What Surveyors Get Wrong About Home Buying & Selling Reform

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had - and listened in to - many conversations about the home buying and selling reforms. On Zoom calls, at roundtables, in LinkedIn threads, in the Surveyor Hub community, through voice notes, and in those honest moments where someone quietly admits, “I’m worried. What does this actually mean for us?”

And I understand why. Our profession has a long memory, and uncertainty makes people both scary and scared.

We remember HIPs, and for some, the trauma of that experience is resurfacing.
We remember how panel firms reshaped the flow of work.
We remember PII pressure, unclear guidance, and moments where it felt as if decisions about surveying were being made by people who didn’t really understand our world.
And even if we don’t remember, we’ve certainly heard the stories from others.

So when a new consultation appears - and the noise starts - “seller’s surveys”, “mandatory condition assessments”, “Scottish-style reports”, “standardisation”, “death of the SME” - it’s no surprise the old fears bubble up. These fears aren’t irrational; they’re remembered. And we should acknowledge how many people invested heavily for HIPs only to be left stranded.

But this is not what’s being proposed now.

When you strip everything back, the Government’s consultation is not asking for the things surveyors are currently panicking about. And if we don’t slow down and recognise that, we risk responding to a made-up version of the reform rather than what’s actually on the table.

What the Government Is Actually Consulting On

There are two separate pieces of work:

1. Material Information - what must be disclosed when a property is listed.

(This is already mandatory, and as residential surveyors, we should be familiar with it.)

2. Home Buying & Selling Reform - how to reduce fall-throughs and improve transparency.

They touch on things like upfront information, digital identity, standardised data, logbooks, search ordering, binding agreements and consumer understanding - but not new surveys, seller surveys, or a Scottish system.

And Then There’s the RICS HSS

Another layer to the confusion is that the RICS Home Survey Standard consultation has been happening at the same time. For many surveyors - especially SMEs - the two have become tangled together.

I hear comments like, “This could be the death of the SME,” and I understand that fear. I’ve even said it myself at times, especially when valuations and pricing are mentioned.

But the more I’ve read, listened, and spoken to people involved in both processes, the more I’ve realised these fears aren’t grounded in the proposals themselves. They’re grounded in the uncertainty of how everything might play out - and uncertainty is uncomfortable, particularly for independent surveyors who rely on reputation, relationships, community trust, and doing things well.

SMEs have unique strengths no consultation can erase. Clients value the personal service, the calm explanations, the local experience, and the reassurance of dealing with one person rather than a call centre. These are not things large firms can replicate easily - and reform is not trying to remove them.

Where the Confusion Is Coming From

Several issues are feeding the panic:

1. The Government consultation and RICS HSS are being blended together

They are separate. Completely separate. But they landed around the same time, so many surveyors are reading them as one giant reform package, as if the decisions are already made.

2. Commentary is moving faster than facts

People are reacting to LinkedIn interpretations, AI summaries, second-hand webinar quotes, quick-take blogs and others’ anxieties. Meanwhile, there is almost no up-to-date independent research into surveys. A perfectly valid consultation response is simply: “There needs to be independent research.”

3. Surveyors are out of touch with what consumers need

This is generalising, yes - but as someone who supports consumers, I see the gap clearly. Many surveyors are still providing professional advice that falls short of what clients need and expect in 2025. (If you are in any doubt how bad the system is, I urge you to listen to this episode of Your and Yours) That is not just about personal competence; it is also about the system, standards and guidance we have been given.

So What Are the Consultations Actually Trying to Achieve?

Material Information

The Material Information consultation is asking what should be provided upfront and how. It explicitly states:

“We are seeking views on how government-issued guidance can best support estate agents with their legal responsibility to provide potential buyers with relevant information (material information)… and how this guidance can improve consumers’ understanding of their role in ensuring key property information is available upfront.”

Surveyors know which issues cause delays, expense and worry - and much of this is discoverable before a surveyor even visits a property. This information can come from data scraping, EPC assessors, agents, management packs, or basic documents that sellers should already have.

If this is known early, isn’t it better that buyers see it upfront?

A surveyor’s role has always been to gather and review information, then use it to advise based on the client’s needs. There is absolutely a place for surveyors here - and in my view, the issue isn’t a shortage of work; it’s a skills gap.

Home Buying & Selling Reform

The Home Buying & Selling Reform consultation looks at the bigger picture: reducing fall-throughs by helping buyers understand more, earlier.

And in 2025, we have the technology to make real change.
The question is: what should that change look like?

Why do we show ID five times when secure digital identity exists?
Why can’t we have agreements that reduce uncertainty?
Why don’t we have legal packs ready to go, especially for leasehold?
And if we want accountability in the sector, how do we support property agents working in an industry with nearly 30% staff turnover? They deserve better training, not just criticism.

This reform is trying to fix structural issues surveyors have been calling out for years.

Buyers get vital information too late.
Surveyors get incomplete information and are forced into caveats.

The consultation is not anti-surveyor.
It is trying to solve the problems surveyors deal with daily.

Why It Matters That We Get This Right

Consultations give the surveying profession a chance to influence the future.
But only if we respond to what’s actually being proposed - not what we fear.

Responding in fear:

• weakens credibility
• risks pushing policymakers towards the wrong solutions
• reinforces the idea that surveyors resist change
• misses the opportunity to shape improvements that help clients

Clarity is essential.

The consultation does not propose a new type of survey.
It does not require a seller-commissioned report.
It does not define any format.
It does not introduce new liability.
It does not remove Level 2 or Level 3.

These fears are coming from the surveying profession, not from the consultation. We need to tune in to whose voices we are hearing.

Two Crucial Areas That Will Shape the Future for Surveyors

1. Lender response

The Material Information consultation references “price”, and to reach price, you need a valuation. The question is: do lenders want a Scottish-style system where valuations are transcribed? Many lenders don’t like transcriptions - and if they reject that model, it will significantly influence how work is instructed. 

2. RICS and the HSS

Many surveyors are deeply worried about the Home Survey Standard. But in context:
If we reduce our role to Levels 1, 2, and 3 and keep red-flagging issues that frustrate consumers, our relevance will diminish. We need a better standard — and joined-up thinking. Skills, expertise and contextual judgement all matter, and cannot be legislated into neat boxes.

Two Things I Encourage Every Surveyor to Do

1. Catch yourself when you jump from “consultation” to “future certainty.”
If you find yourself imagining a detailed future - catastrophic or rosy - pause. It is an interpretation, not a fact.

2. Ask: “What evidence is there for this?”
This really is like spotting misinformation.
Understand your job.
Understand why it matters.
And be honest about the problem the consultation is trying to solve.

A Personal Note

These thoughts come from my experience of over 20 years in surveying and supporting both consumers and surveyors. They’re simply my perspective - shared to open up discussion and encourage more voices to feed into the consultation.  The Government consultations on Home Buying and Selling Reform and Material Information are open until December 29th 2025.

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