UK plans to cuts costs and delays in housing sales

[LONDON] Britain’s government said on Sunday it would seek to streamline the process for home-buying under its latest plans to give a boost to the property market.

The proposals could cut an average of around four weeks off the process, which typically takes five months, by requiring the publication of search and survey information before a property is listed among other changes, the government said.

Binding contracts for buyers and sellers might be introduced and the number of failed transactions could be halved, it said.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors welcomed the proposed changes, saying the current system was often too costly and slow with almost one in three deals collapsing before completion.

The government has made home-building one of its priorities and set a target of 1.5 million new residential properties to be built over the five-year term of the current parliament.

It said the planned reforms could reduce costs for first-time buyers by an average of £710 (S$1,235).

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The government will launch a UK-wide consultation over the changes, although Scotland has its own laws for offers and contracts. AFP