Closed petition Reforms to the English and Welsh property buying and selling process

Closed on 2 October 2014

The process of buying and selling a home in England and Wales contributes to the 1 in 3 property transactions that fail every year.

We would like to see the following changes debated in Parliament, with a commitment by the next Government to make reforms to the process to improve it for buyers and sellers:

• Introduction of a legally binding contract within a week of an offer being accepted, committing buyer and seller to the transaction
• Fixed timeframe of no more than 6 weeks in which the property transaction must be completed
• Standardised fees for undertaking a survey, which are constant across the country and publicly available
• Digital housing records to remove the reliance on original copies and paper trails
• The homeowner to complete the survey on the property prior to marketing the property
• Damages for maladministration should the conveyancing process be inefficient or delayed by an agent during the pre-exchange period