The Intermediary – July 2026 - Flipbook - Page 79
Q&A
look forward to announcing some more
exciting developments.
The Government wants to reduce
fall-throughs through earlier
binding agreements. Is that the
biggest issue facing the market?
I am strongly supportive of earlier legally binding
agreements and would venture to say this may
well be the biggest element of the reforms
announced. Greater commitment earlier in the
transaction has the potential to provide muchneeded certainty for buyers and sellers, reducing
the risk of fall throughs and chains collapsing, after
months of investment, stress a`nd expense.
However, certainty and transparency need to go
hand in hand.
Making a transaction binding earlier addresses
one side of the problem, but consumers also
need confidence in what is happening between
acceptance of a binding offer and completion.
Today, buyer
buyers can spend months with limited
visibility of pr
progress, relying on sporadic updates
while multiple stak
stakeholders work across
disconnected ssystems and processes.
The future homebuying pr
process should combine
both. Earlier leg
legal commitment creates certainty,
while real-time visibility creates confidence.
Together, the
they can significantly reduce the anxiety
of moving home in E
England and Wales.
The technology already exists to make this
possible. Imagine a tr
transaction where every
stakeholder can see pr
progress, key milestones are
visible, information flows seamlessly between
parties, and buy
buyers know exactly where they stand
throughout the journe
journey.
If we can ccombine the Government’s ambition
for greater certainty with a more transparent and
connected tr
transaction process, we can transform
the homebuying eexperience for everyone involved.
Much of the debate focuses on
speeding up transactions, are w
we
overlooking the wider impact
of delays?
When people talk about dela
delays, they often focus
on frustration and inc
inconvenience of a slow
process. Those ar
are certainly important, but the
bigger issue is the ec
economic impact that delay
creates. Every additional week in a transaction
increases the lik
likelihood of something changing.
Buyers’ circumstanc
circumstances change. Interest rates
move. Sellers become nervous. Chains become
fragile. Mortgage offers can even expire. Even with
binding contracts in the future and new upfront
sales packs, the longer a transaction remains open,
the greater the risk that it falls apart.
In many ways, delay and uncertainty are the
probably the fuel that drive fall-throughs. That’s
why reducing transaction times is not simply about
creating a better customer experience. It’s about
creating a more resilient housing market with
greater certainty for buyers, sellers, lenders and
conveyancers alike.
The Government’s reforms are very encouraging
because they recognise the need to modernise
the process.
But success shouldn’t be measured purely
by how many days are saved, success should
also be measured by whether we can create a
market where conveyancers can facilitate more
transactions to reach completion, consumers have
greater confidence in the process, and lenders can
support homeownership more efficiently.
Lawyers and conveyancers are often
cited as the main source of delays.
What are your views on this?
That is always a delicate question. In many
respects, conveyancing practitioners sit in the
most challenging position in the entire transaction
process. They have to effectively project manage
every transaction and coordinate multiple
stakeholders, including lenders, brokers, estate
agents, buyers, sellers, managing agents, whilst
using a range of search providers and various
technology solutions.
As a result, they often receive disproportionate
criticism when things go wrong or there are delays.
The reality is that the vast majority of
conveyancers are hard-working, diligent
professionals who are just as frustrated by the
current process as everyone else is. Many delays
originate from issues beyond their direct control.
What is encouraging is the widespread
recognition across the market that improvement is
needed and that the time for this is now. Industry
and Government plans around digital identities,
smart data sharing, upfront property information
and greater interoperability between systems are
all steps in the right direction.
The real challenge now, in our view, is to
move the focus on to practical implementation
and delivery.
Technology will certainly play an important
role, but I don’t subscribe to the view that
technology (or AI for that matter) will ever →
July 2026 | The Intermediary
77
