Scotland’s 18 years of experience with Home Reports suggest that upfront information can improve certainty, reduce late-stage surprises and become an everyday part of the transaction process.
As England and Wales prepare for their own reforms, Scotland offers a real-world case study of what works, what doesn’t, and why successful reform requires more than simply introducing yet another document.
In From Home Reports to reform: what both nations can teach each other, the latest episode of Landmark Talk’s Property’s ‘Cross-Border Conveyancing Chats’ series, hosts Liz Jarvis and Richard Hepburn compare notes from either side of the border.
Richard has watched Scotland’s Home Reports operate since they launched in December 2008; Liz has lived (and worked) through England’s initial attempt at a similar idea with Home Information Packs (HIPs), introduced in 2007 and abruptly scrapped in 2010. Between them, they map out what made upfront information work – and what got in the way.
Scotland’s reforms had sceptics too
It’s tempting to assume Scotland got this right the first time. It didn’t.
When Home Reports launched at the end of 2008 – requiring sellers to commission a pack before listing, including a single survey and valuation, an energy report and a property questionnaire – the market response was familiar: scepticism about cost, doubt that surveyors had the capacity, worry that listings would slow down, and uncertainty over whether lenders and consumers would actually trust the reports. The launch also landed in the middle of the 2008 recession, muddying the picture further.
“There was a lot of mixed views and a lot of scepticism about how it might land… I mean, the impact of the reports, people may have blamed things on the report which weren’t actually caused by the reports,” says Richard.
Turnaround times were an early problem as surveyors adjusted from condition surveys to full Home Reports. The seller’s property questionnaire – completed by the seller themselves – was inconsistent in quality. None of this was resolved overnight.
The turning point: making it part of the process, not a bolt-on
The single biggest factor in Scotland’s success wasn’t the report itself. It was 2015, when the Home Report was written into the Scottish Standard Missives – the standard sale and purchase contract – so the seller’s questionnaire had to be formally warranted as part of the deal.
As Richard says: “you’ve immediately then got a bridge across between what might just look like a kind of marketing information document and something which actually has a real purpose in the transaction.”
That’s the lesson Richard thinks England and Wales haven’t fully absorbed yet: it isn’t enough to produce a report. Every professional in the chain – conveyancers, agents, surveyors, lenders – has to adjust how they work around it. Reform succeeds as a system change, not simply the introduction of another document.
Why HIPs didn’t survive
Liz believes one of the biggest reasons HIPs failed is that they never had enough time to bed in. There was no cross-party political agreement, a phased rollout that started with four-bedroom-plus properties, and then a change of government before momentum built.
“Everybody agreed, nobody ever disagreed, with the concept of bringing information to the front of the transaction,” says Liz. “That was never the issue… It was really around allowing it to run for long enough for people to become more familiar with it.”
The difference this time, both agree, is that the current MHCLG reforms have cross-party backing and have gone through far broader industry consultation – which matters, because the alternative is repeating a two-decade-old mistake. The environment is also very different to 2007, with far greater emphasis on digital processes, collaboration and data sharing across the property sector.
The industry isn’t waiting for legislation
Perhaps the most practical takeaway from the episode is that Scotland’s experience argues strongly against a wait-and-see approach. Liz points to Project 28 – the cross-industry charter that Landmark Information Group co-founded, with OneSearch also among its members – as proof that the sector is already organising itself ahead of legislation, not after it.
The charter’s eight commitments are built around one headline ambition: bringing the average transaction down to 28 days. Landmark will mark the charter’s first year of operation with an anniversary panel event on September 10th in Central London.
As Liz says: “we really do not want to let the grass grow under our feet when there’s an inevitability around it… The sooner you get there, the better chance of success you have for winning market share.”
