- Home
- For estate agents
- The 2026 reform roadmap
Policy
The home buying and selling reform roadmap
Phased, running to the end of this Parliament, and pointing squarely at upfront information. Here is what is guidance today, what becomes law later, and what to do in the meantime.
What the roadmap is
The Government published a roadmap for reforming home buying and selling in England, following its consultation on the subject. It is a phased plan rather than a single piece of legislation, and it runs to the end of the current Parliament.
The consistent thread through every phase is the same: move information earlier in the transaction, standardise it, and make it digital.
The phases
| Phase | Roughly when | What it involves |
|---|---|---|
| Now | 2026 | Guidance on material information in listings. Voluntary work with industry to define what a sales pack should contain. A non-statutory Code of Practice setting minimum standards. |
| Next | 2027–2028 | An advisory Charter for property professionals. Consultation on mandatory qualifications for estate agents. Defining the penalty framework for non-compliance. |
| Future | Subject to Parliamentary time | Legislation requiring sales packs as standard, digital data standards, digital logbooks, and measures addressing binding contracts earlier in the process. |
This is a summary of a policy document that will evolve as consultations conclude. The current position is published on GOV.UK under 'Home buying and selling reform'. Verify there before making a compliance decision.
What a sales pack is expected to contain
The indicative content set published alongside the roadmap covers the things that currently surface late and cause transactions to fail:
- Property searches — the legal and title information
- Property condition information
- Tenure detail, including leasehold terms
- Planning and building control records
- Flood risk
- Service charge and ground rent where applicable
- Accessibility information
Read that list next to what an agent already has to disclose as material information and the overlap is nearly total. The reform is not asking for something new so much as asking for it earlier, and in a standard shape.
Who is responsible for what
The roadmap keeps overall responsibility with the seller, while expecting the relevant professionals to gather and verify — conveyancers for legal information, agents for the marketing disclosure.
For agents, this is the practical point. You are not being asked to become a conveyancer. You are being asked to ensure the information on the listing is accurate and sourced, which means having a reliable supply of property data at the point of instruction.
The fair objection, and the answer
Industry bodies have argued the reforms risk placing unrealistic burdens on agents without shared professional responsibility and proper digital infrastructure behind them. That is a reasonable point and it is being made in the consultations.
But the burden argument cuts both ways. An agent who has the data at instruction spends less time managing a collapsing chain, not more. The burden is front-loaded, not added.
What to do now
- Audit your last twenty listings against the Part C list. Count how many you could evidence.
- Decide where each item will come from — seller, agent inspection, or search data.
- Standardise it, so the process does not vary by negotiator.
- Start ordering data-based items at instruction on your next few properties and see what it does to your fall-through rate.
- Talk to the solicitors you refer to. If the pack is one they can use, everybody gains.
Questions
Questions
Is any of this law yet?
The material information duty is law now, under consumer protection legislation. The sales pack requirement is not — it is expected to come through legislation later in the Parliament. The practical effect is that the disclosure obligation already binds you, while the standardised pack is coming.
Will sales packs be mandatory?
That is the stated intention, subject to Parliamentary time. The roadmap commits to legislating to require sales packs and digital property packs as standard, and to mandate minimum standardised data for both.
Does this apply in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland?
The roadmap covers England. Scotland already operates a Home Report system. Wales and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements. Consumer protection law applies across the UK regardless.
Get ahead of the roadmap now.
Upfront packs are available today. The firms doing them already will not be scrambling later.
Or call 0151 652 4184 — telephone support seven days a week