The government has announced its plans for a series of reforms that aim to cut property buying times by around four weeks, save first-time buyers an average of £650, prevent late information discovery from scuppering a property transaction and stop sellers from withdrawing their property without good reason after their buyers have already incurred costs.
Sellers to provide ‘sales packs’ to buyers
The reforms span a wide range of proposals, a main one being that sellers must provide buyers with information up front in ‘sales packs’ when listing a property. These packs will set out a home’s condition, leasehold costs and chain status to help buyers make informed decisions.
A similar idea was introduced in 2007 with the introduction of Home Information Packs (HIPs), but this was officially scrapped in 2012 because it caused extra upfront costs, had low-quality condition reports that mortgage lenders refused to rely on, and led to duplicated survey costs for buyers.
The government plans to overcome these historical issues by relying on modern digital logbooks, which will be cheaper to produce and draw information from trusted data sources, hopefully avoiding lender rejection. The approach will bring England and Wales closer to the system used in Scotland, where valuations and surveys are already provided upfront as part of a seller’s home report.
Earlier legally binding agreements to prevent gazumping
The proposed changes also include new, earlier-binding agreements to prevent parties from walking away months into negotiations without a legitimate reason or by not meeting their obligations. There would be financial penalties for those who do, the details of which are yet to be made public.
What is the government’s timeline to introduce these new property reforms?
The roadmap for these reforms stretches to 2028-2029 before anything becomes legislation, with the government planning as follows:
2026
- publish non-statutory guidance to improve the quality of information in property listings as part of a ‘sales pack’
- publish a non-statutory Code of Practice setting out minimum standards for property agents
- work with the property industry to build preparedness for the use of binding contracts and the voluntary use of reservation agreements
- improve accessibility of key property data in local authorities
- publish a call for evidence on a smart data scheme for the property sector
2027-2028
- publish an advisory Charter setting out expectations and behaviours for property professionals to support efficient home buying and selling
- consult on mandatory qualifications for estate and letting agents
- work with the sector and facilitate uptake of digital ID, Qualified Electronic Signatures, and digital logbooks and packs
- consider which homeownership schemes digital logbooks and sales packs should be made a requirement of
- consult on leasehold and freehold estates sales information legislation
- work with industry to define the most suitable penalty fee structure for binding contracts
- create a voluntary accreditation scheme to identify data standards that meet a core set of criteria for industry to adhere to
- consult on a smart data scheme for the property sector
By end of Parliament (2029), introduce legislation to:
- require the preparation of ‘sales packs’ prior to listing, including searches and a property condition report
- require the use of binding conditional contracts in property transactions after sales packs are embedded
- support the secure sharing of data, and make digital sales packs and logbooks a standard feature of all property transactions
You can find the full details here: Home buying and selling reform roadmap – GOV.UK
We’ll keep you updated as the property reforms progress
The government’s phased approach will give the property sector time to adapt while delivering improvements as quickly as possible. As the measures are introduced, we will keep you updated with any changes that may affect your property purchase and sale.
If you would like a quote on a property purchase and/or sale, please contact our Residential Property team on Reading: 0118 975 6622 or Henley: 01491 570 900, email residentialproperty@thpsolicitors.co.uk or complete our web form below.