A new charter has been launched to cut the average time of a home sale from 109 days to 28 days, backed by key firms spanning lenders, conveyancers and estate agents.  

A working group of 23 firms has launched Project 28: A Charter for faster, more certain property transactions — who say the plan is “a bold and practical blueprint to fix the UK’s broken property transaction process”. 

The firms want to end “a fragmented system where inefficiencies currently cost home movers around £400m in fall-throughs annually, and drain around four million working days for estate agents and conveyancers who lose up to £1bn in wasted effort per year”. 

The group has been established by property data firm Landmark Information Group and includes Legal & General, Mortgage Advice Bureau, Nationwide, Lloyds Banking Group and Yopa. 

The Charter’s member firms account for over £600bn of mortgage assets, support estate agents in bringing more than half of total listings to market, and process more than 1 million search and environmental reports a year. 

The members back a “digital-first property transaction process” that will “deliver a critical boost to the UK’s economy”. 

They have signed up to eight practical commitments that will reduce inefficiency, boost data transparency, and “restore trust for buyers and sellers”. 

Project 28’s commitments are: 

• Early instruction of seller-side conveyancer – ensuring legal work begins at listing 

• Provision of relevant upfront information and condition reports – reducing delays and surprises 

• Ensuring data collection and availability – supporting faster, informed decisions 

• Ensuring trusted data – improving confidence through reliable sources 

• Access to a secure, interoperable data repository – giving all parties real-time access to key documents 

• Early commissioning of leasehold packs – avoiding late-stage legal delays 

• A recognisable marque to indicate best practice – helping property professionals and consumers identify best practice 

• A quality fee for quality service – ensuring professionals are fairly paid 

The group’s ambition is to cut the time between agreed sale and exchange to a calendar month. 

The average time between a sale agreed to exchange for purchases last year was 109 days — a slight improvement from 115 days in 2023, but still 19% longer than in 2019, 92 days, and 65% longer than in 2007, 66 days, according to Landmark’s latest Property Transactions Report. 

Landmark Information Group chief executive Simon Brown says: “Project 28: A Charter for faster, more certain property transactions is a pivotal moment for the property industry – a united response to a system that has, for too long, been too siloed, let down consumers and slowed economic progress.” 

L&G director of distribution and Mortgage Clare Beardmore adds: “Initiatives like Project 28, combined with measures such as the easing of affordability barriers and the continuation of the mortgage guarantee scheme, are helping to create a more accessible and efficient market.  

“For buyers, having timely access to accurate information and trusted advice has never been more important.  

“By working together across the industry, we can help give people the confidence to move with certainty, reduce delays, and ultimately improve outcomes for everyone involved in a property transaction.”