The Open Property Data Association (OPDA) has welcomed Simply Conveyancing, one of the leading providers of conveyancing services in the UK, as an associate member.
OPDA is the UK’s independent industry body for companies revolutionising the property industry through data collaboration. Founded last June, it promotes the industry-wide adoption of open property data and technology standards.
Simply Conveyancing is joining OPDA on its mission to speed up the notoriously slow homebuying process by sharing digital property information across the housing market Currently, less than one per cent of property data is openly available in a digital format.
Converting property data sources and documents to a digital format and making it shareable through open data standards is essential to support a digital homebuying experience. OPDA’s aim is for every company, in every part of the mortgage and property chain, to share open data in a digital, standardised, and trusted format.
The association has delivered its framework for property data standards to make free and shareable data tools available across the property industry. OPDA members are contributing to work by the Digital Property Market Steering Group, a coalition of government and industry partners, on data, open standards, trust and interoperability, and shareable digital identity.
Most recently, OPDA gave evidence to The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee’s ‘Improving the home buying and selling process’ inquiry, calling for the entire home buying and selling process to be digitised within three years.
Simply Conveyancing is the first independent conveyancing law firm to join the OPDA as an associate member, supporting the drive to improve the home buying and selling legal process for all.
The firm is taking the lead on the adoption of open data standards in the domestic conveyancing legal services space, demonstrating improvements for thousands of customers across England and Wales. Simply is challenging the status quo by leveraging technology to accelerate the complex conveyancing process, speeding up house purchases and sales for all parties involved.
ACCURATE AND TRUSTABLE
Maria Harris, OPDAMaria Harris, chair of OPDA, says: “Having accurate and trustable data about property is hugely important to restoring confidence and creating certainty in the market.
“Simply Conveyancing’s commitment to trust, transparency and provenance very much complements our ethos as an association. Their extensive conveyancing experience will boost our knowledge yet further in this important space. We warmly welcome them to OPDA.”
James Slater (main picture, left), Chief Information Officer at Simply Conveyancing says: “Our mission at Simply is to deliver exceptional conveyancing services. Key to enabling that mission is the removal of complexity and acceleration of the legal process for buying and/or selling a residential property, eliminating pain points and frustration for our clients, and we see the open data standards as pivotal to achieving this.
“We’re delighted to be working with the OPDA as we passionately share the same values around trust, transparency and provenance, and working with a peer group who see the future through the same lens is particularly exciting.”
