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

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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.

^{By Elizabeth Jarvis, Managing Director, OneSearch}

I read recently about a term in psychology called the ‘normalisation of deviance’. It describes what happens when teams repeatedly encounter a problem, nothing catastrophic comes of it, and so the problem gradually becomes accepted as the norm.

The deviation from the standard becomes the standard.

It happens in conveyancing practices all the time, and search provider relationships are one of the most common places it takes root.

You chase an update. Nothing terrible happens. You chase again the next time. Still nothing terrible. After a while, chasing is just part of the process. The deviation – your provider not updating you proactively – has become normalised. And the energy you spend managing around it has become invisible, because it’s been absorbed into the rhythm of your working day.

This is what I’d call the ‘Cost of Quiet Stress’. And unlike the obvious costs in legal practice, things like missed deadlines, errors, complaints… it rarely appears on anyone’s radar because it never quite crosses the threshold that would force a response.

But it has a real impact; on your time, on your focus, on the cognitive load your team carries through every transaction. And if you’ve just completed our search provider scorecard, your results are partly a measure of how much of it you’ve been absorbing.

What each category is really measuring

Let me take you through the six categories – not just what the questions ask, but what the underlying scores are actually telling you.

Data accuracy: do you have a reason for confidence, or just an absence of evidence.

Low confidence in data accuracy doesn’t always mean you’ve experienced problems. More often it means you don’t have enough visibility into the process to be sure either way.

There’s an important distinction between a provider who hasn’t caused you a problem yet, and one who has systematic verification built into their process. The former gives you hope, the latter gives you grounds for confidence. If you can’t explain why you trust your provider’s data – if the honest answer is “we haven’t had issues” – that’s worth examining.

Turnaround times: is your confidence based on consistency or just recent luck?

A fast average turnaround is less valuable than a predictable one. What creates the Cost of Quiet Stress in this category isn’t the occasional delay – it’s the background uncertainty about whether you can plan around your provider when it matters.

Everyone talks about speed; the more useful question is reliability. If you scored well here, consider whether that’s based on a consistent pattern you could describe with confidence, or on the fact that it hasn’t been seriously tested recently.

Customer service: partner or supplier.

This is the framework I come back to most often.

Suppliers process orders. They respond to queries. They resolve problems when raised. Partners do all of that – and they anticipate, they flag, they stay in contact without being prompted. They treat your problem as their problem before you’ve had time to begin stressing over it.

The distinction is invisible when everything runs smoothly. It becomes very visible (not to mention very consequential) when something doesn’t.

Account management: the relationship that should exist but often doesn’t

Of all six categories, this is the one with the biggest gap between what firms typically experience and what they could reasonably expect.

Genuine account management means someone who knows your firm well enough to notice when something has changed; in your caseload, in your market, in the regulatory environment you’re operating in, and brings relevant information to you before you’ve had to ask.

If the only time you see your account manager’s name is on a Christmas card or an auto-renewal notice… you don’t have a relationship, you have a pen pal.

Search pack completeness: the risk that’s invisible until it isn’t

The normalisation of deviance is particularly acute here. Firms order what they’ve always ordered. Transactions complete. Nothing catastrophic happens. The assumption that the pack is appropriate hardens into habit, even as caseloads evolve and the landscape around specific transaction types changes.

A strong score here reflects active review – either by you, or prompted by a provider who flags relevant additions. A weaker score often reflects an assumption that hasn’t been examined recently.

Value and confidence: what is quiet stress actually costing you.

The final category gets closest to the real question. Not whether your provider is delivering to a minimum standard, but whether they’re giving you genuine confidence – the kind where you advise clients knowing the data behind you has been properly verified.

That confidence has a value that doesn’t appear on an Excel spreadsheet. Its absence shows up in extra checking, in slightly more cautious advice, in the cognitive overhead of holding a low-level background uncertainty through every transaction.

Across a full working week, across a full team, that overhead is not trivial.

The standard worth measuring against

To make this concrete, here’s a simple way to think about what you should be expecting versus what many firms have normalised:

 The ‘Cost of Quiet Stress’ lives in the gap between those two columns. It’s real, it’s cumulative, and it’s optional.

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What to do with your result

If your score was strong across the board – genuinely, not just in the absence of problems – the main thing is to keep asking the questions. Provider quality drifts. The firms who notice earliest are the ones who check periodically rather than assuming continuity.

