The Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) has launched the Open Property Coalition, backed by the Smart Data team at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), to push forward digitisation in the homebuying process in England and Wales.
The coalition brings together public and private sector groups, including the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), HM Land Registry (HMLR), the Open Property Data Association (OPDA), estate agents, lenders, regulators and proptech companies.
Homebuying in England and Wales takes around 22 weeks, with 30% of transactions falling through.
Less than 1% of the data needed is currently digital, which leads to delays, errors and fraud when information is passed between estate agents, mortgage brokers and conveyancers.
Research found 530,000 transactions fall through every year, costing the economy £950m.
Fees for buyers and sellers are higher, with £560m lost on failed transactions annually. Fraud, including payment diversion and identity theft, is rising.
The coalition plans to create a roadmap for a smart data scheme and may develop a prototype.
Features could include a reliable completion timeline, real-time updates, reduced legal fees, a digital identifier for each property, faster mortgage checks and secure fund transfers.
Leon Ifayemi, director of coalitions and research at 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, HMLR and the OPDA to digitise elements of the process.”
Ifayemi added: “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.”
Digital Economy Minister Liz Lloyd, 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, strategy at HMLR, 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.”
