Mike Stainsby, commercial director at Conveyancer Insights and Property Search Direct, explains why introducing upfront material information could be the answer to the question the property industry has been asking for years.
The government’s consultation on material information marks the strongest push yet toward genuine upfront transparency. For agents and conveyancers, it’s not just a rule change – it’s a shift in when the real work begins.
It’s hard to overstate how much the material information proposals would change the early stages of a property transaction. This isn’t a small admin tweak; it’s a fundamental push toward giving buyers a clear picture before they make an offer.
More detail will be needed upfront: title issues, lease terms, planning history, covenants, boundaries, construction details – the kinds of things that usually surface well after a sale is agreed.
For agents, that means gathering and verifying more information before a property is listed. For conveyancers, it means being involved earlier, sometimes before a buyer is even in the frame.
That alone represents a major culture shift. For years, the relationship between agents and conveyancers has been more sequential than collaborative. Each side waits for the other to move. Under material information, that won’t work. If communication doesn’t happen early, we’ll just see delays, double-handling and confusion.
But there’s a positive side too. Earlier information means:
- Fewer nasty surprises halfway through a transaction.
- More realistic expectations for buyers and sellers.
- Clearer advice from the outset.
- Fewer fall-throughs caused by late-discovered issues.
Most of the friction in a transaction happens because important information arrives too late. These proposals are designed to stop that happening.
None of this will be painless, and firms on both sides will need to revisit workflows, intake processes, and the way they share information. But the direction of travel is obvious: more transparency, earlier involvement and closer collaboration.
If the sector embraces that shift rather than resists it, we may end up with a more honest, predictable, and joined-up start to the home-moving process – something everyone has been asking for.
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.
