There’s nothing quite like a bold target to focus attention, and Project 28 has certainly given the property industry one.

Its ambition to reduce the period between sale agreed and exchange to 28 days is commendable, if ambitious, especially when you take into account that the current average is four times that number.

Getting anywhere close to that figure requires taking a much broader look at how a property transaction works from beginning to end, and the challenge of helping to solve such a multifaceted puzzle is why we have recently joined the Charter.

Looking beyond upfront information

Much of the recent discussion around homebuying reform has focused on getting more information into the process earlier, and there is certainly good reason for that. When important details about a property are available before an offer is made, there is less chance of an issue emerging much later and threatening the sale. But that only addresses part of the problem.

Making data available earlier will help, butits value is reduced if that information then becomes trapped in separate systems or is not easily accessible.

If we want to make a material difference to transaction times, the focus should also extend to how information is used once it has been collected. Can it be securely shared and reused by the relevant parties? Can those involved see what has happened, what is outstanding and where action is required? Can routine interactions be handled in a more structured way?

These are questions we have repeatedly encountered while developing VERSA with lenders and conveyancers. The issue is rarely that people are not working hard enough to progress cases, more often, they are working around processes and communication methods that make an already complex transaction harder to manage than it needs to be.

A better measure of progress

There is also a risk in making speed the main measure of success. Completing sooner is clearly desirable, but not if professionals simply have to work harder behind the scenes to achieve it. A better process should also reduce unnecessary administration and make it easier to understand what needs attention.

Project 28 estimates that inefficiencies cost estate agents and conveyancers around four million working days each year. That figure highlights an important part of the challenge. Time lost chasing updates, finding information or dealing with repeated requests is time that cannot be spent progressing the legal and practical work required to move a case towards exchange.

Removing some of that workload does not require us to rethink the role of the professionals involved. It simply means giving them better tools and more effective processes, allowing them to focus their time and expertise on the work that matters most.

Nor can responsibility for change sit with one section of the market. A mortgage lender can improve its own systems, a conveyancer can refine its internal processes, and an estate agent can provide better information at listing. Each can make a difference, but the greatest gains are likely to come when those improvements connect.

That is what makes Project 28 particularly interesting. It creates a common objective around which different parts of the property market can consider not only their own processes, but how those processes affect everyone else involved.

Yes, 28 days is undoubtedly ambitious. Some transactions will always take longer because of their individual circumstances and complexity but perhaps the value of the target is precisely that it challenges the industry to question what has become normal.

If 109 days is no longer considered acceptable, the next question is not whether one part of the process can move slightly faster. It is how much time could be removed if the whole market becomes better at working together.

Andrew Vaughan is head of customer management at e4 Strategic