House of Commons · Written Ministerial Statement
Home Buying and Selling Consultations
13 October 2025 · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Proposed by Matthew Pennycook Lab Greenwich and Woolwich
Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.
At a glance
Key points
- Government aims to modernize home buying and selling in the UK.
- Two consultations launched on reform proposals to transform the process.
- Proposals include comprehensive upfront property information and professionalizing agents.
Issue summary
The government aims to modernize the home buying and selling process in the UK to make it swifter, more reliable, and less stressful.
Action requested
The government has launched two consultations on reform proposals aimed at transforming home buying and selling. These include requiring comprehensive upfront property information, professionalizing property agents, introducing digital logbooks, using binding conditional contracts, streamlining conveyancing processes, and accelerating digitization to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Key facts
- The current process takes an average of 120 days once the buyer’s offer is accepted.
- Transaction times have increased by 60% since 2007.
- Around 1 in 3 transactions fail, costing buyers and sellers £400 million per year.
- In Norway, transactions complete in four weeks or less.
- The consultations will run for 12 weeks until 29 December 2025.