Confidence in the housing market has slumped to its lowest level this year amid uncertainty over the impending Autumn Budget, research shows.
Three-quarters of property professionals say people are putting off moving house until the Chancellor’s plans are known, according to the Council for Licensed Conveyancers’ (CLC) latest confidence tracker.
The quarterly survey, launched at the start of this year to monitor the mood of conveyancers also found that less than half (42%) were confident in current market stability, down from 64% the previous quarter and the lowest since the tracker began.
Confidence amongst buyers had halved, from 38% to 17%, a third were not confident and half were neutral, conveyancers said. It was a similar picture for sellers, with just 16% thought to be confident in the market compared to 38% who weren’t, and 46% who were neutral.
The research also found that just 14% of those surveyed believed that the speed and efficiency of the conveyancing process was improving and not getting worse, with the majority either not confident (62%) or neutral (24%).
The average wait between an offer being accepted and completion was still around three to four months according to around 80% of respondents – a figure which has remained constant across all four surveys so far. Just 5% reported a shorter wait, compared to 16% who said transactions were taking five months or more.
The government is currently consulting on proposals to reform inefficiencies in homebuying and selling, which it has called the biggest shake-up of the system in the country’s history.
The vision, which supports the work of the Home Buying and Selling Council and other industry leaders and innovators, is to deliver a faster, more reliable system, driven by informed consumers, cutting edge technology and high-standard professional services.
The CLC also recently secured almost £750,000 in government funding to support a groundbreaking partnership with the Open Property Data Association (OPDA) and Raidiam, the innovators behind Open Banking.
Together, they will develop what is expected to be the UK’s first framework for digitising property data and enabling the safe, secure sharing of information at the very start of a transaction.
CLC director of strategy and external relations Stephen Ward said: “We are on the cusp of transforming the homebuying and selling process by harnessing technology, significantly improving speed, certainty and security for everyone involved.
“Whilst we understand people’s frustrations, and it is important that all voices are heard, it is vital that conveyancing practices continue engaging with the opportunities available so that, together, we can deliver significant improvements and develop a process that better meets the needs of consumers and supports a healthy housing market for the benefit of the nation as a whole.”
