The reform roadmap in brief

In 2025, the government published a roadmap for reforming the home buying and selling process in England and Wales. The proposals — developed following consultation with industry bodies including Propertymark, the Law Society, and the Conveyancing Association — represent the most significant proposed changes to residential property transactions in a generation.

The central ambition is to reduce the time between offer and completion, cut fall-through rates, and make the process less stressful for buyers and sellers alike. The roadmap identifies three main levers to achieve this: upfront information requirements, earlier binding agreements, and digital infrastructure.

Upfront information packs

The most significant proposal for sellers is the introduction of a mandatory upfront information pack — sometimes called a 'property pack' or 'seller's pack' — that would need to be compiled before a property is listed for sale. The pack would include completed property information forms (equivalent to the current TA6 and TA10), title documents, and key certificates.

The rationale is straightforward: most delays in the current system occur because buyers and their solicitors spend weeks chasing information that sellers could have assembled before marketing began. Requiring this information upfront would allow conveyancing to begin in earnest as soon as an offer is accepted, rather than weeks later.

Propertymark, the professional body for estate agents, has broadly welcomed the proposals, noting that agents already encourage sellers to prepare documentation early and that a formal requirement would level the playing field. The organisation has called for the pack requirements to be proportionate and for agents to be given clear guidance on what must be included.

Earlier binding agreements

A second strand of the roadmap concerns the point at which a sale becomes legally binding. Currently, neither party is committed until exchange of contracts — which typically occurs 10–16 weeks after an offer is accepted. During that window, either party can withdraw without penalty, contributing to England and Wales having one of the highest fall-through rates of any comparable property market.

The roadmap explores options for making agreements binding earlier in the process — potentially at the point of offer acceptance, subject to survey and searches. This would bring England and Wales closer to the Scottish system, where missives (the equivalent of exchange) are concluded much earlier.

The detail of how this would work in practice — and how it would interact with mortgage offers, surveys, and chain dependencies — is still being worked through. Any change to the binding point would require primary legislation.

Digital tools and infrastructure

The roadmap also sets out plans to digitise key parts of the conveyancing process — including digital identity verification, electronic signatures on contracts, and improved data sharing between solicitors, lenders, and local authorities. HM Land Registry has been working on digital title documents and automated local authority search data for several years, and the roadmap accelerates this work.

For sellers, the practical implication is that the process of providing and verifying information is likely to become faster and more standardised over the coming years. Digital identity checks, for example, would remove the need to present physical documents to multiple parties.

What this means for sellers now

The reforms are proposals, not yet law. Timelines for implementation have not been confirmed, and some elements — particularly earlier binding agreements — would require legislation that has not yet been introduced. Sellers should not assume the current process will change before their sale completes.

What the roadmap does confirm, however, is the direction of travel: upfront preparation is becoming the expected standard, not an optional extra. Sellers who compile their property information, certificates, and forms before going to market are already operating in the spirit of the proposed reforms — and consistently completing faster as a result.

Source note

This article draws on the government's published homebuying reform roadmap, Propertymark's response to the consultation (propertymark.co.uk), and Rightmove's coverage of the proposals (rightmove.co.uk/news). All information reflects the position as of July 2026. Reform timelines are subject to change — check the publish date and verify current requirements with your solicitor.

The current position

Estate agency in England and Wales is currently one of the few client-facing professions that does not require a licence, mandatory qualification, or registration with a regulatory body. Anyone can set up as an estate agent without formal training or qualifications. Agents are required to be members of a redress scheme (either The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme), but membership does not require any minimum standard of competence.

This has been a long-standing concern for industry bodies, consumer groups, and the government. The argument is that the lack of minimum standards contributes to inconsistent service quality and, in some cases, to poor advice that leads to delays or failed transactions.

What's proposed

The government's homebuying reform roadmap includes proposals for a mandatory code of practice for estate agents, setting out minimum standards of conduct and service. Alongside this, the roadmap explores the introduction of minimum qualification requirements — likely a Level 3 qualification equivalent, similar to what is already required for letting agents in Wales.

The proposals also include a requirement for agents to be registered with a single regulatory body, replacing the current dual-redress-scheme model. This would create a central register of estate agents and a clearer route for consumers to check whether an agent is properly registered.

