The Government have said that they are committed to reforming the process of buying and selling homes to make the process cheaper, faster and less stressful.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has called for evidence from mortgage lenders, solicitors and estate agents as ministers consider proposals aimed at streamlining the process of buying a property.
Mr Javid has said that the Government was looking for views on:
• Gazumping – when a seller accepts a higher offer after already agreeing to a sale
• Confidence – the consideration of having “lock-in agreements” to build trust in the housing chain
• Innovation – using e conveyancing by putting more data online to speed up the house-buying process
• Information – encouraging buyers and sellers to pull together evidence so homes are ready for sale.
Buyers having information about property boundaries, disputes, lease lengths and service charges, before an offer is made could reduce the risk of buyers pulling out of the purchase at a later stage.
The Government paper also proposes banning referral fees, after recognising the concern that some people are ‘guided by their estate agents’ towards using certain conveyancers.
The Government have asked to hear from everyone with a professional interest in this sector, including estate agents, solicitors, surveyors and mortgage lenders and also welcome responses from members of the public who have recently bought or sold their home. They are allegedly using the responses gathered to improve the system.
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