A new group has been launched to tackle some of the delays in the home buying process.
The Future Property Transactions Group will drive collaboration between several stakeholders in the process, including Pexa, the fintech behind digital property exchanges.
Also taking part is Leeds Building Society, Legal & General (L&G), West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB), and Arch Law, as well as the Open Property Data Association (OPDA).
The group wants to help make the property transaction process more efficient and seamless for all.
The group’s efforts will be initially focused on West Yorkshire, and it will host its inaugural meeting as part of Leeds Digital Festival.
Richard Fearon, chief executive of Leeds Building Society, said: “At Leeds, our purpose is to put homeownership within reach of more people, generation after generation.
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“We, of course, achieve that through our mortgage lending and challenging the structural unfairness within the housing market, but also by making buying a home as easy as possible.
“We welcome the launch of this group and look forward to working closely with others to create a quicker and simpler process that our members could benefit from.”
Cost savings
The group aims to enhance efficiency, make significant cost and time savings, and contribute to an improved customer experience and a reduced risk of fraud.
It aims to establish a regional solution to a national issue, with ambitions to collect the information required for a wider country-wide roll-out.
Joe Pepper, chief executive of Pexa UK, said: “Pexa’s mission is to help address the current issues within the property market.
“Transactions are often inefficient because of the siloed nature of each stage of the journey and, with an overarching view of the process and the proven ability to develop and implement technology to help drive change, we are in a prime position to help bring all stakeholders together and enable better collaboration to ease the issues being faced across the board.
“The launch of the Future Property Transaction Group supports this aim and we are excited to see the results it delivers for all.”
Collaboration and communication
Maria Harris, chair of the OPDA, said: “The Future Property Transaction Group perfectly embodies the aims of the OPDA.
“We set up the association to enable the open exchange of property related data to improve the house buying and remortgaging journey.
“Collaboration and communication between all parties is clearly key in making this a reality, and the group will facilitate this perfectly.
“We are pleased to be working hand in hand with Pexa on this initiative, with the evidence from the pilot in West Yorkshire likely to go a long way in driving change on a national level, too.”
Following the inaugural meeting, the group will convene again in the coming weeks, with further organisations expected to participate as the initiative gathers momentum.
