Ask most estate agents what the next year holds and you tend to hear caution: higher costs, nervous buyers, a smaller market. New research from Jackson-Stops points the other way. It estimates homebuying reform could bring more than 260,000 extra homes to market within a year, and over 700,000 within three, as faster and more certain transactions cut the fall-through rate from around one in three to one in seven. For agents, that is a rare thing: a market that could grow rather than shrink.
The extra instructions will not be shared evenly. They will go to the agencies that can list fastest, price on evidence and front-load the information that keeps a chain together. Underneath, being that agency is a data problem.
This article sets out how large the opportunity is, why readiness comes down to data, and how the Propalt AI property data layer helps you win your share.
How many extra instructions could homebuying reform create?
Up to 260,000 within a year, on Jackson-Stops' figures, and more than 700,000 over three years. Its Housing Mobility Report argues that uncertainty over transaction times is holding back movers who would otherwise list.
The context is a market where moving is slow and risky. The average purchase takes around 120 days from offer acceptance to completion, and around one in three transactions falls through, costing sellers roughly £400m a year and the wider economy up to £1.5bn. The government roadmap attacks that friction through sales packs provided upfront, earlier binding agreements, digital tools and a new Code of Practice for agents. Reduce the friction and some of the people currently sitting tight will move.
Why winning the extra instructions is a data problem
Because the vendor now chooses on readiness, not charm. Three things decide who gets the instruction and keeps it to completion, and all three run on data.
- The appraisal has to hold up. Win the instruction with an evidence-based appraisal and you also avoid the down-valuation that stalls a sale weeks later. That needs comparable and sold-price data at the appraisal, not a guess.
- The listing has to go live fast and complete. Reform pushes material information to the point of listing, so tenure, energy and property facts have to be gathered before you go live, not during conveyancing.
- The pitch has to be credible. Vendors back the agent who knows their street. Local market data turns a sales pitch into a briefing.
Assemble all of that by hand, per property, across the Land Registry, the local authority and the EPC register, and you are slower than the agent who has it in one place. Speed and evidence are where instructions are won and lost.
How Propalt AI helps you win more instructions
Propalt AI is a property data layer delivered through a UK property market data API. A single address lookup returns the data behind a confident appraisal and a fast, compliant listing. It maps onto exactly what winning an instruction now requires:
| To win and keep the instruction you need | What Propalt AI supplies |
| An evidence-based appraisal the vendor trusts | Comparable and Land Registry sold prices, price per square metre, time to sell, and an automated valuation (AVM). |
| A fast, complete listing | Verified property facts from one lookup: tenure, EPC fabric and construction, and planning application history. |
| A credible local-market pitch | Regional market analysis by outward code, covering property mix, energy costs and dwelling counts. |
An API means the same data is on hand at the moments that decide an instruction: the appraisal, the listing, the pitch. The appraisal is grounded in comparable evidence, the listing carries its facts from the start, and fewer chains break because the awkward details were known early rather than late.
For an agency, that is the difference between chasing the extra instructions and being ready for them. In a market that could grow by hundreds of thousands of instructions, the edge sits with the agents who work from evidence rather than assumption.
See how Propalt supports estate agents and conveyancers, or read our companion piece on material information and the reform roadmap.
📌 KEY TAKEAWAY
On Jackson-Stops' figures, homebuying reform could bring more than 260,000 extra homes to market in a year. Those instructions will favour agencies that price on evidence, list quickly and know a property's facts early. Each of those depends on reliable property data, which is what Propalt AI provides.
Sources
—Property Industry Eye (July 2026): Homebuying reforms could unlock 260,000 extra instructions —PropertyWire (2026): Process reforms could release 260,000 homes to market —GOV.UK (June 2026): Homebuying shake-up to slash delays, cut costs and stop sales falling through —GOV.UK (June 2026): Home Buying and Selling Reform Roadmap —Propertymark (June 2026): Faster moves, fewer fall throughs, the UK Government plan to fix home sales
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