The UK's tech prowess urgently needs to filter into the tech and digitisation of the home buying and selling - Comment on the Autumn Statement from Maria Harris at the OPDA

23 November 2023

Maria Harris, Chair of OPDA, says “There was little in the Autumn Statement that will help the housing market to operate more smoothly or speed up transactions. Although we will need to look in detail at the 110 growth measures mentioned by the Chancellor.

“While we welcome the measures to speed up planning turnaround times, we need a focus on more than just planning; more important are the times from someone putting in an offer on a home to completion. While any measures to increase the supply of housing is welcome, this just brings more people into a broken housing market. The Chancellor stated that the UK’s tech sector has grown to become the third largest in the world, this needs to filter through urgently into the tech and digitisation of the home buying and selling process where all key data is held centrally and can be accessed easily and quickly by every relevant party. These changes can’t come soon enough.”