If your score flagged gaps, particularly in data accuracy, account management, or customer service, those are worth a proper conversation. Not a presentation. An open chat around your specific situation – what you’re currently getting, what you’re not, and whether the gap is worth closing.

That’s what our search pack review is. Straight talking, no agenda beyond giving you a clearer picture.

The cost of quiet stress is real. But it’s also optional.

^{By Elizabeth Jarvis, Managing Director, OneSearch}

There’s a particular kind of underperformance that’s hard to see from the inside.

It doesn’t announce itself, and it doesn’t cause a catastrophic failure that forces a reckoning. It just accumulates, quietly, consistently, until it becomes the background noise of your working day. And then you stop hearing it.

After more than three decades in property search, I’ve had countless conversations with conveyancers who, after switching providers, said something like:

“I didn’t realise how much energy I was spending managing around them until I didn’t have to anymore.”

That’s the friction you stop noticing. Not because it goes away, because you absorb it.

Why the worst underperformance is the hardest to spot.

The providers most likely to cost firms time and confidence aren’t usually the ones who make obvious mistakes. Those are easy to act on.

The harder cases are providers who are mostly fine, who deliver reliably most of the time, who respond when chased, who process what they’re asked to process, but who don’t do the things that would make your working life meaningfully easier.

They don’t flag when something in a result looks inconsistent. They don’t proactively suggest a more appropriate product when a transaction warrants it. They don’t reach out when they haven’t heard from you. They don’t have a person who knows your firm, your caseload, the particular pressures of your market.

None of those omissions look like failures on an invoice. They show up as friction, in the extra ten minutes here, the nagging uncertainty there, the occasional moment when you wish you had someone to call who knew the context.

A real example worth considering.

We see cases where planning history in a local authority search has been correctly recorded but attached to a different property. Same street name, same numbering format, different location within the same council area. The data itself is accurate. The connection isn’t.

To a provider processing at volume, this kind of inconsistency is far too easy to miss; to a conveyancer advising a client on the basis of that planning history, it can mean rework, delay, and a difficult conversation at exactly the wrong moment in a transaction.

The question isn’t whether your current provider has made this kind of error. It’s whether they have the processes in place to catch it before it reaches you… and whether you’d know either way.

The problem with “it’s fine.”

In a busy office, “it’s fine” is a completely rational response to a provider who isn’t actively causing problems. You have enough genuine fires to deal with without manufacturing concerns about something that’s mostly working.

But mostly working and working well are meaningfully different things.

The gap between them tends to widen gradually, in ways that are easy to miss until you step back and look at the whole picture.

When did you last actively think about whether your search provider is the right one? Not in response to a specific problem, but as a considered question in its own right?

For most firms, the honest answer is: not recently. Possibly not ever.

That’s not a criticism. It’s just the reality of how these relationships tend to work. You make a choice – based on a recommendation, a price point, or simple inertia from whoever the firm used before – and then you get on with the work.

Let’s set a new baseline for what you should expect.

Your provider should have a genuine understanding of your caseload – not a vague sense of what kind of firm you are, but a working knowledge of the transaction types you oversee regularly, the local authority areas you operate in, the complications you most commonly encounter.

They should be telling you things you didn’t ask, not just answering the questions you raise, and when something goes wrong – because it will, sometimes, in any complex data-driven process – they should be on it before you’ve had to chase.

Not because it looks good. Because your time is too valuable to spend following up on things that should already be resolved.

An honest five minutes

Rather than take my word for it, do your own assessment.

We’ve put together a short scorecard – eighteen questions across six categories – that gives you an honest picture of where your current provider stands. It takes about five minutes. There’s no obligation attached to the result.

If your provider is doing well across the board, you’ll have more confidence in that than you probably have right now. And if there are gaps, you’ll know where they are – which is always more useful than a vague sense that something isn’t quite right.

The friction you’ve stopped noticing is still there. The only question is whether it has to be.

When we announced our partnership with Ladies of Law on International Women’s Day 2024, it felt like the start of something genuinely meaningful.

Two years on, we’re proud to say it has been exactly that… and the best is still to come.

From Bristol to Birmingham: how the Ladies of Law partnership has evolved

What started as a shared commitment to championing women in the legal profession has grown into something we’re truly proud of. From a sold-out networking evening in Bristol, to a memorable night at the Jam House in Birmingham marking our one-year anniversary, the Ladies of Law community has shown time and again just how much appetite there is for connection, celebration and honest conversation within the legal profession.

