EXPERTS have shared the hidden reasons that buying a home still takes so long in 2026 – and how it can be fixed.
The homebuying process has been described as one of the most stressful financial experiences many people will ever face, with buyers often forced to juggle multiple companies, repeat the same information and chase updates throughout the transaction.
From estate agents and mortgage brokers to lenders, solicitors and surveyors, experts say too many parts of the process still operate independently, creating unnecessary delays, duplicated administration and uncertainty for buyers.
Industry figures said the solution lies in joining up the homebuying journey, with better technology, greater transparency and more upfront preparation helping consumers spend less time chasing paperwork and more time looking forward to moving into their new home.
Babek Ismayil, CEO at homebuying platform OneDome, said “the home buying process is still far too fragmented”.
He added: “Whether you’re buying your first home or moving to the next, you’re expected to juggle estate agents, mortgage advisers, lenders, conveyancers, and surveyors, all working across different systems. That creates unnecessary delays, duplicated admin, and leaves people chasing for updates instead of focusing on their move.
“For many buyers and home movers, the biggest frustration isn’t just the complexity of the process, it’s the lack of transparency. Too often people don’t know what’s happening next, who’s waiting for what, or where things stand, which adds unnecessary stress to what should be an exciting milestone. We believe buying or moving home should be simpler, more transparent, and far better connected.”
Ismayil says the fragmented nature of the property market is why he built his platform, OneDome, so that buyers don’t have to manage multiple providers and platforms themselves.
He continued: “By bringing the key stages together in one place, buyers and movers have greater visibility throughout the process, spend less time chasing updates, and have more confidence in what’s happening at every stage.
“Buying a home will probably never be completely stress free, but it should be a far more straightforward and joined up experience than it is today.”
Fragmented
Evren Ergin, Founder And Developer at ValuQ, said the current property system is too slow.
He added: “Streamlining the buyer is the easy half. Order the searches, book the survey and the mortgage valuation in week one, and yes, you are ahead.
“But you have optimised the runner who was never the problem. The delay lives on the seller’s side, and we ask for it last. Most sellers do not fill in their property information forms until they are already under offer.
“The leasehold management pack, which can take four to six weeks and sometimes three months, cannot even be ordered until there is a buyer to order it for.
“The buyer’s head start is spent waiting on paperwork nobody has begun. It is a dance of two parties. The fastest buyer in Britain still completes at the pace of the seller’s slowest form.
“The fix is sequence. Fill the forms, gather the title, order the pack before the board goes up, not after the offer arrives. The information exists on day one. We ask for it on day 90. A sale is not slow because the buyer is slow. It is slow because we tell the seller to start last.”
Matt Coulson, Founder at Rickmansworth-based Heron Financial, said the problem is that each part of the process does not benefit from information being shared.
He added: “Most of the delay in buying a home sits in the hand-offs between the parties, each starting from scratch.
“Estate agent, broker, lender, solicitor and surveyor rarely share a view of the case, so the same ID and bank statements are requested over and over, and seller-side work like leasehold packs only begins after an offer, adding weeks.
“The instinct is to throw technology at this, but you cannot automate a broken process into a good one. Bolt an app onto a fragmented chain and you just get a faster fragmented chain. The real fix is structural: gather and verify the information once, before an offer is accepted, so every party builds on it rather than re-keying it.
“In our own business, connecting the parties and removing that duplication did more for speed than any single piece of software.
“The longer-term prize is a joined-up journey where your verified details follow you from property to mortgage to legal and survey. AI can help deliver that, but only on a process redesigned first.”
Long process
Michelle Lawson, Director at Fareham-based Lawson Financial, said technology does not necessarily help.
She added: “Nothing is joined up in the property industry. We have more technology than ever before yet the slowest transaction times. There is a lot of duplication and many borrowers are left disorganised and unsure of what to do next.
“Seeking advice and support from qualified individuals at the earliest opportunity will ensure that people get the right guidance which helps with a smoother transaction.
“However, there are many anomalies and complexities along the way. Work is under way with the Open Property Data Association to join this all up together and make a much more streamlined process from start to finish.”
Chris Barry, Director at London-based Thomas Legal, said you need to be legally prepared.
He added: “The property buying process in the UK is one of the longest processes in the world. The longer the process, the more chance of something going wrong and not reaching completion altogether.
“While some properties are easier, and faster, to transact than others, for example buying a freehold property is typically less complicated than a leasehold or share of freehold property, the key is to get legally prepared.
“When purchasing, you will be asked to complete anti-money laundering checks with your estate agent, mortgage broker and lawyer.
“Gathering evidence that your deposit has been built up from a legitimate source can often take time, especially if you are receiving a gift from friends or family. Going through this process prior to your property search can certainly save delays later in the process.
“Getting the right professional team around you and doing your research on who has the capacity and capability to support consistently over what can be a five-month process.”
Stressful
Nouran Moustafa, Practice Principal & IFA at Roxton Wealth, said too much time is lost chasing updates.
She added: “The biggest delays usually come from poor preparation and fragmented communication. Buyers often start viewing before their finances, deposit evidence, ID checks and mortgage documents are ready, while solicitors, agents, lenders and surveyors all work on separate systems and repeatedly request the same information.
“The best way to make the process smoother is to prepare the full evidence pack before an offer is accepted, instruct a solicitor early, respond quickly and keep one clear timeline showing who is waiting for what.
“Buyers should also avoid changing jobs, taking new credit or moving large sums of money without explanation during the application. The process could be transformed by shared digital case tracking, standardised property information upfront and clearer accountability.
“Too much time is lost chasing updates that should already be visible. Buying a home will never be completely stress-free, but it should not feel like managing five disconnected businesses at once.”
Paul Denley, CEO at London-based Oakham Wealth Management, said it would be easier if work was front loaded.
He added: “Buying a home feels stressful because the transaction has too many moving parts and no single person truly owns the process. Chains, slow legal enquiries, mortgage underwriting, and repeated identity and income checks all create avoidable delays, while buyers are left chasing updates with little visibility of what’s actually happening.
“The biggest improvement would be to front load the work. Sellers should have legal packs, searches and property information ready before listing, while secure digital identity should mean buyers provide their details once, not five times.
“Better technology would help, but the real prize is transparency. If everyone can see exactly where a purchase has reached, what’s outstanding and who is responsible for the next step, frustration falls dramatically – even when some delays are genuinely unavoidable.”
