The home-moving process is once again the subject of proposed reform. Upfront information, digitisation, professional standards and greater transparency are all being presented as ways to make transactions faster and more dependable. None of these ideas is wrong. The difficulty is that reform is still too often designed from the perspective of one profession, one commercial or government interest, or one part of the process.
Conveyancers focus on legal risk, professional duties and the quality of the information they receive. Estate agents concentrate on preparing, marketing and progressing the sale. Brokers and lenders view the transaction through affordability, lending criteria and financial risk. Technology companies usually begin with the particular stage or profession their product was designed to serve. Each perspective is valid, but none represents the whole move.
The consumer is not experiencing a series of separate services. They are trying to complete one transaction involving several independent businesses, each working in different systems and often from a different version of events. Improving one part while leaving the connections between them unchanged will not deliver meaningful reform. Both the problem and the solution require a holistic approach.
Upfront information must be more than additional forms
The phrase "upfront information" has been used so often that it risks becoming meaningless. It can sound as though the answer is simply to ask sellers more questions, collect more data and place more documents online before a buyer is found.
Information is only useful when it is accurate, relevant and interpreted by the right professional. A seller may need guidance when completing important property information. A buyer may receive title documents, covenants or search results but still need legal advice to understand what they mean.
Upfront information should not be presented as a replacement for the conveyancer. Properly prepared information makes early legal involvement more valuable. It gives the solicitor a stronger starting point, allows concerns to be identified sooner and reduces the amount of basic information gathering left until a buyer is already waiting. Conveyancers should not be expected to provide that advice for free. If their expertise is needed earlier, it should be recognised and paid for properly.
The problem is fragmentation, not a lack of technology
Most property professionals already use technology. Conveyancers have case-management systems, estate agents have CRMs, brokers have sourcing and application platforms, and lenders operate their own systems. The problem is that each part of the transaction has digitised separately. Documents, data, communication and progress remain spread across platforms that were never designed to operate as one transaction. Buyers and sellers receive fragmented updates, while professionals spend time requesting information that may already exist elsewhere.
Building another system for one profession risks adding another layer to the problem. The industry does not need conveyancers, estate agents, lenders or government to build competing versions of the same transaction. It needs shared infrastructure that connects the people already involved.
Nor does it need platforms that depend on a patchwork of third-party CRMs and applications before they become useful.
An integration-led platform may appear connected, but it often requires firms to have the right software, purchase additional licences, pay integration or API costs, manage several suppliers and rely on systems over which the platform provider has no control. If only selected CRMs or applications are supported, it cannot provide whole-of-market access.
Each additional integration also creates another point of failure. A supplier can change its pricing, restrict access, update its software or discontinue a service. Data may be duplicated across systems, updates may not synchronise correctly and responsibility becomes unclear when something goes wrong. A platform that only works for businesses using approved technology or heavily relies on other third party technology does not connect the market. It creates another closed ecosystem within it. So the saying "buyer beware" has never been truer - or in this case, buyer, seller, agent, solicitor and broker/lender.
Shared infrastructure should be available to every authorised participant from the moment they register, regardless of which internal systems their firm already uses.
Transparency must respect confidentiality
Calls for greater transparency also require care. Solicitors and licensed conveyancers have professional duties of confidentiality. Mortgage information, legal advice, personal circumstances and private communications cannot simply be made visible to everyone in the chain. But confidentiality should not mean that the transaction itself remains hidden.
There is a clear difference between sharing private information and sharing appropriate progress. Participants can be told that a stage has been completed, an action remains outstanding or a delay is affecting the timetable without exposing the confidential details behind it. The answer is not unrestricted access. It is role-based visibility, controlled permissions and a clear distinction between what should be shared and what must remain private.
No profession can solve the whole transaction alone
The estate agent is often involved first and has an important role in preparing the seller and assessing the buyer. The seller's solicitor must provide legal guidance and prepare the legal information. The buyer's solicitor must investigate the property and protect their client. The broker and lender must establish whether the purchase can be financed. Search providers, surveyors, buyers and sellers also contribute information and decisions on which the move depends. No single profession can take control of the entire process without overlooking the responsibilities and needs of the others.
The solution must therefore be shaped around the transaction as a whole. It must preserve professional independence while allowing appropriate information and progress to move between the people involved. That does not mean every firm must abandon its existing systems. Those systems can continue to manage the specialist work they were designed for. What is missing is the shared layer between them.
Where the Moving Hub fits
WiggyWam's Moving Hub has been designed around the whole home-moving transaction rather than one profession's part of it. We spent years analyzing the different industries and professions, analyzing the problems from every perspective and developed the solution based on this strategic, holistic approach.
The Seller's Pack allows preparation to begin before a buyer is waiting. Guided Smart Forms, supporting documents, Material Information and essential property searches are brought together in one structured process. The seller receives guidance, while authorised agents and solicitors can identify missing information and potential concerns earlier.
Our Straight Fact Packs are produced by regulated independent search providers with specialist local knowledge and access to every local authority across England and Wales. They combine the Title Plan and Title Register with regulated Local Authority, Drainage and Water, and Environmental reports. These reports can identify matters involving ownership, rights, restrictions, planning, building regulations, drainage, flooding, contaminated land and ground stability. They do not replace the solicitor's judgement. They give the instructed solicitor a more informed starting point from which to investigate further and raise any additional enquiries required.
Once a buyer is found, that preparation carries forward into the live transaction. Property Workspaces connect authorised participants around appropriate tasks, milestones, updates and documents. Role-based dashboards allow each person to see what is relevant to them, while confidential legal, financial and personal information remains protected.
The Moving Hub does not require an estate agent, solicitor or broker to use a particular CRM or purchase a collection of additional applications. It does not depend on every firm having compatible technology before the transaction can be connected. Users register, log in and begin working within the shared transaction environment. Their existing CRM, case-management or mortgage systems can continue to manage their specialist internal work. The Moving Hub provides the independent layer through which the people involved in the transaction can prepare, communicate and see appropriate progress. Other platforms may connect selected systems. The Moving Hub connects the people responsible for completing the move.
It does not ask agents to become lawyers or conveyancers to become transaction managers for everyone else. It allows each professional to retain their independence and expertise while contributing to one more organised and visible transaction.
Reform must be built by the whole industry
Government should listen to experienced conveyancers, estate agents, brokers, search professionals and consumers. Those working at the front line understand where delay, duplication and risk are created. But reform cannot remain a closed conversation dominated by one profession, a small number of established suppliers, organisations or self appointed "industry influencers" already closest to government. Credible alternatives must be allowed to be seen, tested and judged.
That principle sits at the heart of the Maverick Movement. It brings together high-calibre professionals who are willing to challenge poor practice while respecting the expertise and independence of others. They are not waiting for another roadmap to confirm that the system is fragmented. They see the consequences every day. Home moving will not be fixed by conveyancers alone, estate agents alone, lenders alone, technology companies alone or government alone.
IT WILL BE FIXED WHEN THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE SAME TRANSACTION FINALLY BEGIN WORKING AS ONE CONNECTED TEAM!
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