The Intermediary – July 2026 - Flipbook - Page 77
T E C H N O L O GY
Opinion
Housing reform
is only the start of
delivering impact
T
he home buying and
selling process remains
fragmented, slow
and uncertain and
the impact is felt by
all parties within a
property transaction. Industry reform
is underway, but for it to be successful
it is important it covers the entire
home buying journey.
Recent research from the Open
Property Data Association (OPDA)
found that more than half (58%)
of consumers experience their
transaction falling through. While
consumers face the financial and
emotional strain, lenders are exposed
to prolonged capital exposure
and risk mortgage offers expiring
while brokers and conveyancers
must absorb the operational
consequences, managing delays
and client expectations within an
unpredictable market.
Recent reform within the property
sector to address these challenges
has been encouraging, especially
with recent announcement by the
Ministry of Housing, Communities &
Local Government’s (MHCLG) of the
Home Buying and Selling Roadmap
highlighting its commitment to
improving housing infrastructure.
Its focus on upfront information
and data interoperability is a welcome
and necessary first step. Buying
or selling a home is a complex
process involving multiple stages
and stakeholders.
Currently, estate agents, brokers,
lenders and conveyancers largely
operate in silos as a result of their
differing regulatory requirements
and the infrastructure they work
within. That fragmentation leads to
duplicated work, inconsistent data,
conflicting information and a lack of
visibility of progress.
As a result, there are significant
operational inefficiencies across
the industry, which make buying
and selling a home a lengthy,
uncertain and stressful experience
for consumers.
As such, the Government’s response
signals a clear shi towards reform,
stronger industry collaboration, and
an acknowledgement of the fact that
the market needs a robust digital
infrastructure to facilitate more
certain and secure transactions.
But this alone is not enough. It
misses out the very step at which all
parties are arguably most at risk –
the point of completion. At the final
hurdle, the risk of fraud and lastminute fall-throughs is there for all
to see; buyers are vulnerable because
their ownership has not been recorded
at land registry, conveyancers are le
to handle requisitions post-completion
with already limited capacity, brokers
face delayed commission payment s,
and lenders are le without security
for their legal charge.
The statistics illustrate the extent
of the problem. A staggering 30% of
buyers have experienced property
fraud as a result of this lengthy and
uncertain transaction flow and the
consequences extend beyond finances.
Fall-throughs erode trust in the system
altogether, with 42.8% of home buyers
reporting that a failed transaction
caused them emotional stress.
Removing the complexity around
fund selement and transfer of title
could help to reduce the risk within
the process, by removing some of
manual processes typically involved in
the completion of a transaction.
If fund selement and transfer of
title can happen together rather than
sequentially, this can help reduce the
manual chasing that currently defines
completion day. As is the case with the
SIMON WRIGHT
is UK co-CEO at PEXA
wider property transaction process,
this requires a collaborative approach,
underpinned by interoperable
infrastructure and coordinated
action across different stakeholders
in the industry. This is the kind of
coordinated action the industry needs
to build on the momentum of the
MHCLG roadmap.
Built on collaboration
The Government has rightly signalled
its intent to work with the sector
rather than impose change from
above, and this principle must extend
to every corner of the transaction,
including completion.
Change must be shaped by those
who operate day-to-day in the property
market – brokers, conveyancers,
lenders and estate agents, in addition
to regulators, industry bodies and
more – whose frontline experience of
where transactions stall is invaluable
to designing solutions that actually
work in practice.
Ultimately, reform must adhere
to the FAIR Principles for data and
digital assets: Findable, Accessible,
Interoperable, Reusable. This can
help ensure any changes deliver real
impact, not just at the point of listing
or offer, but all the way through to
the moment keys change hands. Only
by extending the same ambition seen
in the MHCLG roadmap to the point
of completion will Britain’s property
market experience the full benefits of
reform – for consumers, brokers and
the wider economy alike. ●
July 2026 | The Intermediary
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