England and Wales’ Property System Is Broken — It’s Time for Urgent Reform
Buying or selling a home should not take longer than a war.
Yet in England and Wales, the average residential property transaction takes around 120 days from offer to completion. Around one in three sales collapses before completion.
To put that into perspective, the Falklands War was fought and concluded in around 74 days — far less time than it typically takes to complete a house purchase.
That is not just frustrating. It is unacceptable.
The current conveyancing system is outdated, slow, uncertain, and too often financially damaging for everyone involved.
Buyers and sellers are left in limbo for months, often spending money on legal fees, surveys, mortgage applications, removals, and other costs — only for the transaction to fall apart late in the process.
Property professionals are also paying the price. Estate agents, conveyancers, mortgage brokers, surveyors, removal firms, and other businesses are forced to operate in a system where long delays and failed transactions damage cash flow, increase workload, and reduce confidence across the market.
At the heart of the problem is a process that remains largely non-binding until exchange of contracts. This leaves the door open to unnecessary delays, gazumping, gazundering, poor communication, and avoidable fall-throughs.
We need a faster, fairer, more reliable system
Urgent reform should include:
- Mandatory upfront property information before a home is marketed
- Earlier legally binding commitments from buyers and sellers
- Greater digitisation of conveyancing and local authority searches
- Clear national standards and timeframes for searches and enquiries
- Better transparency and communication throughout the transaction
- Stronger accountability for avoidable delays
Other countries complete property transactions faster and with far greater certainty. There is no good reason why England and Wales should continue with a system that causes needless delay, cost, and stress.
We are calling for:
- Comprehensive reform of the home buying and selling process
- Publication of up-to-date national data on transaction times and fall-through rates
- A clear timetable for modernising conveyancing in England and Wales
The housing market is a vital part of the UK economy. It affects homeowners, first-time buyers, families, landlords, tenants, estate agents, conveyancers, lenders, surveyors, and thousands of businesses across the country.
The current system is no longer fit for purpose.
It needs to be faster.
It needs to be clearer.
It needs to be more reliable.
And it needs reform now.
If you are a business in the property sector and support these proposed reforms, you can add your backing below :
