The reform starts at the listing. The pre-market starts before it.
The government’s plan would change what a seller must show once a home is advertised. It leaves the earlier question alone: are the buyers there?
open for offer lets you test the market before you list. Your home sits in the pre-market, buyers register interest, and nothing is advertised until you decide.
What the government has decided
In June the government set out how home buying in England and Wales would change.
The government has said that when parliamentary time allows it will legislate to require a sales pack before a home is listed, including searches and a property condition report.
Once an offer is accepted, it takes about 120 days on average to complete. On the government’s own figures, around one in three transactions fall through.
In polling the government cited when it consulted, no more than 2% of home movers believed they had enough information before they made an offer.
The plan comes in stages. Non-statutory listing guidance and a non-statutory code of practice for agents are due during 2026.
Legislation follows when parliamentary time allows, by the end of this Parliament. Binding contracts come last.
Where every reform begins
On our reading of the roadmap, each change starts at the listing or after it. The sales pack arrives when the home is advertised. The binding contract arrives after an offer.
That leaves the first decision untouched: whether to sell at all. A homeowner still has to advertise, with a board and a price, before learning whether anyone wants the house.
You can cut a price. You cannot un-list. Everyone who saw the advert has seen it.
The question before the listing
The pre-market answers that earlier question. Your home is on open for offer with no advert, no board and no asking price. Buyers register their interest in it.
The queue on the property page shows how much interest has come in, and when. No names and no messages. You decide whether to list with that count in front of you.
Built on the records the reform uses
An open for offer property page draws on public records: sold prices from HM Land Registry, the energy rating from the EPC register, and flood risk from the Environment Agency.
Your market estimate is your home’s last recorded sale, adjusted for how prices in your area have moved since, using HM Land Registry data.
A sales pack will go further than this: searches, a condition report and the legal title are a conveyancer’s and a surveyor’s work, not a data lookup.
What it costs
Searching, getting a market estimate and claiming your home cost nothing. Putting your home on the pre-market is £9.99 a month, with no minimum term. You cancel it yourself, online, from the billing portal.
What to watch before the year ends
The government’s Smart Data call for evidence, which covers property, closes on 1 October. The listing guidance and the agents’ code are promised later this year. We will report each one as it lands.
If you are weighing up a sale, find out whether the buyers are there first. Start with your market estimate.
Common questions
When do sales packs become compulsory?
Not yet. The government has said it will legislate when parliamentary time allows, by the end of this Parliament. Non-statutory guidance on what a listing should show is due during 2026.
Does the reform change what buyers can see about offers?
No. The roadmap covers property information, agent standards, digital identity and binding contracts. On our reading it requires no one to show the interest a home has attracted.
What does the queue on open for offer show?
How much interest a home has received and when it arrived. It shows no buyer names and no messages.