Ben Ridgway, co-founder of estate agent software company iamproperty, has urged the property industry to achieve faster completions and a more efficient homebuying process in the wake of the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) deadline. Failing to do so, he warns, will place strain on vulnerable buyers already faced with an extra £34 million in tax now the threshold has returned to the lower rate.
With the rush to finalise before the threshold dropped now over, Ridgway urges the industry not to lose focus on improving completion times – which he says stand at an average of 160 days.
He explained:
“The deadline brought the pressure to all parts of the transaction process, as the industry needed to move faster and push through completions at volume. Unfortunately, many homebuyers lost out on the better rates as they grappled with the current completion timelines which, overall, are too long and vulnerable to bumps in the road.
“As a result, there have been many missed opportunities and wasted time for estate agents and other parties. Some buyers have had to drop out of chains entirely or stretch their budgets, adding a further strain in what is an already challenging financial climate.”
And, he added, the timing of the government’s February announcement that it would digitise the home buying process, made while the spotlight was on conveyancing in the run-up to the SLDT deadline wasn’t a coincidence.
He continued:
“The large-scale change needed may not have arrived in time for the deadline, but the industry shouldn’t lose focus on transactions and what’s possible to enable a more efficient and predictable process for all.”
While the deadline may have passed, Ridgway stresses that the need to speed up completion time hasn’t: ‘Everyone involved in the homebuying process deserves to experience speedier, smoother and more successful sales’, he continued.
In line with the government’s plans, Ridgway believes the key to achieving this is technology that will enable faster exchanges.
He concluded:
“By gathering all the legal information upfront, including a pre-sale title check, legal searches review, and raising and addressing standard enquiries, unnecessary delays are minimised which goes a long way to reduce the chances of a sale falling through.”
2 responses
“By gathering all the legal information upfront, including a pre-sale title check, legal searches review, and raising and addressing standard enquiries, unnecessary delays are minimised which goes a long way to reduce the chances of a sale falling through.”
Honest to God!!
Raising and answering Standard Enquiries… Really?
How about eliminating the delay Standard Enquiries create?
This whole “technology will make things better” schtick is all about selling software. It isn’t about a better or improved or reformed property transaction process.
Technology isn’t the answer because lack of technology or lack of digitisation isn’t the issue. In essence this “solution” is proposed because it means estate agent have not to change how they do what they do and relies upon the trope that “delays” arise only after offer accepted without defining “delays” and the legal bit is a barrier. A property transaction is a legal transaction. Estate agents can change transaction times by changing when they list properties.
The equivalent is trumpeting that travel to Australia will improve one day because planes will be faster and the current delay to arriving earlier will be eliminated.
Getting all material information gathered and title checked before listing is the main reform needed to allow property transaction times improving and that doesn’t require technology.
Many conveyancing businesses can currently complete in 8-10 weeks if the inefficient volume businesses aren’t involved.
Eliminating chains would help.
Having all management company information available on a portal would help (maybe LMS could address that one).
Improving how lenders make decisions and transmit funds would help.
Making conditional selling a criminal offence would help.
Estate agents not recommending inefficient conveyancers for a fee would help.
Prepare the documentation and have title checked and perfected before listing. It’s that simple.
Listing in hope and whipping the conveyancing donkey isn’t the way to do it.
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