Whitehall to protect home-buyers

A full-scale government review of the needs of house-buyers is to be launched by Hilary Armstrong, minister for local government and housing, next week. The aim is to go well beyond the promised protection against gazumping, and to investigate the needs of house-buyers for greater mortgage protection, and the role of solicitors and estate agents.

Ms Armstrong will be working together with Geoff Hoon, parliamentary secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Department, and Nigel Griffiths, parliamentary secretary at the Department of Trade and Industry, to create a package of reforms. The review team will track house-buyers through every stage of the process, looking for ways of making the process easier, more efficient and fairer.