Sometimes amazing new technology comes along and changes how we live our lives. Our chair, Maria Harris, shares what the new data legislation means for the property and mortgage industry.
The steam engine, the internet, the iPhone — they all had a profound and long-lasting effect on all of us, and how we did things was never the same again.
At other times we have legislation or regulation that forces us to evolve. MCOB, GDPR, Consumer Duty — they all resulted in significant and permanent changes to our customer journeys, technology and ways of working too.
By this spring, our entire homebuying and mortgage industry will know whether we face the most existential change to how we work in a century, thanks to the introduction of the Data (Use and Access) Bill.
At its heart, this legislation — which is scheduled to be presented for royal assent after its third reading in the House of Commons — puts customers in control of accessing and sharing their own data.
From digital identity and open finance to mortgage, property and energy data, customers will have the right to access that data in a digital and secure format; to know it came from its officially provenanced source; and to share that data safely at a click of a button with the verified and accredited providers that are servicing them on their homebuying or mortgage journey.
“No more documents, no more scanning or photocopies, no emailing attachments, no filling in forms of questions.
Data will need to be fully digitised to a standard that we’ve never had before”
Customers will have the right to access their personal, financial and property data directly from source — and have all the protections of knowing where that data came from — to choose whom they share it with, and to know exactly what we are doing with it to help them.
Industrial strategy
The government departments involved, and the reasons for this legislation, are multiple as it cuts across several manifesto themes.
But the implementation of the industrial strategy and the smart-data economy to drive economic growth are underpinned by the bill. Cutting through the inefficiencies and lack of access to verifiable data that exist in healthcare, finance and the property market, plus meeting our energy targets and improving services all rely on the right data being available at the right time and in formats we can verify, provenance and trust.
“You’re not an accredited firm to access that data, or you’re using a software provider that isn’t? Shame. Guess someone else will be doing my mortgage then”
I’m not one for writing hyperbole or attention-grabbing headlines, but this is bigger than our industry’s Uber moment. This will create the most fundamental shift in how we transact property, how we advise and execute mortgages, and how property, energy and finance data lives in perpetuity through the life cycle.
The transition to smart data will reform every single part of our industry, from property portals to HM Land Registry (HMLR) and every system, software provider and person working in estate agency, mortgages, conveyancing, valuations and everything in between.
Data custodians
For those who are the creators or custodians of data, databases and spreadsheets won’t cut it in the future. Data will need to be fully digitised to a standard that we’ve never had before.
By this spring, we will know whether we face the most existential change to how we work in a century
It will need to be available in a specified and commonly structured format, in real time, and directly accessible by the customer with verified and trusted credentials attached. Not only will that data be the customer’s to access, it will be theirs to share and use for whatever they need it for.
The firms that are representing buyers and sellers in their homebuying or mortgage process will need ways to accept the data the customer is sharing with them. Want a copy of my passport to scan for my file? No thanks. I have a digital identity that I’m prepared to share with you, but only if you’re an approved and authenticated member of the smart property data ecosystem.
Need to check how long’s left on my lease, or that there aren’t any restrictions on the property I’m buying that may affect my mortgage application? Here’s the property data, direct from HMLR, with the digital certification attached that shows that it came from the official source and that it’s not been tampered with.
At its heart, this legislation puts customers in control of accessing and sharing their own data
You’re not an accredited firm to access that data, or you’re using a software provider that isn’t? Shame. Guess someone else will be doing my mortgage.
And guess what? Being able to accept and share the data over your normal API won’t be enough. Executing a smart property data ecosystem and keeping it safe raises the bar — data standards, technology standards, security, cyber, consumer protection and governance are built in from the off.
This is all about the customer and putting them in control of their data.
