Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Property Industry Eye. Read the original article for full details.

Homebuying Reforms Could Unlock 260,000 Extra Instructions

More than 260,000 owner-occupied homes could be brought to market within a year if greater certainty is introduced into the homebuying process, according to new research from Jackson-Stops. The agency’s Housing Mobility Report highlights that uncertainty over transaction times is preventing many homeowners from moving, potentially creating hundreds of thousands of additional instructions for estate agents.

The report estimates that over 700,000 owner-occupied homes could be unlocked over the next three years if confidence in the sales process improves. This follows the government’s roadmap for reforming the homebuying process, which proposes measures to reduce delays, improve upfront property information, and cut average transaction times by around four weeks.

Government figures cited in the report show that the average home purchase currently takes about 120 days from offer acceptance to completion, with around one in three transactions falling through. This is estimated to cost the wider economy £1.5 billion each year.

Jackson-Stops argues that greater certainty over completion times would encourage more homeowners to list their properties, increasing housing supply and market activity. The report also identifies stamp duty as a significant barrier to mobility, with 28% of owner-occupiers who had delayed moving saying the tax had discouraged them from doing so.

The research notes that economic uncertainty (42%), mortgage rates (29%), and stamp duty costs (28%) are the most commonly cited barriers among owner-occupiers whose moving plans had been delayed, postponed, or abandoned. The report estimates that removing stamp duty costs could bring more than 300,000 owner-occupied homes to the market within less than a year, and over 750,000 within three years.

UK residential transactions recovered during the 2024/25 financial year, with more than 1.21 million completions, up from around one million the previous year.

These findings are relevant for letting agents and inventory clerks, as increased market activity and instructions could impact demand for their services if proposed reforms are implemented.