A focus has been put upon the housing market. It is being considered that there should be a faster and less stressful process to buying a property. A review has been initiated by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid to get feedback from those in the housing market industry as to how to make buying a home more efficient and how to stop the act of “gazumping.”

Gazumping is a term given to the event when a seller has agreed to take an offer from a buyer, but they end up taking a higher offer from a new buyer. Not only is this process stressful for the buyers that are pushed aside by the higher offer buyer, but it could be another factor holding back first time buyers from climbing onto the property ladder. To fight gazumping there is a consideration to allow lock-in agreements that would shut out those last minute higher offer buyers. Such a move could put more confidence into the housing market.

Mr. Javid remarked, “Buying a home is one of life's largest investments, so if it goes wrong it can be costly. That's why we're determined to take action. We want to help everyone have a good quality home they can afford, and improving the process of buying and selling is part of delivering that.”

This review could complete too late for those seeking to take advantage of the current low interest rates being offered from lenders on mortgages and remortgages. There is strong talk of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voting to increase the standard base interest rate before the end of the year, and possibly at the start of November.