The conveyancing process is facing renewed calls for reform as one estate agency director launches a petition demanding changes aimed at speeding up property transactions and reducing delays for buyers and sellers.
Arguing that the current system is no longer fit for purpose, Warren Sanders, a director at Sanders & Sanders in Alcester, Warwickshire, is calling on fellow estate agents, conveyancers and other property professionals to back the campaign in support of what he describes as urgent reform of the home-moving process.
Warren stated: “The current conveyancing system is widely considered outdated, slow, and inefficient. Government data indicates the average property transaction takes around 120 days from offer to completion, with approximately one in three sales failing before completion. To put this into perspective, the Falklands War was fought and concluded in around 74 days – significantly less time than it typically takes to complete a residential property purchase in the UK. This highlights just how prolonged and inefficient the current process has become.
“These delays create significant financial and emotional strain for buyers and sellers, who often incur wasted legal, survey, and mortgage costs when transactions fall through late in the process.
“Delays also place pressure on estate agents, conveyancers, mortgage brokers, surveyors, and other property professionals, particularly smaller businesses that rely on completed transactions for stable cash flow. Prolonged uncertainty and high fall-through rates reduce confidence in the housing market and limit overall efficiency.
“A key issue is that transactions in England and Wales remain largely non-binding until exchange of contracts, allowing avoidable delays, gazumping, gazundering, and breakdowns in communication.”
Sanders believes key reforms needed include:
+ Mandatory upfront property information before marketing
+ Earlier legally binding commitments in the process
+ Greater digitisation of conveyancing and local authority searches
+ Clear national standards and timeframes for searches and enquiries
+ Improved transparency and communication throughout transactions
+ Stronger accountability for avoidable delays
“Other countries complete property transactions more quickly and with greater certainty. There is no reason the system in England and Wales should continue to operate in a way that creates unnecessary delay, cost, and uncertainty,” he continued.
Sanders is 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 implementing modernised conveyancing reforms
“The housing market is a vital part of the UK economy, and the current system needs to be faster, clearer, and more reliable for everyone involved,” Sanders added.
Sanders informs EYE that his aim is to obtain at least 10,000 signatures “to be taken very seriously” with a view to presenting the petition to his local MP, Manuela Perteghella of Stratford-on-Avon.
You can view the petition here.
