What the RICS Home Buying and Selling Reform Hub Means for Surveyors
The landscape of residential surveying is undergoing its most significant shift in decades. With the UK government’s consultation on home buying and selling reform closing late last year, RICS has released a comprehensive update via their Home Buying and Selling Reform Hub.
For surveyors, this isn't just "industry news"—it’s a fundamental change in how we work, who instructs us, and the technology we use. Here at Surventrix, we’ve broken down the key technical takeaways and RICS’s stance on what’s coming next.
1. The Shift to Upfront Information
The core of the government’s vision is a move toward upfront property information. The goal is to reduce transaction fall-throughs by providing buyers with a "Digital Property Pack" at the point of listing.
The Technical Challenge: RICS has been vocal about the role of professional expertise here. For example, current proposals suggest including "material information" like Japanese Knotweed in listings. RICS argues that without a professional surveyor’s input, such information can be misleading or "blight" a home unnecessarily.
Surveyor Impact: We may see a shift where the seller, rather than the buyer, becomes the primary instructor for a condition report. This raises questions about independence and the "duty of care" to the ultimate buyer—concerns RICS is currently addressing with the Ministry of Housing (MHCLG).
2. The 24-Month Implementation Rule
One of the most critical FAQs from the RICS update is the timeline. RICS has explicitly stated that a minimum 24-month implementation period is essential for any reforms involving upfront property condition information.
Why? To allow for industry capacity building, the development of new standards, and professional indemnity insurance (PII) adjustments.
Status: Currently, there is no primary legislation in place. However, a "Roadmap" is expected later this parliament.
3. Digitisation and the DPMSG
The Digital Property Market Steering Group (DPMSG), of which RICS is a founding member, is accelerating the adoption of digital standards. Two initiatives to watch:
Digital Property Information Protocol (DPIP): This seeks to define the data requirements for surveyors and other professionals to ensure we are all speaking the same digital language.
Smart Property Data Trust Framework: A "sandbox" project designed to create open standards for data sharing. For surveyors, this means your report data may eventually need to be "machine-readable" to plug into wider property logs.
4. Lessons from Scotland: The SME Perspective
RICS has highlighted concerns regarding the impact on SMEs and Sole Traders, citing the Scottish "Home Report" model as a cautionary tale. In Scotland, the move to upfront reports saw larger firms expand their market coverage, potentially squeezing smaller practices.
RICS is advocating for a model that protects the competitiveness of SMEs, ensuring that "upfront" doesn't mean "commoditised."
5. Standards and Insurance: The Status Quo (For Now)
Despite the talk of reform, the technical standard remains unchanged for now:
Home Survey Standard (HSS): RICS professionals must continue to follow the 1st edition of the HSS. While updates were consulted on in 2025, the current edition remains the effective standard.
PII (Professional Indemnity Insurance): Initial engagement with the insurance industry suggests that current PII options will likely be retained under the new proposals, provided the reforms bring about uniformity and clear regulation.
6. What About Valuations?
Interestingly, the current UK government proposals diverge from the Scottish model by excluding residential property valuations from the mandatory upfront information. RICS has challenged this, suggesting that an upfront condition assessment without a valuation provides an incomplete picture for the consumer.
The Surventrix Take: Preparing Your Practice
The RICS update makes one thing clear: Data and Digitisation are the twin pillars of future reform.
As the industry moves toward Digital Property Packs and "Smart Data" frameworks, having a robust, digital-first reporting platform is no longer a luxury, it's a requirement for survival. At Surventrix, we are already aligning our tools to ensure that when the "Roadmap" becomes reality, our surveyors are equipped with the data-compliant templates and efficient workflows needed to thrive in a seller-instructed market.
Stay Informed: We recommend all surveyors bookmark the RICS Home Buying and Selling Reform Hub and review the full FAQs to understand the potential impact on your specific region and business size.
Looking to future-proof your surveying firm? See how Surventrix handles digital property data today.