The Santander ‘Fixing the Broken Chain’ report published in Q3 last year, laid bare the true cost of inefficiency across the UK housing market – and it’s bigger than anyone imagined.

According to the research, a staggering 530,000 property transactions fail every year, costing consumers and the wider economy £1.5bn annually. Of this, £560m comes directly from wasted consumer spend on fees and services for transactions that never complete.

In addition, 28% of consumers are less likely to move again following their previous property market experience, a figure that rises with age. Conversely, the report found that a more streamlined process would make 88% of people who recently moved more likely to move again in the future.

These numbers should act as a real wake-up call. They highlight not just lost money, but lost time, lost trust, and an urgent need to modernise how all parties collaborate in the homebuying journey, especially in the three-to- four month conveyancing journey between offer and completion, for what is the single largest financial transaction in most peoples’ lives.

The scale of the problem

The report’s findings paint a picture of a market that’s still relying on century-old practices in a digital-first world, where decade old processes continue to underpin the way homes are bought and sold today.

The result is a system that is too complicated, too slow, and too manual, resulting in one in four consumers having to endure a failed transaction. Beyond the financial impact, 57% of buyers in failed transactions reported increased anxiety, and nearly half said the experience affected their sleep or relationships.

Even when transactions do complete, they often take far longer than buyers expect. While only 9% anticipated a process lasting more than six months, nearly double that figure said it actually took that long.

As Kate Davies, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association notes in the report, no doubt in reference to mortgage application process, “The mortgage sector has invested heavily in streamlining systems and using technology to give customers quicker, clearer decisions, but unless the rest of the process catches up, we are running ever faster simply to stand still.”

The same can be said for the conveyancing industry. With the Law Society outlining a 15% reduction in the number of conveyancers in England and Wales between September 2021 and January 2025, firms are often under capacity pressure and being asked to do more with less. Many are operating at stretch capacity, juggling complex cases while battling fragmented communication systems.

The solution is about empowering both law firms and lenders. It’s about giving everyone a shared view of the case status and progress, introducing digital workflows, removing manual work and repetition, and ensuring lenders, conveyancers and clients are working from the same shared data in real time.  With a consumer lens on, the first thing to resolve is to bring more certainty and calm to the journey, before we worry about trying to speed the process up.

Data sharing: the missing link

The report’s policy recommendations point in the same direction. Among its seven key reforms are:

Expediting digitisation across all stakeholders

Improving data sharing and up-front information.

Incentivising the use of AI

These steps align closely with what many in the industry are already calling for, namely a trusted digital environment where lenders and conveyancers can communicate and interact securely, share updates instantly, and eliminate manual bottlenecks.

Practical progress, not disruption, with digitalisation

Using technology to replace emails with real-time case tracking, visible transaction milestones, shared dashboards and analytics, and intelligent digital automation will greatly reduce the administrative burden on legal teams. In addition, it will provide lenders with the transparency to manage their pipelines effectively and, most importantly, a more streamlined, efficient process is likely to lead to less transactions failing to complete.

Crucially, any tech intervention needs to empower professionals with tools that simplify their day-to-day work and strengthen relationships in the process. For conveyancers, a more efficient process also means fewer status chasers and faster query resolution. For lenders, efficiency gains bring direct cost savings and, vitally, a more certain process which will equate to higher conversion rates and a much better, more consistent customer journey.

Communication and collaboration the real fix

If the UK is serious about modernising its housing market, the path forward will come from shared commitment between lenders, conveyancers, and technology providers to build a more connected, transparent, and efficient process from offer to completion.

As the Santander report makes clear, the cost of inaction is already being felt by every corner of the market. The technology now exists to start to fix this £1.5bn problem; what’s needed is the collective will to put it to work. Our view is that stakeholders such as lenders, need to lead the market in this space in close consultation with their conveyancing panels.

Simon Slater is chief executive of e4 Strategic UK