Nearly £2m has been allocated to support innovation in the property market, focusing on modernising conveyancing searches and improving access to property data in a bid to speed up the buying and selling process.
The funding is being provided through the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s (DSIT) Regulators’ Pioneer Fund (RPF), which supports projects that test new approaches to regulation.
Land data will receive £999,592 to create an independent framework aimed at modernising conveyancing searches and streamlining the home buying and selling process.
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has been awarded £742,700 to develop a framework for digitising property data and allowing secure information sharing among all parties involved in a transaction. The project will use the Property Data Trust Framework (PDTF) to verify data sources and improve accessibility, with the goal of reducing time and administrative costs.
Supported by the Digital Property Market Steering Group, the CLC project will run for 12 months and include a test environment to assess the technical, regulatory, and security requirements for sharing property data. The proof-of-concept phase will be led by Raidiam, the company involved in developing the UK’s open banking system, and will build on work by the Open Property Data Association (OPDA) on open standards for property information.
Sheila Kumar, chief executive of the CLC, said: “This is a significant and hugely exciting step forward in transforming the homebuying and selling process, which for far too long has been held back by inefficiencies including a lack of unified standards, contributing to around one in three transactions falling through.
“Like Open Banking, this project has the potential to deliver the blueprint for a seamless, efficient and truly transparent experience for consumers and with experts such as Raidiam and the OPDA working together, I have no doubt that it will.”
Maria Harris, chair of OPDA, commented: “[The] announcement is a vital step in demonstrating how a smart data trust framework can streamline the way we buy and sell property. The homebuying process in the UK is one of the slowest and most painful in the world. Improving data standards and data sharing in the housing market will not only speed up transactions, building trust and confidence but it will also be a catalyst for economic growth.
“OPDA has been campaigning for secure trust and open data standards since its inception in June 2023. Now, with this funding, we can start to evidence the impact and the improvements it will bring. This project will test and demonstrate data sharing in a safe, compliant, and cost-effective way, serving as a proof point for digital transformation in the property market. By embedding open standards and improving the way that data is shared between buyers, sellers, lenders, conveyancers, and estate agents, we can bring the housing market into the digital age.
“I’m delighted to be partnering with the CLC in securing this funding through the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund and, alongside our members, we look forward to working with them and Raidiam to create a secure, transparent, efficient homebuying journey benefiting all stakeholders.”
Barry O’Donohoe, CEO and Co-founder at Raidiam, added: “By combining regulatory leadership with industry collaboration, and by using technology as a catalyst for progress, we’re turning innovation into real world infrastructure that benefits both markets and consumers. Home buying in the UK remains far too manual and fragmented. Together with the OPDA and CLC, we’re proving how secure, consented data sharing – enabled by the Property Data Trust Framework – can make the process faster, safer, and more transparent, creating tangible value for everyone involved.”
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It must be a stats day for me…
Total is £1,747,292 – let’s round that up to £1.75m for a twelve month project. Sounds like a lot – right?
Let’s further assume that no offices will be decorated or furnished, no computers will be bought, and that all meetings are organised in buildings that are already paid for rather than in swanky hotels.
The UK average full-time wage is about £38,000 which, when you factor in employers contributions, costs about £43,000. That assumes no perks like company cars, etcetera.
However, this is a complicated topic and the top-flight analysts, solicitors, planners, architects, and etcetera are not going to be paid average wages.
Lets assume that perhaps two “thought leaders” are paid 4 times average. Then, lets assume that five are top professionals, each paid 2.5 times average wage, then the rest are all paid average.
The employment cost of the top 7 people is £890,500 leaving about £860,000 for the rest which equates to a staff of just twenty.
So, you’re giving a super complicated task that affects every corner of the UK economy a total of £1.75million to work out the best way to reform an industry that underpins the entire UK financial system.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
And nothing was achieved.
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