OPDA calls on next Government to take strong lead on urgent homebuying reform

03 July 2024

The Open Property Data Association (OPDA) is calling on whoever forms the next Government to take a strong lead on urgently reforming the notoriously sluggish homebuying process so that the market can function efficiently.

Focus, ownership and leadership from Government should, OPDA argues, be at the highest level such as with the Treasury or the Cabinet Office. An alternative option could be for homebuying to instead be ‘owned’ and led by an independent body or figure such as a housing commissioner. This would have homebuyers’ and sellers’ interests at heart, a mandate for driving change, and accountability for getting reforms delivered.

The association’s chair, Maria Harris, points out that currently there is no single department or person in Government with overall responsibility for the homebuying journey, nor any holistic policy or strategic plan. Property data sits across multiple government departments, each with their own processes, roadmaps, and approach to customer access to data. Since 2010, there have been 16 different housing ministers.

Less than one per cent of property data is currently available in an acceptable digital format. Much of the homebuying process is still reliant on paper, duplication, multiple signatures, and manual checks. Consequently, it is taking an average of 22 weeks for customers to reach completion on their home purchase.

OPDA wants to see new legislation to enable the entire home buying and selling process to be digitised within three years. It is asking for the next Government to publish the long-awaited Future of Homebuying strategy including the roadmap for public and local authority data to be digitised and to set the expectations for industry adoption of open standards, interoperability and trust.

Converting property data sources and documents to a digital format and mandating that this data is available to consumers and the services that represent them at the start of the process, with trust and shareability through open data standards, would be the vital first step in digitising the process. This would significantly speed things up and create much needed transparency for everyone in the chain.

OPDA has already delivered its framework for property data standards which has made free and shareable data tools available across the property industry. Those using its data standard for digital property packs have seen time reduced from offer accepted on a house and a mortgage to exchange of contracts within 15 days.

Maria Harris, chair of the OPDA, said: “A well-functioning housing market and a good home-buying experience are fundamental to the financial wellbeing of the nation. But these cannot be achieved without wholesale reform of the homebuying process which puts digitisation and shareable data at its centre. The next Government must urgently take ownership of homebuying reform.”