Legislation, as Richard puts it, tends to set the floor rather than drive the culture change. That thinking sits at the heart of initiatives such as Project 28, where firms are already exploring how earlier information, better-connected processes and greater collaboration can improve transaction certainty ahead of any proposed legislative change. Those already adapting their workflows are likely to be better prepared when the reforms arrive.
The takeaway
Asked for the one message every conveyancer or property professional should take from Scotland’s 18 years of experience, Liz didn’t hesitate:
“Build at the beginning, don’t try and rescue at the end.”
Liz Jarvis
Watch the full conversation now – From Home Reports to reform: what both nations can teach each other, episode 2 of Cross-Border Conveyancing Chats, for the complete discussion, including the myths still holding upfront information back in England and Wales.
Available on Spotify and YouTube.
Uncertainty isn’t new to the housing market, but in 2026 it feels closer to the surface.
Affordability pressures, shifting mortgage conditions, and broader economic headwinds mean buyers and sellers are hesitating for longer and thinking harder before committing.
That hesitation has a knock-on effect for conveyancers. Transactions take longer to progress, confidence can fluctuate mid-process, and the risk of late-stage disruption increases.
In a recent podcast conversation, OneSearch Managing Director Liz Jarvis was joined by Millar & Bryce Managing Director Richard Hepburn to explore how that uncertainty is showing up in today’s market, and why one factor matters more than most when it comes to keeping transactions on track: clear, upfront information about the property.
Confidence is built early, or it isn’t built at all.
When buyers feel uncertain – about affordability, their finances, or the property itself – they pause. And when transactions pause, momentum is lost.
As Liz puts it: “The biggest thing that drives the market is how confident people feel.”
For conveyancers, this makes the early stages of a transaction critical. The more unknowns that sit unresolved at the start, the greater the chance they resurface later as friction, delay, or a deal-breaker. Upfront information helps remove that uncertainty sooner, before emotional and financial investment deepens.
A slower market doesn’t automatically mean weaker transactions.
An important distinction worth holding onto: a quieter market doesn’t automatically mean poorer outcomes. As Liz notes, “What we’re seeing now is fewer buyers, but they’re committed buyers.”
Those still active are people who need to move, not casual browsers. That means transactions are often more likely to complete, but only if unexpected issues don’t surface late in the journey.
Time is where risk creeps in.
Longer transaction timelines give uncertainty more room to grow. The more time that passes between offer and completion, the more chance there is for circumstances to change, priorities to shift, or doubts to set in. In England and Wales, where extended timelines are already the norm, that window of vulnerability is wider than most.
Why upfront information matters now.
Upfront information isn’t about adding friction at the start of a transaction. It’s about helping buyers and sellers make informed decisions sooner, so they commit with confidence rather than assumptions.
Liz summarises it simply: “It’s allowing people to get access to information around the property… before they move further into the process.”
When clarity comes late, trust erodes quickly. When it comes early, transactions tend to feel calmer, more predictable, and more resilient.
If keeping transactions on track matters to your firm this year, the full conversation with Liz and Richard is worth twenty-five minutes of your time.
👉 Watch or listen here:
On the latest episode of Landmark Talks Property, we were joined by OneSearch Client Relationship Manager John Margett and Tom Lyes, Head of Legal at Armalytix, to take a deep dive into the complexities surrounding Source of Funds (SoF) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) guidance within the legal sector, particularly for conveyancing.
The conversation unpacks the crucial ‘golden triangle’ of technology, people, and processes, emphasising that all three must be harmoniously integrated and invested in for effective AML. Tom shares his perspective on how the residential property sector has notably adapted to tightening AML pressures, even setting a precedent for other industries. Looking ahead, the discussion touches on the future of AML, including reducing duplication, the continued evolution and wider adoption of technology, the potential of Open Finance, and the ultimate aim of making UK property a robustly defended hard target against illicit funds.
To watch the webinar which accompanies this audio podcast, please click here.
To listen to more Landmark Talks Property episodes on Spotify, click here.
To find out more on Armalytix please visit armalytix.com