Perhaps unsurprisingly, with other events dominating the news cycle at the moment, announcements coming out of our own government are not really getting the traction they would ordinarily receive.
Just over the past month, in the housing and property space, we have heard of plans to reform the leasehold system, including the banning of new leasehold flats, which instead will be offered under the commonhold system.
Plus, we had a government commitment to improve the home buying and selling process across the board via improved digitalisation, which will open “up key property information, ensuring this data can be shared between trusted professionals more easily, and driving forward plans for digital identity services to slash transaction times”.
A glaringly outdated home buying process
If it sounds a little vague, then that is perhaps understandable, but there’s no doubting that we have a cohort of would-be purchasers – particularly first-time buyers – who probably look at the home buying process with something akin to bewilderment.
For all that is now achievable in our society via digital, online and app means, our home buying process has remained a very ‘analogue’ beast. Let’s be frank; this has suited some stakeholder firms down to the ground, unable and unwilling to invest or offer tech that would make everyone’s lives easier.
Going digital
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It’s why this announcement should be viewed very positively, because various players have been crying out for the government to intervene in the process, to insist and to mandate certain practices to be followed.
Not least, I would suggest, in terms of the information buyers and sellers are asked to provide at the start of the process, and the multiple versions of the same information seemingly required by all stakeholders.
Take ID, for example. There is not a professional who is part of the process who doesn’t currently ask for ID from the individual – whether estate agent, adviser, lender, conveyancer, developer, surveyor, you name it – and this can be both through a physical ID, a website, an app, or indeed, in some cases, all of the above.
At the same time as the individual having to provide this in all its forms, there is also often the request for the ID to be reviewed and certified by others as being a true likeness and such. This is often done on a paper copy and again required multiple times.
And all this while we already have online apps that can carry out all the necessary checks. It’s just that – quite clearly – not everyone uses these or, indeed, is in a position to offer these to clients.
At its heart, what would be perfect is a ‘one source of truth’ for ID, so that every single practitioner or stakeholder who requires it can be comfortable and confident that they can rely on the ID, which has been checked at the start of the process by one of the other parties. In other words, we are all singing from the same hymn sheet in that regard.
This would clearly cut down on the timescale required to check ID, and this is just one element of the process that, no doubt, first-timers would be absolutely fine with.
Let alone what we might be able to achieve with the provision of upfront and material information about the property, the opportunity to have a digital property pack or book covering every single property in the country containing all relevant information, speedier KFIs, applications, financing between advisers, lenders, and clients, etc, and a process that can be tracked online by all participants, cutting down on the need for the constant communication to-ing and fro-ing revolving around the question: “At what stage are we now?”
Why a faster transaction process matters
Overall, this is important to us all, because a speedier process means we all get paid quicker. Plus, it gives us the opportunity to write more business, because the time that was previously taken up with admin or emails or checking documents that have already been checked now comes back to us to be used as we wish.
Plus, the time it takes to collate information that is going to change a person’s view on a property and threatens to see them pull out has been front-loaded so they’re aware of it and don’t bother to even put an offer in in the first place. The number of fall-throughs, which cost everyone money, should come down significantly.
It should allow us all to turn our pipelines at faster speeds, to get clients of all types into the homes they really want in weeks rather than six months, and ensure we are only working with those most likely to complete, rather than a third of those who are never even going to get to that point.
There is much to be welcomed by this announcement – now it has to be delivered.
