The Open Property Data Coalition will include a range of public and private sector organisations, including the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), HM Land Registry, the Open Property Data Association (OPDA), real estate companies, financial institutions, regulators, conveyancers and proptechs.
The coalition will build on existing research, industry pilots and stakeholder initiatives and look at how technologies like digital ID, tokenisation and trust framework could reimagine the home buying process.
It aims to develop a proof of concept that shows how secure data sharing across the property ecosystem could work and potential impacts.
This could include more reliable estimated completion timelines, an end to gazumping or gazundering, lower legal fees, improved mortgage underwriting, faster proof of source of funds and faster and more secure disbursement of funds.
Leon Ifayemi, director of coalitions and research at the CFIT, said: “This is CFIT’s first cross-sector coalition, spanning financial services and property – but it’s also the exact kind of thorny, interdependent problem that we exist to solve. Many of us have personally experienced how buying a home in England or Wales can be slow, opaque, costly and aggravating. Work is already underway from DBT, MHCLG, HM Land Registry and the OPDA to digitise elements of the process. But if we are going to successfully use technology to solve these pain points, we need policymakers, regulators and industry all to be pulling in the exact same direction. Tackling open property also means we can draw on our accumulated experience in areas like open finance and digital ID.”
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Liz Lloyd, digital economy minister, said: “Better use of smart data is integral to our future prosperity to help grow the economy. Buying a home can be time-consuming, lengthy and stressful. Using smart data has the potential to make this quicker, more secure and more transparent for consumers when they are making the biggest, most important purchases of their lives.”
Terry Robertson, deputy director of strategy at HM Land Registry, said: “Digitising the home buying and selling process will bring huge benefits to everyone involved in the property sector. This transformation depends on collaboration. This is why HM Land Registry supports the CFIT-led Open Property Coalition, as well as other initiatives like the Digital Property Market Steering Group. Both are prime examples of bringing stakeholders together to address shared challenges across the transaction journey.”
