Three-quarters of homebuyers expect artificial intelligence (AI) to play a significant role in the buying process, but UK buyers want to feel more confident about the technology, research showed.
A global study by Cotality found that UK buyers had less trust in AI than their counterparts in the US and Canada.
Accuracy with property information
Buyers in the UK were seven percentage points less trusting in AI for property listings, with all respondents citing the potential for errors both with manual and AI listings.
Globally, 68% of buyers feel clear AI labelling should be available for property listings and mortgage recommendations, while 37% said this should be mandatory.
Cotality’s research suggested buyers wanted more control over how AI is used, with 46% saying it was not acceptable for lenders or insurers to use automated AI valuations without approval.
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Respondents were generally not tolerant of AI errors, with just 22% of Gen Z and 19% of millennials saying this was acceptable, compared to 11% of Gen X and 9% of boomers.
Just 7% of Gen Z buyers said they would accept AI-generated information on property risk and the impact on premiums, while millennials were more tolerant, with 12% open to this.
Michael Porter, SVP of international markets at Cotality, said: “AI is becoming more visible in how property and climate risk are assessed, including in home insurance, with one in five buyers assuming it is already used by insurers.
“Younger buyers are clearly more comfortable with AI being used to speed up tasks like securing legal assistance and home insurance, but the wider UK data shows that human expertise still plays a central role. This means insurers need to balance AI as a tool for enhancing risk assessment, without replacing human expertise.”
Jim Driver, managing director of Cotality UK, added: “AI offers a real opportunity to speed up the home buying journey, cutting months from what is often a slow and complex process in the UK.
“However, UK buyers don’t want AI-driven efficiency at the expense of accuracy or accountability. By combining AI with expert human oversight, the market can deliver faster, more seamless transactions that will benefit both buyers and lenders.”
Where buyers trust AI
Nearly half – 48% – of buyers said AI would be reliable when making fair lending decisions, but respondents still preferred human expertise.
Some 71% of buyers in the UK would choose human professionals over AI when seeking mortgage recommendations, 69% for legal assistance and half for home insurance.
Across all respondents globally, 56% would trust a person over AI when assessing natural disaster risk.
Respondents were open to using digital simulations to understand climate risk, but still wanted a human to help them make decisions. Some 48% of UK buyers said they would pay an additional fee to have climate risk verified by a human, compared to the global average response of 44%.
Amy Gromowski, head of data science at Cotality, said: “Homebuyers want the speed and scale of AI – but not at the expense of certainty.
“With AI adoption accelerating the home buying process in markets such as the United Kingdom and the United States, over seven million mortgages are originated annually – representing several trillion pounds in combined lending volume each year.”
She added: “If AI-powered workflows shorten time to close by just one to three months, lenders can pull forward billions in repayments, recycle capital more efficiently, and expand capacity without increasing headcount.”
AI already expected in home buying process
Cotality found that many buyers assumed AI was already part of the housing process, with 86% expecting the technology in property websites, 82% believing insurers used it, 80% expecting lenders to use AI, and 79% expecting brokers to use the technology.
Younger respondents were more likely to assume this, with just 70% of boomers expecting it in the process, compared to 84% of millennials and 81% of Gen Z.
As confidence in the home buying process has fallen from 83% last year to 72% today, younger buyers predict AI will resolve some of the issues found in transactions.
Half of Gen Z said the use of AI would make them feel more confident when buying a home, compared to two-fifths of millennials, a third of Gen X and 21% of boomers.
Gen Z also placed more importance on speed, with 46% saying this was needed during the legal process and 39% when seeking insurance.
Driver said: “What the UK data shows is that buyers are clear on where they want AI involved – and where they don’t.
“While nearly three-quarters of homebuyers globally want AI in the process, UK buyers still value human oversight. In a market where transactions are complex and drawn-out, that’s understandable. The industry’s opportunity is to use AI to speed up administrative parts of the process, while keeping buyers in control.”