The pilot has £3m of funding for delivery, with projects focusing on proptech innovation, open data and data standards.
The proptech innovation fund pilot will see the government backing a number of proptech firms to “scale up innovative products” that have the potential to streamline the homebuying and selling process.
The open data pilot will fund some local authorities to trial approaches to digitalise local authority-held data held on residential properties.
On the data standards side, the government will fund independent research to jumpstart setting data standards for the sector.
OPDA said that the open data and data standards were of particular note as open data with a foundation of common data standards was essential in building on its property data trust framework.
It added that the open data pilot would improve transparency earlier in the buying and selling process and drive transaction efficiency.
Data standards will allow public sources of data to be shared digitally with all parties with provenance, creating a “trusted and interoperable way for the industry to work from one reliable source”.
Maria Harris (pictured), chair of OPDA, said: “Open data standards are essential for making informed decisions about property. The homebuying process should be 100 per cent digital and data driven. But it’s currently less than one per cent digital.
“We are very pleased that government is committing funding and resource to improve the home buying process and taking an active role in how we achieve the digital and data standards we need.
“Better information for consumers before making an offer will reduce the number of failed transactions throughout the system.”
