Home-buying reforms ‘must not be lost amid Labour turmoil’

The long-awaited overhaul of Britain’s convoluted homebuying process must not be allowed to fall victim to Labour’s civil war, the boss of Zoopla has warned.

Consultations on the government’s review into the system of buying and selling property closed in December with ministers pledging to tackle the ‘long, complicated and frustrating procedure’.

But the apparent lack of action since then has led to calls for clarity from estate agents and others on the implementation of reforms.

Property website Zoopla said the time between making an offer on a property and the exchange is now 134 days – which is 50 per cent longer than in 2019.

As a result, one-in-four sales is currently falling through.

Last year a body made up of lenders like Lloyds and Nationwide and estate agents lobbied for a reduction in the time between offer and exchange to just 28 days.

Bad sign: Property website Zoopla said the time between making an offer on a property and the exchange is now 134 days – which is 50 per cent longer than in 2019

Lessening the bureaucracy would be a huge benefit to the furnishing, homeware and legal businesses that depend on the property market.

Consultations on the government’s review of the home buying and selling system closed in December.

But fears are mounting that change may be put on the backburner amid the Labour party power struggle.

Zoopla chief executive Paul Whitehead said: ‘People want to move.’

But he warned the delays in the system are a proving to be deterrent, exacerbating other problems.

Zoopla research shows close to half the properties put up for sale in the past three years failed to find a buyer because their prices were too high.

Rising mortgage rates, caused by the bond market upheaval provoked by the conflict in the Middle East and struggle for control of Number 10 are seen as a reason not to go house-hunting.

But securing finance is not a challenge for all borrowers.

Richard Donnell, Zoopla’s head of research and insight, said that lenders were welcoming applicants with either access to the Bank of Mum or Dad or with equity in their properties.

He commented: ‘At 75 per cent loan-to-value, a lender wants to lend.’

A Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) spokesperson said:

‘We want to fix the broken home buying system – and have introduced a major shake-up of the process to speed up transactions, halve the number of failed deals and save first-time buyers money on their house purchase.

‘This will mean hardworking people can focus on the next chapter of their lives, and we’ll introduce these reforms as soon as we can.’