The Intermediary – July 2026 - Flipbook - Page 74
T E C H N O L O GY
Opinion
Homebuying
needs more than
Government reform
F
or years, mortgage
lenders were oen seen
as one of the main causes
of delays when buying a
home. Today, that’s no
longer the case.
Across much of the lending
market, technology, automation and
more efficient underwriting have
significantly shortened processing
times. Yet the average home purchase
in England still takes around 22 weeks
to complete.
The mortgage is no longer
the biggest obstacle. The wider
homebuying process is.That’s why
the Government’s proposed reforms
to modernise homebuying deserve a
warm welcome. The real prize isn’t
simply faster transactions. It’s more
certain transactions.
Delays create uncertainty,
opportunities are lost, costs increase
and confidence quickly evaporates.
The Government’s proposals to
introduce more upfront property
information, digitise key stages of the
transaction and reduce fall-throughs
have the potential to tackle many of
these long-standing frustrations.
But they will only succeed if the
entire property industry is prepared to
embrace the same ambition.
Providing accurate, trusted property
information much earlier in the
process won’t eliminate every issue,
but it will enable buyers, brokers,
conveyancers, estate agents and
lenders to make beer-informed
decisions from day one. Beer
information means fewer surprises,
fewer failed transactions and beer
outcomes for consumers.
The mortgage industry has already
begun this journey. Lenders have
invested heavily in digital identity
verification, automated and desktop
valuations, electronic documentation
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The Intermediary | July 2026
and smarter underwriting to remove
friction from the mortgage process.
Those investments have demonstrated
what can be achieved when
technology is used to simplify complex
processes without compromising good
decision-making.
A collaborative approach
However, consumers don’t
distinguish between lenders, brokers,
conveyancers or estate agents. They
experience a homebuying journey, not
a mortgage journey.
If one part of that journey
becomes significantly faster while
the rest remains largely unchanged,
consumers don’t experience a
beer process – they simply spend
longer waiting elsewhere. That is
why collaboration across the entire
property sector maers so much.
As a member of the executive
commiee of the Open Property
Data Association (OPDA), I’ve seen
first-hand the appetite across the
industry to improve the way property
information is created, shared and
reused. United Trust Bank was
proud to become OPDA’s first lender
member. We recognised early on that
trusted, reusable property data has the
potential to transform the customer
experience.
The Government’s proposals
reinforce exactly the same principle.
Beer information, shared securely
and consistently between key
stakeholders can reduce duplication,
improve decision-making and create
a far more reliable transaction for
everyone involved.
This isn’t simply about digitising
existing paperwork. It’s about
rethinking how information flows
throughout the property ecosystem.
Importantly, any reforms must also
recognise the increasingly diverse
BUSTER TOLFREE
is managing director
of mortgages, BTL and
bridging at United Trust Bank
nature of today’s borrowers and
property transactions.
The traditional employed borrower
purchasing a straightforward
freehold property is no longer the
only customer entering the market.
Today’s lending landscape includes
self-employed professionals, portfolio
landlords, older borrowers, limited
companies, property investors
and customers with more complex
income or ownership structures.
Modernisation should simplify
those journeys.
Looking ahead, consumers will
increasingly expect the homebuying
process to feel as seamless as the other
digital services they use every day.
They will expect verified property
information, digital identity checks
and connected systems to be in place
before they even commit to buying a
home. The technology already exists,
and most importantly, the willingness
to collaborate is growing.
The Government has recognised
that the homebuying process needs to
change. That is an important first step,
but legislation alone won’t transform
the customer experience. Real
progress will come when government,
lenders, brokers, conveyancers,
estate agents, valuers and technology
providers work towards a common
goal: creating a connected property
market built on trusted data.
Through initiatives such as the
OPDA, those foundations are already
being laid. The opportunity now is to
build on that momentum and create
a homebuying process that is not only
faster, but smarter, more transparent
and, above all, more certain. ●
