The government announced major plans last week to modernise the house buying and selling process. The reforms centre on digitalising and making property and identity data available electronically. This will allow mortgage companies and surveyors to have information within easy reach.
It is thought that these changes will help to avoid surprises being encountered late in the process, with the waste of time and money that goes with that.
In Norway, property transactions complete in around one month and the reforms take account of learning about how this has been achieved.
HM Land Registry (HMLR) is involved in the changes and the next step is a 12-week project to identify the design and implementation of agreed rules so that the data can be easily shared. HMLR will also be working with councils over coming months on how to open up more of their data and make it digital.
For estate agents and surveyors these reforms could make a big difference to the amount of time and money lost in sales falling through.
See: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-buying-and-selling-to-become-quicker-and-cheaper
The government has published a technical consultation on its new Founders’ Relief. The consultation itself provides an overview of the proposed qualifying conditions for it, including individual and company requirements and what must be satisfied. HMRC’s own figures, however, show that the strict conditions mean only about 600 individuals will be eligible to apply each year.
It’s bad news for mortgage holders and borrowers as the Bank of England (BoE) raises interest rates by a quarter point to 4% for the first time since August 2023.
