Ruban Selvanayagam of fast home sales specialists Property Solvers speaks with Maria Harris of the Open Property Data Association (OPDA) about progress being made in digitising the UK home buying and selling process.
Maria outlines her background, including her experience in creating the UK’s first digital mortgage with Atom Bank. The conversation delves into the slow progress in digitising property transactions despite government efforts, with the average time to complete a house purchase increasing from 12 weeks in 2005 to 22 weeks in 2024.
The discussion highlights the fragmented nature of the current system, where different stakeholders operate in silos and rely on outdated, paper-based processes. Maria goes on to explain how the OPDA is focused on creating "open data" standards and a common infrastructure (namely the Property Data Trust Framework) to enable seamless data sharing across the property industry.
She notes the involvement of major lenders like Lloyds Banking Group and Nationwide, who are beginning to adopt these standards. The government’s role - particularly through the Smart Data roadmap and the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill - is also discussed as crucial in supporting these efforts to make the property transaction process more transparent, efficient and consumer-friendly.
#OpenPropertyDataAssociation #OPDA #HouseSales #DigitisingPropertySales #SellHouse #SellHomes #BuyHomes #BuyProperty
LINKS (RESOURCES) REFERRED TO IN THE PODCAST
Open Property Data Association (OPDA)
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00:10 - Introduction to Maria Harris of the Open Property Data Association (OPDA)
00:23 - Overview of digital transformation in property
00:52 - Maria's background and career journey
02:01 - Maria's role in creating a digital mortgage with Atom Bank
03:00 - Challenges in home buying process digitisation
04:28 - Discussion on the slow progress in digitising home buying and selling
04:43 - The government's response to digital transformation
05:34 - Silos in the property industry
06:24 - Need for digitizing property data at source
07:23 - The slow progress and compounded challenges
08:32 - Open Property Data Association's role explained
09:01 - Importance of seamless collaboration in the property industry
09:59 - The limitations of current property data sharing methods
10:52 - Expanding beyond initial property data requirements
11:30 - Need for common standards in property industry
12:53 - Lack of unified standards in property transactions
13:43 - Efforts to create open standards and Schemas
14:26 - Pilot projects and proof of concept discussed
15:10 - Explanation of data Schema and its importance
16:47 - How data standards enable seamless transactions
17:34 - Importance of data trust and provenance
18:39 - Preventing property transaction fall-throughs
19:44 - Industry's openness to digital transformation
20:48 - Misconceptions about digital transformation in property addressed
21:49 - Cultural challenges in changing industry practices
22:44 - Collaborations with major lenders like Lloyds and Nationwide
23:00 - How lenders are adopting open standards
24:07 - Property Data Trust Framework (PDTF) discussed
24:30 - Government support for digital property initiatives
25:00 - Collaboration with government departments
26:00 - Role of digital identity in property transactions
26:45 - Government commitment to digital transformation
27:38 - Recent progress in digital property initiatives
28:00 - How to stay updated on industry developments
29:12 - Encouraging progress in digital property efforts
29:41 - Closing thoughts on speeding up property sales
30:01 - Maria's goals for improving the property journey
