Housing Minister: Home buying is ‘slow, costly and stressful’

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has acknowledged that the homebuying and selling process needs improvement.

It comes after a new Labour MP questioned whether anything can be done to speed-up the conveyancing process in property transactions.

Luke Charters took the York Outer seat from the Tories in the July General Election, entering Parliament for the first time – and already appears to be trying to reform the property market.

He posted a written question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government if the department will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to speed up the conveyancing process for property sales.

Pennycook replied: “The Government recognises that the current home buying and selling process in England is slow, costly and stressful, and that conveyancing can contribute to this. An improved, modernised process could benefit consumers, industry, the housing market and the wider economy.

“A key part of the conveyancing process is obtaining search information from the relevant local authority. To speed up this process HM Land Registry are digitising search data held by local authorities. Eventually this will cover each local authority and provide a quick and accurate response, potentially taking weeks off transaction times.

“We continue to consider how to drive improvements most effectively across home buying and selling for both consumers and the sector.”

It comes as research by Market Financial Solutions (MFS) among 412 UK adults who have bought a property in the UK in the past year or are currently buying one found that 63% feel the UK’s property market is too competitive and Government action is needed.

This figure rose to 70% among 18-24-year-olds, but dropped to 43% among those aged 35-44.Two third (66%) of those surveyed said that the process of buying a property in the UK is too slow and complicated, while a similar number (65%) believe obtaining finance (i.e. a mortgage) to purchase a property is too stressful.

MFS’s research also found that 59% of people feel that there is a shortage of the type of property that they would ideally like to own.

Paresh Raja, chief executive of MFS, said: “We have all come to expect fierce competition in the UK property market. But that does not lessen people’s frustration about the stress this brings – and what’s more, there is an opportunity with the first change of government in 14 years and the re-opening of parliament after the summer recess to tackle this issue.

“Our research demonstrates that there is a clear desire for action to make the homebuying process faster and less stressful. Building more homes is a key part of this, but in isolation, it is unlikely to correct the imbalance between supply and demand.

“Instead, it’s important that the public and private sectors come together to make the property market more equitable. New housing aside, there are many ways to make the market less competitive – from renovating dilapidated buildings to converting unused commercial properties – that the specialist lending sector can help facilitate. Lenders can also play a role in offering greater speed and assurance in delivering the finance people need to buy properties; doing so removes a great deal of stress from the process.”