Broker says the home-buying process in England and Wales is failing consumers, costing the industry millions, and damaging mental health
The home-buying process in England and Wales is outdated, opaque and no longer fit for purpose, says one mortgage broker who argues that buyers are routinely required to commit significant financial and emotional resources before receiving the information they need to make sound purchasing decisions.
Under the current system, buyers in England and Wales can wait three to six months between having an offer accepted and completing a purchase. During that period, they incur costs for mortgage applications, valuations, surveys, legal work and searches — often with no guarantee the transaction will proceed.
Critical information, including proposed developments, infrastructure projects, environmental concerns, planning applications, leasehold complications and building remediation programmes, frequently emerges only during the conveyancing process, by which point buyers are already financially and emotionally invested.
"As mortgage brokers, we witness the consequences of the current home-buying process every day," said Bola Anike (pictured top) of Elmgrove Financial Services. "While much attention is given to housing supply and affordability, insufficient focus is placed on the inefficiencies and lack of transparency within the transaction process itself."
The problem is particularly acute in the leasehold sector, where buyers may only discover significant future liabilities well into conveyancing. A property that appears affordable at the point of offer may later reveal planned major works — including cladding remediation, roof replacement, lift upgrades, structural repairs or energy efficiency programmes — resulting in one-off charges running into tens of thousands of pounds, or substantial increases in service charges.
"There are now many leaseholders whose properties have become unmortgageable because of this," Anike said. For first-time buyers and home movers, such revelations can make a purchase entirely unaffordable, forcing a withdrawal after months of preparation.
The impact of late disclosure extends across the entire chain. When a buyer withdraws, a seller may lose their onward purchase; that seller's vendor may then lose theirs. Multiple transactions can collapse simultaneously, wiping out months of work by brokers, lenders, estate agents and conveyancers.
"The financial cost to the industry is substantial," Anike pointed out. "More importantly, the emotional and practical consequences for consumers can be devastating."
She also highlights the psychological toll of the current process, which she says receives insufficient attention in industry discussions.
Home purchases are frequently tied to major life events — school moves, job changes, weddings, retirements and growing families. Buyers often make significant personal commitments based on an anticipated completion date, only to spend months chasing updates from solicitors, estate agents, lenders and managing agents with limited visibility of progress.
"In an era where mental health and consumer wellbeing rightly receive greater attention, it is difficult to justify a system that routinely places such strain on those trying to purchase a home," Anike said.
The broker points to the Scottish Home Report system as evidence that a more transparent approach is achievable. Scotland requires sellers to provide buyers with information on a property's condition, energy performance and other key details before offers are submitted, enabling more informed decision-making at the outset.
Anike acknowledges that England and Wales previously attempted reform through Home Information Packs, but argues that the exclusion of Home Condition Reports undermined their effectiveness. She contends that technology, digitisation and artificial intelligence now make it possible to address the shortcomings of that earlier system.
A reformed approach, she argues, could include seller-provided legal information packs before marketing, earlier disclosure of leasehold obligations, upfront disclosure of planned major works and anticipated service charge increases, and faster digital sharing of information between lenders, brokers, conveyancers and estate agents.
The reforms would benefit the industry as well as consumers, Anike argues. Mortgage brokers would spend less time managing avoidable delays and collapsed transactions. Lenders would see reduced underwriting wastage and earlier identification of property risks. Conveyancers would receive more complete information upfront. Estate agents would experience fewer fall-throughs and more predictable pipelines.
"The information needed to make informed purchasing decisions already exists," Anike said. "The problem is that it is often disclosed too late."
She concludes that England and Wales should take the lead from Scotland and implement a process that delivers critical information to buyers at the beginning of the transaction, not months into it. "Until then, buyers, sellers and industry professionals will continue to pay the price for a system that too often delivers critical information when it is already too late."
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