The Open Property Data Association (OPDA) has released a new version of its property data trust framework to support the use of digital information during the conveyancing process.
The association said this would make it easier for consumers to view a comparable list of conveyancer quotes and offer more choice.
The guidance has been produced in collaboration with members of the OPDA and includes features for when information is supplied for a digital seller conveyancing quote. This will say whether a property has been bought with a Help to Buy equity loan.
It also supports additional documents in the digital property pack and can represent some declarations required from sellers. These include declarations such as the authority to act on behalf of all sellers and their consent to share the data in the property pack with buyers, conveyancers and lenders.
The guidance supports the most recent version of the Buying and Selling Property Information (BASPI) form, which was updated earlier this year in line with new National Trading Standards Material Information guidelines. Estate agents using the updated data fields in the OPDA framework will be compliant with the new guidance.
Ed Molyneux (pictured), co-founder of Moverly and chair of the OPDA Schema Working Group, said: “We really believe the key to digital transformation in this industry is the building of a broad ecosystem based on open data standards.
“It’s so encouraging to see all of our members engaging with the collaborative development of our property data trust framework so we can all finally unlock the potential of trustable, securely exchanged data.”
The OPDA was founded a year ago and has been working with the government through the Digital Property Market Steering Group, as well as the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to encourage the adoption of open data standards.
The new version of the framework comes after a Digital Information and Smart Data bill was announced in the King’s Speech last week to encourage the use of data in the homebuying process.
OPDA said less than 1% of property data was currently available in a digital format and this would reduce fraud, limit failed transactions and speed up the lettings process.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
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