Government-backed coalition aims to accelerate homebuying digitisation

A new government-backed initiative, the Open Property Coalition, has been backed by the government to accelerate the digitisation of the homebuying process.

The coalition aims to streamline property transactions, making them faster, more transparent, and more efficient by leveraging modern digital tools and data-sharing practices across the housing market.

The current homebuying process causes stress and added costs for many, while also slowing economic growth through duplicated work, inefficient housing allocation, and rising fraud levels. To address these issues, the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) has launched an industry-wide coalition to coordinate and advance initiatives aimed at creating a more digitally driven property market.

Backed by the Smart Data team at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Open Property Coalition will bring together public and private-sector organisations, including the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), HM Land Registry, the Open Property Data Association (OPDA), real estate companies, financial institutions, regulators, conveyancers, and PropTech firms.

Its work will build on existing research, industry pilots, and stakeholder initiatives, exploring how technologies such as Digital ID, tokenisation, and trust frameworks could improve the homebuying process. Outputs will include a roadmap for implementing a smart data scheme and potentially a prototype solution for the sector.