Some 200 agents are about to launch an ‘upfront survey’ providing buyers with an accredited surveyor’s assessment of a property before making an offer.
The initiative – already in use by one agency – satisfies many of the reform proposals put forward by the government in a bid to reduce fall-throughs.
The scheme, created by Gazeal, works like this.
The agent submits property details and requests a survey. Gazeal then contacts the seller directly and arranges an appointment with an accredited surveyor.
The subsequent report lists urgent and non-urgent work and has nine sections.
These are General Property Information; Material Information; Conveyancing Matters; Health and Safety; Risks to the Property; Environment, Climate and Renewables; General Photos of the Property; External Element Condition; and Internal Element Condition, Services and Grounds.
The report then goes to the seller and to potential buyers so they can offer knowing the home’s real condition.
When used with a Gazeal Reservation Agreement, the seller does not pay survey costs until completion: if the deal falls through, the seller doesn’t pay.
Gazeal has told Estate Agent Today: “The surveyor’s indemnity covers both buyer and seller.
“The seller is protected on what they disclose, and the buyer can rely on the findings with confidence.
“Neither side carries the risk alone, so buyers trust the survey instead of commissioning their own, and sellers share information without fear of comeback.”
The first to use the system is Cooper Adams, a three branch agency in the Brighton area.
It advertises the service this way: “We don’t wait for changes to become standard practice, we introduce them when they genuinely benefit our clients.”
It continues: “The survey is carried out before your home is launched and shared with genuinely interested buyers before they make an offer.
“Instead of making an offer first and finding out the property’s condition weeks later, buyers know exactly what they are buying from the very start.
“That creates better informed buyers, fewer surprises, fewer renegotiations and a much stronger sale.
“It’s the same principle that has been used successfully in Scotland for many years and supports the UK Government’s direction of providing buyers with more information before they make an offer.”
Last month the government revealed long term reforms involving agents and vendors providing key information upfront in ‘sales packs’.
These will set out a home’s conditions, leasehold costs, and chain status so buyers can make better informed decisions.
The government says there will also be a new earlier binding agreements “to stop parties walking away months into negotiations without a legitimate reason.”
In addition, there will be a new Code of Practice for estate agents alongside mandatory qualifications “which could ensure agents are properly equipped to support efficient transactions and rebuild trust in the sector.”
The government says the average home purchase is now taking around 120 days, one in three sales falling through costing sellers around £400 million per year, and failed transactions costing the economy up to £1.5 billion every year.
At the heart of the reforms is a major shift to digital, replacing paper-based systems.
Digital property logbooks and sales packs will allow information to be shared between professionals and accessed by buyers and sellers in real-time.
The government will also back digital identity checks, electronic signatures and AI-assisted conveyancing.
It says the aim is “to strip out duplication, reduce fraud risk and accelerate transactions from start to finish” and create “a modern, end-to-end system where people can track and progress their move more easily.”
