Government says it wants to encourage online-only estate agents
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
In a move that will come as a major surprise to many in the industry, the Government has officially said it wants to encourage online-only estate agents.
It is to launch a consultation in the New Year.
In a new Treasury paper on boosting market competition, there is a section headed “Injecting innovation into the process of home buying”.
It says: “The Government wants to inject innovation into the process of home buying, ensuring it is modernised and provides consumers with different – and potentially quicker, simpler and cheaper – ways to buy and sell a home.
“Encouraging new business models (for example, online only estate agents) is key to enhancing price competition in the real sector, but these have yet to penetrate the market.”
The paper continues: “In addition, emerging findings from government research suggest that consumers incur costs of around £270m each year when their transactions fall through and they have already spent money on legal fees and surveys, and many more sales are subject to costly delays . . .
“The government wants to consider and address the way the real estate and conveyancing markets have developed around the existing regulatory frameworks, encourage greater innovation in the conveyancing sector and make the legal process more transparent and efficient.
“The government will therefore publish a call for evidence in the New Year on home buying, exploring options to deliver better value and make the experience of buying a home more consumer-friendly.”
The paper, A Better Deal: Boosting competition to bring down bills for families and firms, is presented by Chancellor George Osborne and Business Secretary Sajid Javid.
The paper also says that it is concerned about the cost of legal services. It plans a consultation by next spring on encouraging competition, specifically making it “easier to businesses such as supermarkets and estate agents” to offer services such as conveyancing, probate and litigation.
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