Land Data, the regulator of official NLIS conveyancing searches, says the technical foundations for the trusted sharing of authoritative land and property data are now in place following completion of the initial build of Next Gen NLIS – the National Land Information Service hub.
NLIS was launched in 2001 to provide a single point of access to official sources of land and property information from every local authority in England and Wales, HM Land Registry (HMLR) and the Mining Remediation Authority. The project to update the 25-year-old technology was made possible following a grant of almost £1 million from the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund (RPF), a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) programme which fund business regulatory and local authority projects.
Launching in March 2027, Next Gen NLIS is set to transform how authoritative land and property information is accessed, shared and connected across the conveyancing and property sectors. With the initial build phase complete, user testing is underway with the programme’s early adopter group. Onboarding and training for local authorities across England and Wales will begin in the autumn.
A new Land Data Trust Framework certification has also been established to verify data provenance and support the secure, trusted exchange of authoritative data. Requests for land and property data through Next Gen NLIS will be certified by Land Data, providing clear provenance information including source and timestamp information.
The identities of local authorities, data custodians and data consumers accessing Next Gen NLIS will be verified, ensuring data is shared securely, consistently and according to agreed rules and permissions. The system will also support interoperability with other future trust frameworks across the property market, including the proposed Smart Property Data Trust Framework being developed by the Open Property Data Association.
The certification and traceability of data will improve transparency across the property market and provide greater confidence for conveyancers, lenders and other property professionals relying on it as part of their due diligence processes, Land Data said.
The funding for Next Gen NLIS includes extending the use case beyond official conveyancing searches and related datasets to additional property market use cases over time.
Fiona Barron, chief executive of Land Data, said: “The home buying and selling market is changing rapidly as government, regulators and industry move towards a more connected and data-driven property transaction process. Trusted data sharing, interoperability and clear standards will be essential to delivering that future.
“The Land Data Trust Framework and Next Gen NLIS provide the foundations for that change by enabling authoritative land and property data to be shared securely, consistently and with clear provenance from source. This gives the market greater confidence in the integrity of the information being relied upon across the transaction process.
“Completing the initial build of Next Gen NLIS is a major milestone for Land Data.”
Land Data has selected data specialists Data Clan to build, supply and maintain Next Gen NLIS through to 2031. “Together with Data Clan, we are creating national infrastructure that supports innovation while protecting the trust, accountability and transparency the property market depends upon,” Barron said.
Chris Lees, chief executive of Data Clan, said: “Next Gen NLIS and the Land Data Trust Framework represent a fundamental shift in how property data is accessed and shared in England and Wales. Working in partnership with Land Data, we are building infrastructures that not only modernise today’s processes, but create the conditions for continuous improvement, innovation and trust in the home buying and selling journey.”
“We are proud to be working alongside Land Data on such a nationally important programme.”
