OPDA collaborates with proptech firms to test seamless data sharing
A series of 'hackathons' focused on different stages of the home-moving journey, including property packs, ID verification, AML and completion.
The Open Property Data Association (OPDA) has hosted a series of ‘hackathons’ with proptech firms and software developers to test how property data could be shared across the home-moving process.
The events were run with the Digital Property Market Steering Group and saw participants work in real-time within the Smart Property Data Trust Framework sandbox.
Each hackathon focused on a different stage of the home-moving journey, including property packs, ID verification, AML and fraud checks, and completion.
Firms involved included Smoove, PropXchain, ViewMyChain, Sprift and Property Deals Insight.
Participants connected to the sandbox and showed how trusted property data could be accessed and used across platforms.
Smoove and PropXchain retrieved material information and property pack data, with Smoove integrating it into its DigitalMove platform.
Marc Hatton, director at PropXchain, said: “The sandbox lets a three person startup plug into the same property data rails as major institutions.
“That’s the power of an open framework – it levels the playing field. Within the first morning, we had an end to end property pack flowing through our stack. That speed comes from data you can trust.”
Christian Woodhouse, head of partnerships at Sprift, said: “The hackathon proved something we’ve long believed: the data exists, the technology exists, and with the right framework, things move fast.
“What struck us most was how quickly participants could demonstrate real, end-to-end data flows. Not in theory, but in a live environment.
“The Trust Framework gives the industry the infrastructure to stop treating property data as a series of isolated requests and start treating it as a shared, trusted resource.2
Woodhouse added: “That shift is what will finally make transactions faster and less painful for everyone involved.”
The hackathons also highlighted challenges around building a shared data ecosystem, including consent, liability, governance and the need for a consistent Property ID.
Nitin Aggarwal, CEO and founder at Property Deals Insight, said: “The UK property market does not lack data; the problem is that critical information is fragmented, duplicated and often discovered too late.
“The value of the OPDA sandbox is that it brings the industry together to test how trusted property data can actually be used in real workflows.”
Renu Kiran, operations director at ViewMyChain, said: “This is about proving interoperability, not just agreeing it’s a good idea.
“The sandbox shows whether data can actually flow across the transaction as it should.”
Maria Harris, chair of OPDA, said: “This is a critical step forward for the industry. For too long, property transactions have been held back by fragmented data and manual processes.
“What we’re seeing through these hackathons is the industry coming together to test practical solutions that can make home moving faster, more transparent and less stressful for consumers.
“The ambition is simple: capture property data once, trust it, and reuse it. That has the potential to transform the entire transaction.”
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