A group of 23 of the UK’s leading organisations across the property sector have launched a charter setting out a blueprint to fix the UK’s broken property transaction process.
Titled ‘Project 28: A Charter for faster, more certain property transactions’, it seeks to fix the current system in which inefficiencies cost home movers around £400mn in fall-throughs annually.
Around 4mn working days for estate agents and conveyancers are also lost, wasting £1bn worth of effort per year.
To change the process, the charter recognises the benefits of digitising key property information and facilitating more efficient data sharing.
This industry-wide initiative is much needed, to help speed up house buying and selling and make the process smoother, more secure and more transparent
The signatories suggested that the initiative will support the industry’s ambition of a streamlined, digital-first property transaction process, and deliver a “critical” boost to the UK’s economy.
Landmark Information Group CEO, Simon Brown, said: “Project 28 is a pivotal moment for the property industry — a united response to a system that has, for too long, been too siloed, let down consumers and slowed economic progress.
“Landmark is proud to drive forward this change, bringing the right people, data and insights together across the entire transaction chain, as part of this industry-led initiative.”
Brown said this charter offers a “realistic path” to meaningful reform.
“We now urge the government and the wider market to act with us in transforming the experience for home movers across the UK,” he said.
The charter’s member organisations are responsible for annual transactions supporting over £600bn of mortgage assets and process in excess of 1mn search and environment reports per year.
Driven by eight commitments that the working group members will implement operationally, the charter aims to reduce inefficiency, improve data transparency, and restore trust for buyers and sellers.
Currently, according to Landmark Information Groups’ latest Property Transaction Report, the average time between sale agreed to exchange for purchases in 2024 was 109 days.
Its goal is to reduce the time between sale agreed to exchange to just 28 days.
Movera CEO, Nick Hale, added: “This industry-wide initiative is much needed, to help speed up house buying and selling and make the process smoother, more secure and more transparent.
“With the average transaction currently taking more than 100 days to complete, it’s clear that the UK property market needs significant reform and we all need to work together to achieve the proposed 28-day transaction target.”
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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