The UK's homebuying process is holding back hundreds of thousands of owner-occupied properties from being sold each year, a new report has revealed. According to Jackson-Stops' Housing Mobility Report, more than 260,000 homes could be unlocked annually if greater certainty was introduced into the transaction timeline.
Experts attribute the current stagnation to the unpredictability surrounding transaction times, with over 700,000 owner-occupied homes estimated to remain on the market within three years if confidence in the sales process improves significantly. The report coincides with the government's plans to reform the homebuying process, aiming to reduce delays and enhance upfront property information.
The average home purchase in the UK takes approximately 120 days from offer acceptance to completion, with roughly one in three transactions falling through. This results in estimated annual losses of £1.5 billion for the economy. Jackson-Stops argues that instilling greater certainty over completion timelines would encourage more homeowners to list their properties, thereby increasing the overall housing supply and stimulating market activity.
Beyond process uncertainty, stamp duty has emerged as a significant barrier to housing mobility. Around 28% of owner-occupiers who delayed moving plans cited this tax as a discouraging factor, with economic uncertainty (42%) and mortgage rates (29%) being the other main concerns. The report suggests that removing stamp duty costs could potentially bring over 300,000 owner-occupied homes to the market within a year in England, rising to more than 750,000 over three years.
These findings arrive at a time when UK residential transactions have seen a recovery during the 2024/25 financial year, with over 1.21 million completions recorded, up from approximately one million in the preceding year. Nick Leeming, Chairman of Jackson-Stops, welcomed the government's proposed reforms, stating that measures improving upfront information sharing and providing greater certainty earlier in the process are crucial for empowering both buyers and sellers to move with increased confidence.