As OneSearch Business Development Manager Claire Slade reflected after the Birmingham event, the room was full of professionals at every stage of their careers, leaving with new connections and renewed energy. That says everything about what Ladies of Law represents.

A new chapter for Ladies of Law

Communities like this are only as strong as the people who lead them, and Ladies of Law has always been built on passion and purpose. We’re delighted to welcome Rebecca Bidwell as the new owner of Ladies of Law, taking the reins from founder Ella Watts who gave so much of herself to building this community from the ground up.

We couldn’t be more excited about what this next chapter holds for the community and for our partnership.

“When we first partnered with Ladies of Law two years ago, we knew we were joining something special. What Ella built from the ground up, a genuine community where women in law can connect, support each other and grow; something the profession has really needed. We’re delighted to continue that partnership under a new CEO, and we look forward to everything this next chapter will bring. At OneSearch, we believe that a stronger, more inclusive legal profession is good for everyone, and Ladies of Law is helping make that a reality.”
– Elizabeth Jarvis, Managing Director, OneSearch

“Taking on Ladies of Law feels like both a privilege and a responsibility. Ella created something truly special here; a community built on warmth, openness and a genuine desire to see women in law succeed. I’m committed to building on that foundation and taking the community to new places. OneSearch has been an incredible supportive Partner from day one, and I’m really excited about what we’ll do together in the months ahead. Watch this space.”
– Rebecca Bidwell, CEO, Ladies of Law

An exclusive offer for Ladies of Law members

To mark this new chapter, we want to give something back to the community that has given us so much over the past two years. That’s why we’re offering all Ladies of Law members a complimentary property search pack – including a regulated local authority search, a drainage and water search, and an environmental or climate change report powered by our parent company, Landmark^*.

It’s our way of saying thank you, and of introducing ourselves properly to any members who haven’t yet had the chance to work with us.

→ Claim your free search pack here

^{*Subject to terms and conditions.}

The conversation around upfront information is gathering pace.

The Government Home Buying and Selling Reform, industry collaboration and growing consumer expectations are all pointing towards a future where more property information is available earlier in the transaction process.

While the detail and timing of future reforms will continue to evolve, the direction of travel is becoming increasingly clear: better information, shared sooner, to support faster, more transparent and more certain property transactions.

For conveyancers, that presents an opportunity.

How can firms begin preparing for that future today while continuing to deliver efficient, informed and client-focused services?

That’s where Sales Pack Ready comes in.

Supporting better-informed transactions from the start

For many conveyancers, one of the biggest challenges in a transaction is dealing with issues that only emerge once a matter is already underway.

Whether it’s property-related risks, local considerations or information that triggers additional enquiries, late visibility can create delays, uncertainty and additional work for everyone involved.

Sales Pack Ready has been developed to help address that challenge.

By bringing together trusted property information at the earliest stage of a transaction, Sales Pack Ready helps conveyancers gain earlier visibility of important information and start transactions from a stronger foundation.

Why earlier information matters

The industry’s focus on upfront information is not simply about regulatory reform. It is about improving outcomes across the transaction chain.

Research referenced within HM Land Registry’s strategy identified that transaction fall-throughs cost sellers around £400 million every year across England and Wales.

While no single solution can eliminate every delay or failed transaction, the earlier key information is available, the greater the opportunity to identify issues sooner, support better informed decisions and reduce unnecessary surprises later in the process.

For conveyancers, that can mean more productive conversations with clients, earlier risk identification and greater confidence as transactions progress.

Designed for conveyancers

Sales Pack Ready helps conveyancers access trusted property information at the outset of a transaction, supporting a more informed approach from instruction onwards.

Benefits include:

• Earlier visibility of property-related issues and constraints
• Better-informed client conversations from the beginning
• Reduced reliance on information emerging later in the process
• Improved transaction readiness
• Greater confidence when progressing matters

Rather than changing the way conveyancers work, Sales Pack Ready is designed to help firms start with more information already available.

What’s included?

Sales Pack Ready brings together a bundle of trusted property information, including:

• Regulated Local Search
• Drainage & Water Search
• Homecheck Residential Report

Together, these provide an early view of potential risks, constraints and considerations that could affect a property transaction.

Supporting better collaboration across the transaction chain

While conveyancers are at the heart of the transaction process, the benefits of earlier information extend beyond the legal profession.

Estate agents can help sellers bring properties to market in a more informed and prepared position. Buyers gain greater transparency earlier in the process. Lenders and brokers can access important property insights sooner.

