Episode 22 - Digitising Property Sales (with Maria Harris of the Open Property Data Association)

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highlights the fragmented nature of the current system, where different stakeholders operate in silos and rely on outdated, paper-based processes.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)

Follow Open Property Data Association on LinkedIn

Follow Maria Harris on LinkedIn

RELEVANT LINKS

Property Solvers Investor Profiling

Become an Auction Partner

Property Solvers (Sell House Fast)

Property Solvers (We Buy Any House)

Property Solvers Auctions

Property Auctions News

How to Value Your House

TIMESTAMPS

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