Propertymark's response

Propertymark, which represents around 17,500 member offices across the UK, has broadly welcomed the proposals. The organisation has long advocated for mandatory qualifications and regulation, arguing that professionalising the sector would improve consumer outcomes and raise standards across the board.

In its response to the consultation, Propertymark noted that its members already hold qualifications and operate to a code of conduct, and that mandatory requirements would level the playing field with unqualified competitors. The organisation called for the qualification requirements to be proportionate and for existing qualified agents to be recognised without needing to re-qualify.

What it means for sellers

If the proposals are implemented, sellers would have greater assurance that the agent they instruct meets a minimum standard of competence and is subject to a clear code of conduct. It would also make it easier to check whether an agent is properly registered before instructing them.

In practice, sellers working with established agents who are already Propertymark members or hold NAEA qualifications are unlikely to notice a significant change — those agents already operate to the standards being proposed. The change would primarily affect the tail of the market where unqualified agents currently operate without oversight.

As with all elements of the reform roadmap, these are proposals rather than confirmed legislation. Timelines have not been set. Check the publish date on this article and verify the current position with your agent or solicitor.

Source note

This article draws on Propertymark's published response to the homebuying reform consultation (propertymark.co.uk) and the government's reform roadmap. Information reflects the position as of July 2026.

Where does the time go?

The average time between offer acceptance and completion in England and Wales is currently around 20–22 weeks for a straightforward transaction. For leasehold properties or those in longer chains, it is often considerably longer. This compares unfavourably with comparable markets: in Scotland, where more information is provided upfront and agreements become binding earlier, the equivalent period is typically 8–12 weeks.

Research cited in the government's homebuying reform consultation — drawing on data from conveyancers, lenders, and search providers — suggests that a significant proportion of this time is spent waiting for information that could have been assembled before marketing began. The figure most widely cited is 8.3 weeks: the estimated time that could be saved per transaction if sellers provided a comprehensive upfront information pack at the point of listing.

The information gap

The current process works roughly as follows: a seller accepts an offer, instructs a solicitor, and then begins assembling the documentation the solicitor needs to prepare the contract pack. This includes completed property information forms (TA6 and TA10), title documents, building regulations certificates, planning permissions, guarantees, and — for leasehold properties — the management pack from the freeholder or managing agent.

In many cases, sellers have not thought about this documentation before accepting an offer. Certificates are missing, forms are incomplete, and the management pack request has not been sent. Each missing item adds days or weeks to the process. Meanwhile, the buyer's solicitor is waiting to raise enquiries, the buyer's lender is waiting to issue a mortgage offer, and the chain is stalled.

The 8.3-week figure represents the cumulative effect of these delays across a typical transaction. It is not a single bottleneck — it is dozens of small delays, each individually manageable, that compound into a significantly extended timeline.

What upfront information changes

If a seller compiles their property information pack before listing — completing the TA6 and TA10, gathering certificates, obtaining the management pack for leasehold properties, and ordering a title register — the contract pack can be sent to the buyer's solicitor within days of an offer being accepted rather than weeks.

This allows enquiries to be raised and answered earlier, searches to be ordered in parallel, and the mortgage valuation to be instructed sooner. The cumulative effect is a significantly shorter timeline from offer to exchange — and a lower risk of the sale falling through during the extended waiting period that currently characterises most transactions.

What sellers can do now

The proposed mandatory upfront information requirements are not yet law. But the evidence for their effectiveness is clear, and sellers who act on this principle now — before any legal requirement exists — consistently complete faster and fall through less often.

The practical steps are straightforward: instruct a solicitor before accepting an offer, complete the TA6 and TA10 forms before marketing begins, gather all certificates and guarantees, and — for leasehold properties — request the management pack from the freeholder or managing agent as early as possible. These steps are the foundation of what Property Sale Pack is designed to help sellers do.

Source note

The 8.3-week figure is drawn from research cited in the government's homebuying reform consultation documentation. Rightmove's coverage of the reform proposals (rightmove.co.uk/news) also references this data. Information reflects the position as of July 2026.