COMMENT
The future of buying and selling – change must driven by the industry says Sir Bryan Carsberg, President of the E-Homebuying Forum
A
s we pass the six month mark since the Coalition Government took office, it is interesting to consider the implications of its
policies for the residential property sector. Central to Housing Minister Grant Shapps’ agenda has been setting out plans for new financial incentives to local councils and the framework for building new housing. The recent Comprehensive Spending Review prioritises the building of affordable new homes, while social housing faces a funding cut of 50 per cent and the biggest shake-up in decades. But what of home-buying and selling? For those involved in the process, undoubtedly the most keenly-felt measure was the removal, just weeks after the election, of the requirement for sellers to produce Home Information Packs (HIPs). This move provides a strong illustration of the Government’s belief that it should not prescribe in detail how people undertake transactions like buying and selling property; it opens up opportunities for professionals in the industry to develop innovations that improve the customer experience of buying and selling. Since the demise of HIPs, we’ve seen
several statistics highlighting the increase in the number of new homes coming onto the market – Countrywide says 34 per cent more homes have been registered, Rightmove says 35 per cent across the UK including an extraordinary 66 per cent rise in Wales. However, the number of actual transactions has not increased and it remains to be seen whether the number of homes coming onto the market simply shows that homeowners are testing the water. The E-Homebuying Forum (EHF) has
for some time now been working with firms in all sectors of the residential
22 DECEMBER 2010 PROPERTYdrum
‘Our main focus is on measures to bring greater transparency and certainty.’
property industry to look at measures that can be taken to improve the buy-sell process, measures to boost the market in the long term. Our main focus has been on measures that would bring greater transparency, greater efficiency and greater certainty to the customer, while recognising the need to promote high standards across all parts of the industry. For most people, buying or selling a home is the most important financial transaction they will undertake. Customers will only experience a satisfactory transaction if the market is working well and the market will work well only if people are properly informed. We accept that the Coalition will not
introduce a regulation to require estate agents to be licensed in the foreseeable future, but we do support a framework by which agents would become members of an approved body which would have a commitment to quality standards. At the moment, the public does not effectively distinguish those agents that are regulated and qualified from those that are not and, perhaps, have very little experience. These issues will be drawn into sharper
focus as developments in technology and business models change the way houses are bought and sold. The aftermath of the OFT’s Home Buying and Selling study earlier this year could contribute to
opening up the market to new entrants. Traditional parts of the industry need to be prepared for changes; and they should see those changes as an opportunity to improve their businesses and services offered. The key point is that firms should be doing more to make clients as well informed as possible about the stages in the buying and selling process, what they can expect with regards to timing, possible difficulties that may arise and what they can do to minimise delays. Clients should be informed about the possible advantages of a do-it yourself HIP, one including more useful information than the one that was required by legislation, and helped to construct one if they wish. They should also have explained to them possibilities for lock-out agreements or alternatives for when a buyer and seller seem ready to make an agreement, subject to searches, survey and finance. These are choices for the customer; they are commercial opportunities for businesses. As we have seen from the first six
months of the new Government, ministers want change to be driven by the market, not by governmental regulation, not even by a general requirement for self- regulation. So it is up to businesses to deliver change. And members of the E-Homebuying Forum believe that the key to the changes that are needed is to inform the customer and thereby empower the customer.
To find out more about the E-Homebuying Forum and to download a copy of the Forum’s Blueprint for the Future of Homebuying, please visit
www.e-homebuyingforum.com
Add your own opinions to the debate:
www.propertydrum.com/articles/commentdec
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