Pilot scheme could make home buying ‘quicker and less stressful’

A digital questionnaire designed to make home moving ‘cheaper, quicker and less stressful’ is now being tested in a pilot scheme.

The Buying and Selling Property Information (BASPI) has been developed by the Home Buying and Selling Group, an organisation made up of property specialists including solicitors, estate agents and mortgage advisers.

The idea is to have a digital questionnaire that would be completed by the seller as soon as a property is put on the market. The completed form will be made available to buyers before they make an offer and will also be accessible to other interested parties such as valuers and mortgage lenders.

The Conveyancing Association is one of the groups behind the scheme. Its director of delivery, Beth Rudolf, said the form would become the ‘one source of truth’ about a property

She said: “We can now have augmented intelligence, so the seller does not have to see the questions that do not apply to her. We can look to how we can import the existing data, such as what the remaining term of the lease is.

“It could be signed digitally and supported by biometric identity verification for the seller to establish that they own that identity and that it is the identity of the registered proprietor. How far would this go in terms of eradicating seller impersonation fraud and reducing claims, which in turn would reduce conveyancers’ insurance premiums that have currently reached an eye-watering high this year thanks to several big claims?

“We’re going to pilot it. We’re hoping to have 500 transactions go through the pilot using large chains of estate agents – half with the BASPI and half without. We’re looking for pilot participants… We hope it will create a cheaper, quicker, less stressful home moving process for all.”

The project is being supported by the Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority.

We shall keep clients informed of developments.

Please contact Dipak Odedra or Jackie Hand if you would like advice about the legal aspects of buying or selling a property.