The property industry has been warned that digital transformation risks becoming “the appearance of progress without the substance” unless future Smart Data reforms genuinely improve interoperability across transactions.
The warning follows the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s (DSIT) response to its call for evidence on Smart Data in digital markets, which highlighted widespread concerns around slow, inconsistent and ineffective data portability processes.
Respondents told government that data portability requests are often difficult to process, delivered in unusable formats and hampered by inconsistent API access and governance standards.
The government said there was broad agreement that Smart Data schemes could improve growth, innovation and customer outcomes by enabling more effective sharing of data between organisations.
GOVERNANCE AND STANDARDS
Claire Van der Zant (main picture), Chief Executive Officer of Novus Strategy, says the findings directly reflected long-standing issues across the homebuying process.
She adds: “This response confirms something we’ve been arguing for over a year, which is that the barriers to data portability are not technology.
“They’re about governance, standards, and the way organisations are configured to hold onto data rather than share it. That’s true in digital markets, which are well represented in the home buying industry, and it’s exactly what we see every day in mortgage and property transactions.”
WARNING SHOT
Van der Zant says the consultation’s findings should act as a warning for the property sector as government develops future Smart Data frameworks.
She adds: “The respondents also warned against what they called ‘compliance theatre,’ where firms technically meet their obligations while making portability unusable in practice.
“That’s a warning the mortgage industry needs to hear. Digital maturity without interoperability is the appearance of progress without the substance.”
The government has confirmed it will consult further on the design and scope of future Smart Data schemes, with property identified as one of the sectors where reforms could potentially improve transaction efficiency.
