The Moving Charter, founded by Novello
Faster sales. Fewer fall‑throughs. Fewer price reductions.
The Moving Charter brings estate agents, surveyors and solicitors together on one shared platform, with agreed standards and an agreed process. Homes are ready before they go on the market, and contracts go out the day an offer is agreed.
Our response
The Moving Charter
The Moving Charter is a collaborative group of estate agents, surveyors and solicitors, built around shared technology and an agreed way of working. It has one aim: completions that happen quicker, with fewer fall-throughs and fewer renegotiations.
It isn't another platform for agents to learn. It's professionals on both sides of the sale agreeing to work the same way, from the same information, to the same timetable. The surveyor and the solicitors start before the home goes on the market, so the buyer's side can start work the day an offer is agreed.
Estate agents
Surveyors
Seller's solicitors
Buyer's solicitors
One shared platform. One agreed process. One timetable.
What every member commits to
Estate agents: order the pack when they take an instruction, share information openly, keep everyone updated.
Surveyors: survey before listing, explain findings in plain English, and speak to the buyer.
Seller's solicitors: issue the contract pack the day an offer is agreed, and reply to enquiries within 48 hours.
Buyer's solicitors: work from the pack, and raise enquiries in clear rounds as information arrives.
Everyone: plain English, milestones updated within 24 hours, no surprises held back.
Membership is never exclusive. Buyers are always free to choose their own solicitor.
Founded by Novello, one of the UK's largest independent firms of RICS chartered surveyors. Gold, Supplier of the Year: Surveying Firm, The Negotiator Awards 2025.
The problem
Moving home takes longer than ever
Sales fail because information that existed all along arrives too late. Here's what the published data says.
154 days
Average time from sale agreed to completion in Great Britain.
Source: Rightmove, July 2026
216 days
Average time from listing to completion, the longest on record for the time of year.
Source: Rightmove, July 2026
+36 days
Slower than in 2019.
Source: Rightmove, July 2026
23.7%
Agreed sales that fell through in the first quarter of 2026.
Source: TwentyEA
38%
Of fall-throughs happen within four weeks of a sale being agreed.
Source: TwentyEA
98 days
Scotland, where more information is provided before a home is sold.
Source: Rightmove, July 2026
Different sources measure fall-throughs differently, so rates aren't directly comparable.
Branch Insights: preview
What agents told us
Before building anything, we sat down with estate agents across the country to hear what's really slowing sales. This is the first phase of Branch Insights, our research programme with agents.
- 1
Late information breaks sales. The facts that derail a sale usually existed from day one. They surface weeks after an offer, when the buyer has most reason to walk away.
- 2
Conveyancing is the main pain point. Management packs, seller forms, missing certificates and enquiries raised one at a time are where the weeks go.
- 3
Agents don't want more technology. They want the outcome: faster sales, fewer fall-throughs and fewer price reductions.
- 4
Price reductions after the survey are the frustration. Problems found late give buyers a reason to renegotiate at the worst possible moment.
- 5
It needs both sides. A well-prepared seller pack achieves little if the buyer's side starts again from scratch. It takes a trusted group working the same way.
“Time kills sales.”
“It's like having a car with an MOT and a full service history.”
“The timeframe is always inquiries and… people taking legal positions.”
“You can be waiting 2 or 3 weeks.”
How it works
Everything ready before the offer
Before the offer
- 1
Instruction
Day 1
Survey booked, solicitor instructed, management pack ordered.
- 2
Market ready
About 1 week
Survey and property facts confirmed. The listing goes live.
- 3
Upfront Ready
About 2 weeks
Title reviewed, seller forms signed, ID verified, contract drafted.
After the offer
- 1
Offer agreed
Day 0
Contract pack out, searches ordered.
- 2
Round 1
Days 1 to 5
Enquiries on everything already in the pack.
- 3
Round 2
When searches return
Enquiries on the search results.
- 4
Round 3
When the management pack returns
Leasehold only, and often avoided altogether.
- 5
Exchange
Our goal: within six weeks of the offer
The mortgage valuation and offer run alongside. Because the work starts at instruction, the usual waits happen before a buyer is found, not after.
Upfront Ready
Survey, legals and ID, done before you list
Agents book Upfront Ready. A home is Upfront Ready when everything a buyer's solicitor needs is already in place.
The Novello Upfront Survey. An independent RICS survey, done before listing, that the buyer can rely on and talk through with the surveyor.
Upfront Legals. Seller forms, title review and a draft contract from a Moving Charter solicitor.
Upfront ID. The seller's identity verified once, and shared with their solicitor.
Plus the title register and plan, the lease and management pack where needed, the EPC, and early search checks.
Our goal
Exchange within six weeks
That's what we're working towards on every sale. We're proving it now, with a founding working group of estate agents and solicitors who are shaping the process with us before it opens more widely.
In their words
The collaborative movement
"Novello have built their business on relationships and trust."
Filmed with estate agents and solicitors at Ladies' Day, Epsom.
Branch Insights 2027
We're visiting 1,000 branches
This winter our team is visiting 1,000 estate agency branches in person, asking every agent the same questions about what's slowing sales down. What we hear will shape the Moving Charter, and we'll publish the findings as Branch Insights 2027 and share them with every agent who took part.
If we call in, we'd love 15 minutes of your time.
Join us
Become a founding member
We're building the Moving Charter with the people who'll use it. Leave your details and we'll be in touch.
Or email hello@movingcharter.co.uk