiar? However, HIPs were plagued by delays, industry resistance, increased upfront costs for sellers, and logistical difficulties in securing enough qualified inspectors to meet an anticipated spike in demand. The scheme was suspended in 2010 and ultimately scrapped.
One of HIPs’ most important lessons was that good intentions are not enough. Without sufficient surveying capacity, policies intended to streamline the market will have the opposite effect.
We all know that the current proposals include strengthening ‘material information’ requirements, improving the quality and consistency of data provided at listing, and potentially requiring more standardised surveys or condition reports earlier in the selling process.
However, any expansion of required data – whether condition surveys, enhanced EPCs, or lender-grade valuations delivered earlier, will significantly increase demand for surveying services.
This is likely good news for surveyors – but there is a fundamental problem: the supply of new surveyors is inelastic and it takes years to grow overall numbers meaningfully. However, the cycle of demand, which is currently largely driven by mortgage lenders, can change in a day if, for example, the interest rate moves down. The industry ‘just about’ copes with this, but adding another 1m+ annual requests for an inspection of some kind will be overwhelming.
As a proptech organisation, Houzecheck is already considering how technology can help. Digital records, shared data standards, and better reuse of survey information can reduce duplication and ease pressure on the system. Remote inspection tools and AI-assisted data capture will also play a role. But none of these substitutes fully for professional judgement, and none solve the short-term workforce gap that will appear if reforms expand survey requirements quickly.
We have already engaged with several businesses who see the reforms as an opportunity. In this context, if I had one piece of advice for prospective ‘pack providers’, it would be to consider securing capacity commitments now – before its too late.
There are other potential actions that could help avoiding a repeat of the HIP experience:
- Phase implementation, allowing capacity to grow.
- Invest in training, apprenticeships, and accredited pathways to bring new entrants into the profession. The RICS should take a lead in this regard.
- Flexible evidence options, avoiding rigid, single-type mandatory reports.
- Strong data standards, ensuring surveys are reusable and interoperable.
In conclusion, Improving the home-buying process is a worthy goal, but without a parallel plan to expand surveying capacity, the scheme will fail to fly. Recognising and addressing surveyor workforce limitations is an essential part of the plan.
This article was submitted by Houzecheck as part of an advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
