A survey from the Open Property Data Association (OPDA) has revealed that homebuying is taking over three times longer than expected.

In addition, the expectations and reality of completion times varies significantly by age group and postcode region.

The survey talked to over 5,000 people from across the UK who had bought or sold a property in the past five years; more than 95% of respondents had bought or sold a property in that time.

57% thought that the homebuying process would take less than two months from when the offer was accepted to exchanging contracts but, in reality, 46% discovered that it took between three and six months.

For a further 16%, their completion took more than six months.

Despite most respondents not being first time buyers and having some previous experience of the process, 62% of people took well over three months to exchange.

REGIONAL DIFFERENCES

The poorest served region with the highest proportion of people waiting longer than expected was the West Midlands where nearly 20% of transactions took in excess of six months. This was closely followed by the North-East at 19% of transactions, then East Anglia and the South-West where over 18% of transactions took that long.

Northern Ireland was the best place to move house if you wanted a fast home move, outperforming even Scotland which is often hailed as having a better process, with 52% of transactions being achieved within two months, almost meeting the expectations of the 58% who thought that two months was an acceptable timescale.

RESPONSES

Comments from buyers across the UK included: “Things have changed a lot since we previously bought/sold– nowadays it is more like an auction – you get a guide price and you put an offer in and wait and see if you have ‘won’!”

“The mortgage was agreed and papers signed ready to move in three days then the money went missing? We couldn’t move for five more days with no furniture in our house and two autistic children.”

REASONS

The survey also revealed that the most popular reason for buying was a first home (38% of respondents), followed by upsizing to a larger home (27%). The South-West, rather than London, emerged as the most popular spot for relocating for work.

OPDA’s survey is part of its new research into how homebuying can be radically improved through access to safe, shareable and trustable digital data. OPDA will publish more survey results shortly, and the research will be published in full at an official launch. The research will include key recommendations to government around digitising the homebuying process.

“homebuying is not the customer centric experience it should be”

Maria Harris, chair of OPDA, said: “Our large-scale survey regrettably but predictably confirms what we have long asserted, that homebuying is not the customer centric experience it should be.

“The current process delivers an appallingly slow, unpredictable, and disappointing experience for the majority of home buyers and sellers.

“Buying a home, especially your first, should be a cause for celebration. Instead, it too frequently leaves buyers open to heartbreak and unfulfilled expectations and is not fit for purpose. Clearly, customers expect a better homebuying experience and reform is urgently needed to achieve this.”