The Irish government is considering how might digitise its property market and is looking to the experiences of England and Wales as it begins its journey; inviting property professionals from the UK to present to the Oireachtas (Parliamentary) Committee on the Digitisation of the Property Market.
Professor Stewart Brymer and Nigel Walley, CEO of property logbook company Chimni and Chair of the Residential Logbook Association (RLBA) presented on the experiences of the UK market, with Brymer exploring the key differences between the systems in England and Wales, and Scotland where digitisation is progressing and Scottish Home Reports are doing part of the job envisaged for Upfront Information. Walley presented on the impact of logbooks across Europe and how roll-out in the UK is taking a different path to that of other European countries. It is understood there is intention to produce primary legislation to drive adoption of technology in Ireland.
“We have become used to the idea UK players examining the experience of other European markets, with examples from Scandinavia popping up regularly at conveyancing industry conferences.”
“But there is interest in Europe in the UK’s experience of digitisation so far and this is not the first time that Europeans have put the UK property market under the microscope.”
In January, representatives from 14 countries came to London as part of the EU Horizon funded DemoBLog project. This project looks at the implication of digitised property data and digital property logbooks on government policy across a range of areas including buying & selling, and NetZero Retrofit. Hosted by University College London, the two-day workshop included representatives from Trustmark, the Energy Savings Trust and Chimni who are all participants in the Europe wide project. The RLBA is on the project Advisory Board and Chimni is running one of the five test initiatives in Scotland.
The visiting delegation included academics from TU Delft and other European universities who are studying the role of logbooks in government policy as well as four European logbook companies from France (CLEA), Belgium (Wonningpass), Germany (Cirdax) and Holland (CAPSA). Logbooks are now mandatory for NewBuild properties in France and Germany and the participants from CLEA and Cirdax discussed the impact this has had on the market for residential property data.
Key issues discussed included standardising definitions of a ‘digital property logbook’ and their relationship to other new products such as the Building Renovation Plan which is also being proposed for roll-out in the UK. There was extensive discussion on the role of government and industry in supporting roll out and models of governance, whether that is self-regulation or driven by government.
Interestingly says Walley, there is no equivalent of the up-front information product being proposed in the UK, with most countries opting to jump straight to full Logbooks. Participants were given demos of the UK’s National Logbook Register and reviewed its proposed role in the property transaction market. There is currently no European equivalent, adds Walley. The French have opted for self-regulation with an equivalent of the RLBA now established who are currently scoping out its provision on a single country basis.
“What was clear from the meeting is that the key driver of adoption across Europe is the need to retrofit homes for NetZero.”
says Walley
“At the meeting, European building consultancy BPIE (a European version of the BRE) outlined all of the EU level research and policy work identifying areas where Logbooks support policy or where the EU are now mandating them. The key legislation is the European Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) which requires EPC data and other building information to be shared with Logbooks. This has also been recommended for the UK by both the National Retrofit Hub (NRH) and Which? Magazine in their recommendations for improving the EPC.”
Further output from the Irish discussions is awaited.
