A sandbox test has shown for the first time how trusted property data can be accessed, verified and shared securely.
The Smart Property Data Trust Framework ‘sandbox’ – a safe environment to test software – is a government-backed initiative designed to create a controlled environment where organisations can securely share property data.
Funded by a £742,700 award from the government’s Regulators’ Pioneer Fund, the 12-month project is being delivered by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) in partnership with the Open Property Data Association (OPDA), with support from Raidiam, data from HM Land Registry and oversight from the Digital Property Market Steering Group (DPMSG).
Participants in the project have been exploring how property data can be reused securely between accredited parties under shared standards.
Kieran Witt is founder of Kotkini, one of the first businesses to explore the system. He said: “Every time we wanted to do something new or work with another business, we were paying what I’d call an innovation tax.
“We weren’t spending our time improving products for customers – we were spending it dealing with different systems, different providers and lots of admin.”
The sandbox test showed that Kotini could securely access property data from HMLR as an authoritative source, verify credentials, and share the data with a clear record of where it came from and evidence that it hadn’t been altered, creating a shared environment for other users to connect to.
Maria Harris, chair of OPDA, said the findings are a major step forward for a smart data led property industry.
“There’s some amazing work being done across the industry and the recent Lloyds, Connells, LMS collaboration is a great example of that. The sandbox is innovative and supports the whole ecosystem to work together in that way. Because it’s not a closed environment, anyone can plug in and test data sharing.
“While the sandbox will continue through to later this year, including further testing and collaborative hackathons, this first use case marks an important milestone. It shows that a more connected, trusted approach to property data is no longer just a policy ambition, but something that has now been proven to work in practice.”
Stephen Ward, director of strategy at the CLC, said: “What we’ve proven with the sandbox is the ability to reuse and share data openly across the property ecosystem for the first time. This is an exciting development for the industry, and we want more organisations to follow Kotini’s lead and help us to build the trust framework, governance, and standards that will allow us to transform the home moving process.”