By helping make trusted property information available from the outset, Sales Pack Ready supports a more connected and collaborative approach across the transaction chain.

Why act now?

The move towards greater use of upfront information will be gradual, but the advantages of earlier access to trusted property information are relevant today.

At OneSearch, we believe that when innovation can help improve outcomes for conveyancers and their clients, it should be made available as early as possible. This gives firms time to understand emerging approaches, assess how they fit within existing processes and adopt change at a pace that works for them.

Sales Pack Ready provides a practical way to begin that journey today while preparing for the future direction of the property market.

A market ready for change

Rob Steadman, Sales Director, said:

“The industry’s ambition is clear: faster, more transparent and more certain property transactions. Achieving that starts with improving the availability of trusted information at the beginning of the process.

Sales Pack Ready helps conveyancers and property professionals take practical steps towards that future today. By bringing key property information together earlier, we’re helping firms become better prepared while supporting the direction of travel set by both industry and Government.“

Looking ahead

The move towards greater use of upfront information will not happen overnight.

However, momentum behind the Government Home Buying and Selling Reform continues to grow, and firms are already considering how they can adapt to changing expectations and evolving ways of working.

Sales Pack Ready offers a practical way for firms to begin preparing today while building confidence for the future.

As the market continues to evolve, OneSearch will remain a trusted partner to conveyancers, helping firms understand upcoming changes, adapt with confidence and realise the benefits of earlier access to trusted property information.

Find out more

Ready to take a more informed approach from instruction?

Speak to your Account Manager or contact the OneSearch team to learn more about how Sales Pack Ready can support your firm.

As a trusted partner to conveyancers, we’re here to help you prepare for and benefit from the opportunities created by the Government Home Buying and Selling Reform.

Landmark’s Q2 2026 Residential Property Trends Report shows a market that remains stable but restrained, with healthy stock levels helping to support activity while lower transaction volumes continue to point to a longer-term challenge for the sector.

While year-on-year comparisons are measured against an unusually strong 2025 baseline shaped by the Stamp Duty Land Tax deadline in March 2025, the data also highlights how affordability pressures and wider uncertainty are continuing to weigh on momentum.

In England and Wales, new property listings across Q2 were only marginally below last year at just 1% compared with Q2 2025, suggesting supply remains broadly steady. Encouragingly, June recorded the highest level of sold subject to contract (SSTC) volumes so far this year and finished just 4% below June 2025, despite Q2 SSTC volumes sitting 7% lower year-on-year.

Scotland saw a softer quarter, with listing volumes averaging 9% below Q2 2025. Sold subject to missives (SSTM) volumes were down 6% and completions were down 5% compared with Q2 2025, while registered sales in April and May were 3% lower year-on-year. Search activity remained broadly flat, suggesting activity has not withdrawn completely but is progressing at a more subdued pace.

Search order volumes in England and Wales were down 8% compared with Q2 2025, with activity peaking in March (up 15% YoY) before easing through the quarter rather than following the usual seasonal uplift. Viewed alongside resilient instruction volumes, this suggests buyers remain active but are taking longer to progress transactions as affordability pressures and market uncertainty influence confidence and decision-making.

Across both markets, the data points to underlying activity remaining present, but at more subdued levels and at a cautious pace. In Scotland, the Scottish Government’s first-time buyer support scheme could provide some impetus from Q4. However, lower transaction volumes remain a longer-term trend overall, reinforcing the need to address the friction and uncertainty that can slow progress from agreed sale to completion.

Longer transaction times continue to reinforce the need for greater speed, transparency and certainty across the homebuying and selling process in England and Wales.

Simon Brown, CEO, Landmark Information Group, said

“Our data for Q3 2026 demonstrates that the market remains resilient despite a challenging backdrop. Healthy stock levels and strengthening transaction pipelines show the appetite to move is still there, but affordability pressures and wider uncertainty are influencing how quickly buyers are progressing through the transaction process.”

“While Government and industry cannot control wider economic conditions, we can address the friction and uncertainty within the transaction process itself. As homebuying and selling reform progresses, the focus must be on creating a more transparent and predictable experience, in continued partnership with the sector, that gives consumers greater confidence to move. The data reinforces the need for a more connected homebuying and selling process, where better collaboration and the seamless flow of information help reduce delays, improve certainty and keep transactions progressing, regardless of wider market conditions.”

Read the full Q2 2026 Residential Property Trends Report for England & Wales here.

Learn more about the Project 28 Charter and the industry-wide commitment to faster, more certain property transactions here.