The Home Buying and Selling Group (HBSG), which Propertymark is a member of, outlines the current system lacks the basic digital experiences people expect from professional services in the 21st century, with most parts of buying and selling transactions still paper-based.
Any change will require a long-term and coordinated effort from everyone involved in the home moving process and the HSBG vision is in two streams – things that can be done quickly to improve the situation in the short term and what the industry should aim towards for the future.
The discussion paper identifies three main reasons moving home is difficult and stressful for consumers:
- The process can take up to 210 days on average
- Around 24% of sales fall through after an offer has been accepted
- 30% of all transactions are affected by delays in keys being released to the new owner
Digital information sharing is the keystone for success
The group’s primary focus has been on shortening the time between an offer being accepted and completion of the sale, currently around 120 days on average, as this is a major source of stress for all parties.
Providing standard details upfront through a digital Buying and Selling Property Information (BASPI) dataset is perhaps the single most effective measure that can be taken to address this because, if it is completed at the point of marketing a property, the data be made accessible to all stakeholders cutting down on the need for duplication of tasks and information collation within the process.
This principle also applies to identify verification where a solution would be where people only need to provide their ID once and this can be shared securely where relevant throughout the process.
How to provide feedback
The HBSG invites anyone who wants to engage with the discussion to post their thoughts on their LinkedIn page.
