Response to Levelling Up White Paper – improving the home buying and selling process

From Matt Gilpin, CEO of Sprift

“The property sector across the board largely agrees that more upfront information is better for the home buying and selling process, and that it supports the necessary consumer protection requirements.”

“The whole procedure when selling a property needs to be standardised to support a smoother transaction. In the first instance, further thought needs to go into what the buyer might want to know about the property beyond the legal requirements – everything from the broadband provider, to local schools information, planning history and everything in between. Once the detail is agreed, there needs to be further thought on how the forms can be presented and shared with all parties from the outset. All those involved in a transaction should be informed at every possible touchpoint, so they are fully armed with all necessary information to enable informed decision making.”

“I believe the use of UPRNs is a good place to start – if the UPRN for each property was expanded to incorporate all of its activities and characteristics, these can easily be transported into a necessary legal or “sellers” document. Whilst, of course, there will be anomalies due to the very nature of property which doesn’t always fit into a mould, a standardised and pre-populated document including all relevant property information would make the initial process less arduous for the seller, more consumer friendly and ultimately reduce delays.”