With a career spanning 25 years in various roles in the property sector, most recently as commercial director at Conveyancer Insights and Property Search Direct, Mike Stainsby shares the lessons he’s learned about home buying during the last seven years in a business on the frontline of the home buying process.
The home buying process is complex, and despite frequent discussions of reform, many of its challenges remain unchanged. Risk often shows late in the transaction, critical property information may only be discovered well after offers are made, and fall-throughs continue to be stressful and costly for everyone. Property Searches Direct has observed consumers navigating these stages, providing insight into how early access to property information can improve confidence and understanding.
While policy consultations and industry debate continue, some practical shifts are emerging in the market. Consumers are increasingly comfortable engaging digitally, and there is a growing recognition that relatively modest upfront costs can provide certainty and reduce downstream risk. Technology now allows information to be shared and reused securely, not just delivered faster, and expectations around transparency and clarity have increased.
From our experience, several key lessons stand out:
- Voluntary engagement is most effective. Consumers respond more positively when early information is presented as an option rather than an obligation.
- Early information builds confidence, not commitment. Access to searches and data supports informed decision-making without forcing premature legal steps.
- Reuse matters more than ownership. The value lies in structured, secure use of data across the transaction, regardless of who commissions it.
- Certainty comes from process, not just data. Clear explanation, secure sharing, and professional context are essential.
Recent industry polling indicates that many sellers are open to paying upfront for data and searches to achieve greater transaction certainty. However, further government-led evaluation would be valuable to understand how this sentiment translates into public behaviours at scale.
In addition, emerging digital tools are helping to support smoother delivery in real-world transactions. Secure ID/AML verification, e-signatures, and safe data storage can reduce friction, duplication, and risk, while operating alongside existing conveyancing and agency workflows. These developments are enhancing practical readiness without requiring radical change to existing processes.
While there are no simple solutions, the focus should be on incremental, evidence-led improvement. Practical lessons, consumer insight, and careful adoption of digital tools can together support transparency, certainty, and efficiency for all participants.
Looking ahead, collaboration, and continual evaluation of service offerings will be key. Sharing insights, testing ideas in real-world conditions, and building understanding across the industry will help ensure that reform, when implemented, benefits consumers while respecting professional practice.
This perspective reflects our current experience and thinking at the start of 2026. It is intended to contribute constructively to industry discussion and provide context for practical improvements in the home buying process, rather than advocating for any single mandated approach. The outcomes of the recent public consultation into the home buying and selling process remain to be seen, and it will be important to observe how any light-touch implementation may operate in practice.
About the author
Mike Stainsby is commercial director at Conveyancer Insights and Property Search Direct. He has spent almost 25 years in the property sector, starting as an estate agent in 1984. His career spans DEA training, property franchise sales and business development, and more latterly provision of technology platforms to deliver searches.
