Home-moving reform
Government home-buying reforms describe the future ProConvey has already built
Upfront sales packs, digital logbooks, reusable identity, electronic signatures and connected workflows are moving from industry ambition to government policy.
On 18 June 2026, the government unveiled the biggest reform of the home buying and selling process in decades.
The package includes upfront sales packs, earlier binding agreements, digital logbooks, reusable identity and electronic signatures, all underpinned by a major shift to digital.
It is, almost line for line, the system ProConvey has already built. While the rest of the market begins preparing for change, agents and conveyancers on ProConvey are already operating the future the government just described.
The government has just described the destination. ProConvey is already there.
A deadline for modernisation
For years, the industry has talked about modernising property transactions. This week, the government set a deadline.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s reform package promises to cut buying times by around four weeks, save first-time buyers an average of £650, and halve the number of sales that collapse.
It aims to fix a system where the average purchase takes around 120 days, one in three sales falls through, and failed transactions cost the economy up to £1.5 billion every year.
4 weeks
potential reduction in buying times.
£650
average saving for first-time buyers.
£1.5bn
annual cost of failed transactions to the economy.
The reforms are ambitious. But for ProConvey users, very little of what was announced is new.
Reform 1: upfront sales packs at the point of listing
The centrepiece of the announcement is a requirement for sellers and agents to provide key information upfront, including a home’s condition, leasehold costs and chain status, in a sales pack available the moment a property is listed.
The goal is simple: let buyers make informed decisions and let conveyancers start work sooner, rather than waiting weeks after an offer is accepted to gather basic documentation.
This is precisely what ProConvey’s Fast Track Sale, known as FTS, was designed to deliver. Sellers complete their full legal pack before a buyer is found, becoming sale ready in as little as two hours from a computer, tablet or phone.
- Material Information and EPC data
- The Law Society TA6 and TA7 forms
- Land Registry title documents and official copies
- Complete client onboarding for sellers, attorneys, deputies, executors, trustees and company representatives
- Upfront enquiries that answer the questions a buyer’s conveyancer would otherwise raise weeks later
- Contract-ready packs, organised into folders with correct document naming, ready to send the instant a property goes under offer
Where the government is asking the market to build sales packs, ProConvey users are already sending them.
Reform 2: digital logbooks and securely shared data
At the heart of the reforms is a move away from outdated paper-based systems towards digital property logbooks and sales packs that can be shared securely between professionals and accessed by buyers and sellers in real time.
ProConvey is among the first platforms to fully integrate with the National Property Transaction Network, or NPTN, by LMS.
Through NPTN, a seller enters their information once and it flows to every stakeholder, authenticated and standardised. This is the trusted information shared securely model described in the announcement, already live and processing real transactions.
ProConvey’s branded dashboards also give agents, conveyancers and clients real-time visibility of exactly where each case stands, supporting the same track-and-progress experience the reforms are aiming for.
Reform 3: digital identity and electronic signatures
The government has committed to backing digital identity checks and electronic signatures to reduce duplication and fraud, tackling a process that currently involves an average of 5.4 separate ID checks per transaction.
ProConvey delivers both today.
- Digital ID and AML checks: integrated checks from leading providers including Yoti, Thirdfort, Armalytix and Title Guardian.
- Reusable identity verification: on the way via NPTN, so a check completed once can be trusted by all parties through Thirdfort Secure Share.
- Electronic signatures: HMLR legally binding eSignatures, QES, AES, Conveyancer Certified eSignatures, eWitnessing and full eIDAS-compliant signing.
85%
of recipients sign within two hours, replacing posted documents entirely.
Reform 4: AI-assisted conveyancing and automation
The reforms explicitly back AI-assisted conveyancing to accelerate transactions from start to finish.
ProConvey’s automation already removes some of the slowest and most repetitive parts of the job. Clients are guided through onboarding digitally regardless of their role in the transaction, with enquiries raised automatically based on their answers.
Contract and transfer documents are drafted fully in one click. Onboarding letters automatically include dynamic sections depending on the case and property type. From the moment an agent instructs a case through to completion, automation is built in at every stage.
70%
reduction in cost per case.
50%
reduction in time from instruction to exchange.
ProConvey is also working on AI-assisted support, due to be announced in the next few months, to further reduce administration and accelerate the process for agents and conveyancers.
Reform 5: earlier binding agreements
The headline most likely to make buyers and sellers sit up is earlier binding agreements: binding conditional contracts that commit both parties sooner, with penalties for walking away without good reason.
The government has been clear this will only come into force after sales packs are embedded, so that no one is bound to a transaction before they have access to key property information.
That sequencing matters, because the precondition for binding contracts is exactly what ProConvey already provides: complete, trusted, upfront information available before commitment.
Firms running on ProConvey will be ready for binding agreements the moment the legislation lands, because the upfront groundwork is already available.
Reform 6: raising standards through a new Code of Practice
Alongside the digital reforms comes a new Code of Practice for estate agents and proposals for mandatory qualifications, designed to rebuild trust and equip agents to support efficient transactions.
ProConvey helps agents demonstrate higher standards from day one through compliance declarations, full audit logs, SOC 2 Type II security and a professional, branded client journey on the agent’s own domain.
An agent offering a legally prepared, sale-ready listing is already operating to the standard the new Code is designed to raise the market towards.
What this means for estate agents
For agents, the reforms turn upfront information from a differentiator into a baseline expectation. The agents who move first will win.
ProConvey’s Fast Track Sale lets agents offer sale-ready listings now, with:
- Panel management and instant, accurate conveyancing quotes using firm-specific pricing
- Retained referral revenue with full control over the conveyancing panel
- Higher-quality listings that attract serious buyers and stall far less often
- Free setup, no subscriptions, and the ability to go live in around 15 minutes
21%
rise in instruction rates.
43%
reduction in fall-throughs.
35%
faster exchanges.
What this means for conveyancers
The reforms will compress the timeline conveyancers work to, and reward firms that can act on complete information immediately.
ProConvey transforms the most time-consuming phase of any transaction, the opening weeks of onboarding, form-chasing and compliance, into a single automated step.
Instead of spending two to three weeks gathering information after instruction, conveyancers receive an exchange-ready pack and can proceed straight to legal work.
With conveyancer numbers down 15% since 2021 while demand climbs, efficiency is no longer optional. It is how firms protect capacity and lender-panel turnaround times.
The roadmap is set. The infrastructure already exists.
The government’s plan rolls out in phases: a Code of Practice and improved listing guidance later this year, consultation on agent qualifications and expanded digital tools from 2027, and comprehensive legislation requiring sales packs, binding contracts and digital systems by the end of this Parliament.
The phasing gives the sector time to adapt. But the firms that thrive will not be the ones scrambling to comply at each deadline.
They will be the ones already operating this way, winning instructions, reducing fall-throughs and completing faster while competitors are still planning.
The reforms confirm what ProConvey has believed from the start: upfront information, trusted digital data and connected workflows are the future of property transactions.
Ready to meet the reforms before they are mandatory?
Estate agents can set up their panel and start offering Fast Track Sale to sellers. Conveyancers can see how ProConvey streamlines workflows and connects them to agents.
Free setup. No subscriptions. 15-minute onboarding.
* Performance figures reference results from the LMS-led NPTN pilot delivered in 2024 with Connells Group, Peter Alan, TM Group, Moverly and a panel of law firms. As an NPTN partner, ProConvey applies these principles to support improved outcomes across the home buying and selling process. Government reform figures are drawn from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government press release of 18 June 2026.
