UK Government to Modernise Homebuying with Digital Property Data Reforms

New measures aim to streamline property transactions, reduce delays, and empower leaseholders with greater control over service charges.

The UK Government has announced plans to digitise property data to address delays and inefficiencies in the homebuying process, which currently takes an average of five months from offer acceptance to completion.
A 12-week project will focus on creating rules for data sharing between conveyancers, lenders, and other parties, with HM Land Registry leading 10-month pilots to digitise key property information such as building control and highways data.
The reforms include a single digital identity verification process for buyers and sellers, eliminating the need for repeated ID checks during transactions.
Leasehold reforms set to take effect on March 3 will give leaseholders more control over service charges and remove the obligation to pay freeholders' legal fees in Right to Manage claims.
The changes are part of broader housing reforms by the government, which include building 1.5 million homes and addressing issues in the leasehold system to improve fairness and affordability.