TA6 Part 1 – up-front information for homebuyers
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Since the government’s call for evidence on improving the home-buying process in 2017, industry-wide initiatives are being set up to collect up-front information for homebuyers.
On 15 March 2021, for example, the Home Buying and Selling Group (HBSG) published the Buying and Selling Property Information (BASPI) dataset, which contains information from the current TA6 form, Property Information Questionnaire and the valuation summary.
Both BASPI and the TA6 Part 1 are examples of how the property industry can move forward together to improve the home-moving process.
Find out what the HBSG said about our pilot
What we've been doing
We’ve been working with the HBSG and our Conveyancing and Land Law Committee to make more information available to buyers at the point of listing.
Using technology, we plan to change how data is collected and used for property transactions. We believe that collecting information in this way can improve the system for all stakeholders and revolutionise the process.
We’re working with forms providers and software houses to seamlessly integrate the new form into the existing conveyancing workflow.
TA6
The current TA6 form contains crucial information relating to the sale of a property, covering areas such as:
- compliance with building and planning applications
- the supply of services
- flooding
- common parts shared with neighbours
- information relating to Japanese knotweed and septic tanks
Until now, this information was only collated post-offer, after a solicitor has been instructed. In TA6 Part 1, we’ve identified key early marketing information that can be provided up front.
After we launch TA6 Part 1, the TA6 will be known as “TA6 Part 2”.
TA6 Part 1
The information from the new form:
- will help inform buyers’ decisions before making an offer
- can be used to pre-populate answers to the current TA6
- will support an industry-wide move to start collecting up-front property information
Download the specimen form (PDF 1.27 MB)
We’re keen to hear your feedback on this new process. Email your questions to property@lawsociety.org.uk.
How it will work
TA6 Part 1 will be digital and free to use. However, it will only be available through our network of licensed providers.
Hard copies may be available upon request, depending on feedback from the beta test.
Beta test
Before the TA6 Part 1 goes live, we’re working with InfoTrack, Perfect Portal and Reapit, to test the new form so that we can ensure that it meets its objectives and supports the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s goal of improving the home-buying experience for all.
We’ll be regularly updating our members and the wider industry as we move through the phases of this exciting project, so stay tuned.
To find out more about the beta, contact InfoTrack at innovation@infotrack.co.uk.
Using BASPI
BASPI is ready to use. This dataset contains the information to complete the TA6, the Property Information Questionnaire and the valuation summary, to reduce extra enquiries and post-valuation queries.
Once completed, the BASPI:
- discloses the required upfront information about a property to potential buyers before making an offer
- is accessible to lenders
- can be sent to all parties with the memorandum of sale and the conveyancing due diligence section
- can be made available to the valuer before they make a valuation
Both TA6 Part 1 and BASPI will capture the information needed to complete the ‘full’ TA6 (TA6 Part 2).
We’ll be assessing BASPI’s equivalence to the TA6 for Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) purposes soon, and we’ll update members on the assessment outcome.
Once BASPI has been assessed as equivalent, CQS members may use it instead of the TA6.
See our list of equivalent forms
Working with the Home Buying and Selling Group
HSBG said: “It is fabulous for the industry that the Law Society have got behind the delivery of upfront information, which we know from other jurisdictions is the key to improving the home moving process and indeed the pilots already undertaken and services already being delivered within the England and Wales property industry and in Northern Ireland have shown that average timescales can be slashed by having all of the information available at the point of listing a property.
“The Law Society are participants in the Home Buying and Selling Group, including the Upfront Information Group, which published the BASPI earlier this year, and also the Conveyancing Task Force which manages the content of the BASPI [...] So their pilot for the delivery of the digital TA6 is a fantastic example of the delivery of the HBSG projects to improve the home moving process identified in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government report on their call for evidence in 2017. ”