Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Mortgage Solutions. Read the original article for full details.

OPDA Chair Highlights Technical Debt Ahead of Home Buying Reforms

Maria Harris, chair of the Open Property Data Association (OPDA), has called on property professionals to prepare for upcoming reforms to the home buying and selling process. Harris emphasised that the industry faces significant 'technical debt' and outdated manual processes that must be addressed to support these changes.

Over the past three years, the OPDA has advocated for improvements in property transactions through digitisation and data sharing. Harris expressed her support for the government's formalised plans to reform the home buying process, noting that these plans align with five years of campaigning, including two years of work with the Home Buying and Selling Council and three years through the OPDA.

Harris highlighted that the planned reforms are focused on improving the customer experience, an area she believes requires significant enhancement. She also noted the high level of engagement with the government's consultation, with around half of the 1,100 responses coming from consumers.

Harris has championed cross-sector data sharing since her time as a founding member of Atom Bank, where she contributed to the creation of the first digital mortgage in 2016. In 2021, she was asked by the Home Buying and Selling Council to examine what data should be available at the start of a property transaction. This project involved 150 technology professionals over two years, leading to the establishment of the OPDA to deliver data and technical standards, trust, and governance.

Harris described the housing sector as starting from a "very immature" point in terms of data sharing and digital capability. She stated that the sector is "very, very far behind other industries" and has "a lot of technical debt and lots of very embedded ways of working, manual processes and things that live on paper that just really are not fit for purpose."

Harris also pointed to the endorsement from major companies joining the OPDA and participating in testing programmes as evidence of the sector's willingness to collaborate and improve.

These developments are particularly relevant for UK letting agents and inventory clerks, who may see changes in how property data is managed and shared as reforms progress.