Why does buying and selling a home still take so long? As transaction times rise and fall-through rates remain stubbornly high, Rob Hailstone explores what’s really slowing the process down and explains why meaningful change will only come through greater industry collaboration.
It has been reported that the average time from agreeing a sale to completion is approaching six months, although the government’s own figures are less dramatic. They put the average at around 120 days, approximately 60% longer than in 2007. Around one in three transactions also reportedly falls through. Whatever figures you believe, the process is taking too long, and far too many people start buying or selling a home only to find they never reach the finishing line.
Moving home is already one of life’s most stressful experiences. It is complicated, expensive and emotionally exhausting. No wonder some people who have been through it say they would never do it again.
There is also a wider economic issue. Fewer transactions mean less work for estate agents, conveyancers, surveyors, mortgage brokers, lenders, removals companies and others who depend on people moving home. Unnecessary delays also damage cashflow.
We all have a stake in fixing this, yet we seem to spend an extraordinary amount of time blaming each other, rather than doing anything proactive. More transactions would mean more work for everyone. Faster transactions would mean businesses getting paid sooner, improving cashflow and handling more matters. Fewer fall-throughs would bring similar benefits.
Yet the industry remains divided. High-street firms point to some volume operations providing poor service, employing inexperienced staff or raising unnecessary demands. Volume firms criticise some traditional practices for being slow, old-fashioned and inefficient. There are undoubtedly good and bad examples on both sides, but arguing over who is most to blame will not improve anything.
Conveyancers complain about inaccurate sales information, incomplete or outdated chain details and uncertainty about the length of a chain. Agents may have equally legitimate complaints about poor communication or conveyancers who appear to be dragging their feet.
Lender requirements, particularly under Part 2 of the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook, also vary considerably. Some differences are justified, but every unnecessary variation creates another opportunity for confusion, additional work and delay.
We know these problems exist. So why is meaningful progress so difficult? Perhaps because we keep waiting for somebody else to change first, or for a solution to be found via technology.
I am not suggesting that standards should be lowered, legal protections removed or conveyancers simply told to get on with it. Nor is every delay avoidable. Buying a home is a complex legal and financial transaction, and some things inevitably take time. But there is a world of difference between necessary work and unnecessary friction. That is where our efforts should be concentrated.
Instead of another exercise in deciding who is responsible, why don’t the principal participants sit down together and identify what regularly causes avoidable delay? That, in essence, is what the CIC is trying to do.
The CIC is not about blaming conveyancers, agents, lenders or anyone else, nor pretending there is one simple solution. It is about bringing together those involved in residential property transactions, listening to people working on the front line and identifying practical, achievable improvements.
The potential rewards are considerable: more transactions, fewer fall-throughs, shorter timescales, better cashflow, less wasted work and happier clients. More importantly, we could create a housing market in which people are more willing to move because they have confidence that the process will not put them in an early grave.
The Government is taking steps towards reforming the home buying and selling process, and that is welcome. But it cannot solve every problem, nor should it have to. Much of the improvement must come from the industry itself.
After more than 50 years involved in and around conveyancing, I find it increasingly frustrating that those with most to gain from improving the process sometimes seem least inclined to work together to achieve it.
Agents, lenders, conveyancers and others don’t need to agree on everything. But they must recognise that they are part of the same process and that when it fails, everybody loses. Perhaps we should stop asking who is to blame for the state of residential property transactions and ask a rather more useful question: What can each of us, and all of us together, do to make the next transaction work better?
There is nothing particularly clever about that question. But perhaps, now, it is exactly the question we need to be asking.
The CIC held it first meeting in Solihull last month, the next one will be in Leeds on the 25th November. If you are interested in joining us, please email: info@improveconveyancing.org
Part 2 of this article will follow next week.
About the author
Rob Hailstone is founder of Bold Legal Group, which serves as a help, advice, information and support network for conveyancers. Formerly a residential conveyancer for over 30 years, his specialities include residential conveyancing, LSA, ABS, OFR, CQS, PII, lender panels, chancel repair and overriding interests and unilateral notices.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of Today’s Conveyancer.
