The Open Property Data Association (OPDA) has welcomed Simply Conveyancing, a leading provider of conveyancing services in the UK, as an associate member.
OPDA, the UK’s independent industry body for companies revolutionising the property industry through data collaboration, promotes the industry-wide adoption of open property data and technology standards.
Founded last June, the association aims to speed up the homebuying process by sharing digital property information across the housing market.
Currently, less than 1% of property data is openly available in a digital format. OPDA’s goal is to convert property data sources and documents to a digital format, making them shareable through open data standards to support a digital homebuying experience.
The association has delivered its framework for property data standards to make free and shareable data tools available across the property industry.
Simply Conveyancing is the first independent conveyancing law firm to join OPDA as an associate member, supporting the drive to improve the homebuying and selling legal process.
“The firm is taking the lead on the adoption of open data standards in domestic conveyancing legal services, demonstrating improvements for thousands of customers across England and Wales.
“By leveraging technology, Simply Conveyancing aims to accelerate the complex conveyancing process, speeding up house purchases and sales for all parties involved.
Maria Harris, chair of OPDA, said: “Having accurate and trustable data about property is hugely important to restoring confidence and creating certainty in the market.
“Simply Conveyancing’s commitment to trust, transparency and provenance very much complements our ethos as an association.
“Their extensive conveyancing experience will boost our knowledge yet further in this important space. We warmly welcome them to OPDA.”
James Slater, chief information officer at Simply Conveyancing, added: “Our mission at Simply is to deliver exceptional conveyancing services.
“Key to enabling that mission is the removal of complexity and acceleration of the legal process for buying and/or selling a residential property, eliminating pain points and frustration for our clients, and we see the open data standards as pivotal to achieving this.
“We’re delighted to be working with the OPDA as we passionately share the same values around trust, transparency and provenance, and working with a peer group who see the future through the same lens is particularly exciting.”
