The Sunday Telegraph says housing minister Hilary Armstrong will unveil proposals on Monday designed to get lenders to process 80% of mortgages within two days.

One of the aims is to avoid the chance of "gazumping" - the practice of vendors pulling out of sales after being offered more by other bidders.

There are also plans to provide prospective buyers with more information at the window-shopping stage.

Critics say the plans would put the financial burden on the vendor

Under the new proposals vendors would be expected to carry out searches, obtain copies of the title deeds and answer legal questions about the property at their own expense before putting their homes on the market.

Going, going, gone

The idea is that all the documentation would be ready so the sale could go through quickly once a price is agreed.

One idea is for all homes to have log books, similar to those giving a car's mechanical history, which would list all building, plumbing and electrical work which has been carried out.

At present buyers have to wait an average of eight weeks between an offer being accepted and contracts being completed.

What is more, a quarter of house sales fall through as a result of something which crops up in a survey or land search.

But there are fears that far from speeding up house sales the proposals will actually stunt the property market by discouraging potential vendors from putting their homes on the market.

Tentative welcome

The proposed "modernisation and reform" of the house-buying process has been given a guarded welcome by lenders.

A spokesman for the Bradford and Bingley, Britain's second largest building society, told the Sunday Telegraph: "People must remember that we rely on a lot of third parties to move quickly before we can grant a mortgage.

"But in principle the quicker we can grant a mortgage the better."

The announcement is part of a wide range of property reforms being undertaken by the government.