BAR To Help Improve Home Buying & Selling Process
I was pleased to hear the announcement of the formation of the Home Buying and Selling Group. This includes representatives from across the property industry, including the British Association of Removers (BAR), of which we are ourselves members.
The group’s stated aim is to work together to effect changes that will improve the whole buying and selling process. As well as estate and letting agents, property lawyers and mortgage lenders, there are representatives from the Land Registry, the Law Society, Society of Licensed Conveyors, the Conveyancing Association, Right Move, the Property Ombudsman, the Building Societies Association and BAR.
They recently held their first meeting, chaired by industry expert Kate Faulkner of Propertychecklists.co.uk and attended by Matt Prior from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Amongst the topics discussed was the uncertainty home buyers face. This revolved around not only the length of tie the process takes but also the likelihood of a sale falling through, which something like 20% to 30% do.
The group has agreed to carry out research into how these problems can be solved with one possible solution a more binding offer acceptance at an earlier stage in the process.
The group has also undertaken to provide more education about buying and selling and to raise the awareness of the issues with the general public.