CFIT signals next phase of Smart Data innovation with Open Property roadmap launch

Source: Seven Hills BPI / CFIT

The Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) today marks the culmination of the first phase of its Open Property Coalition, publishing a landmark roadmap for Open Property that has the potential to transform the UK’s homebuying process – and signals the next phase of the UK’s Smart Data journey beyond Open Banking and Open Finance.

Backed by industry and funded by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the roadmap sets out a clear and credible pathway to address one of the UK economy’s most persistent inefficiencies: a fragmented, paper-based homebuying system where transactions take an average of 22 weeks and around 30% fall through.

Developed through the first Smart Data coalition of its kind beyond financial services – bringing together leaders from financial services, property, technology, government and regulators – the roadmap demonstrates how Smart Data principles, based on secure, consent-driven and interoperable data sharing, can transform the property transaction lifecycle by reducing delays, improving transparency, and strengthening trust.

The initiative reflects DBT’s commitment to scaling Smart Data across the economy, with CFIT’s coalition model now playing an important role in delivering the department’s 2030 Smart Data Strategy and paving the way for future applications in sectors such as energy and beyond.

A roadmap for systemic change

The roadmap shows how we move from diagnosis of this economically significant challenge to delivery. It identifies the critical datasets, standards, governance frameworks, and commercial enablers required to create a fully digital, end-to-end homebuying journey.

It is clear from the work of the Coalition so far that the longer the homebuying process takes, the more likely it is to collapse. The defining challenge for progress is to reduce the time it takes to complete a transaction.

This is the central obstacle in a system that processes around 1.1 million transactions each year, worth nearly £380 billion, yet one that remains constrained by fragmented, paper-based processes. Today, less than 1% of the data required to buy a home is fully digitised, meaning information is repeatedly requested, verified, and re-shared across multiple parties – driving delay, duplication, and uncertainty at every stage.

The consequences are significant. Approximately 530,000 transactions fail each year, costing consumers around £560 million in wasted fees and up to £950 million across the wider economy. By enabling the creation and sharing of verified digital property information upfront, the approach set out in the roadmap directly targets these inefficiencies. This will help to prevent avoidable delays, reduce uncertainty, and accelerate decision-making across the transaction lifecycle.

Anna Wallace, chief executive officer of CFIT, said: “The UK’s homebuying process is too slow, fragmented and stressful for consumers, with transactions taking months to complete and too many collapsing before completion. This roadmap shows there is a clear and credible pathway to progress through smarter, more secure and interoperable use of data.

“This milestone also demonstrates the power of CFIT’s coalition model to tackle systemic challenges that no single organisation can solve alone – bringing together industry, government and regulators to align around practical, deliverable solutions.”

Moving from roadmap to build

Alongside publication of the roadmap, CFIT confirmed private sector funding to build a solution to this challenge. This next phase will focus on turning the potential of this coalition into reality through:

• Development of prototypes and proofs of concept
• Live testing of Smart Data solutions across the homebuying journey
• Impact assessment to evidence real-world benefits
• Further policy recommendations to support adoption at scale

The next phase of this Coalition represents a shift from strategy to execution – demonstrating not just what the future of property transactions could look like, but how it can be delivered in practice.

A model for the wider Smart Data economy

While the immediate focus is on property, the implications of this work extend far beyond a single sector.

Open Property is designed as a flagship use case within a broader Smart Data transformation – building the trust frameworks, interoperability standards, and collaborative delivery model needed to unlock innovation across the economy. This includes clear opportunities in sectors such as:

• Energy: enabling smarter consumption, switching, and access to tariffs
• Transport: improving data portability and user experience across mobility services
• Health: supporting secure, consent-driven access to personal data to improve outcomes

By demonstrating how Smart Data can be applied in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment, CFIT’s coalition model provides a scalable roadmap for cross-sector adoption.

Minister for the Digital Economy, Baroness Lloyd, said: “Today’s Open Property roadmap marks an important step in delivering this government’s ambition for a world leading Smart Data economy. By bringing together industry, regulators and policymakers, CFIT has demonstrated how we can tackle complex, real-world challenges through collaboration and innovation.

“This work is not just about improving the homebuying process – it is about building the foundations of a modern, data-enabled economy. The coalition model pioneered by CFIT provides practical insights that can inform the government’s implementation of the UK’s Smart Data Strategy, demonstrating how policy ambition can be tested and progressed in real‑world sectors.”

Looking ahead

With the next phase of the Coalition now set to commence in the summer, CFIT will continue working with partners across industry and government to test, refine, and scale Smart Data solutions in property – while laying the groundwork for future coalitions in other sectors. The publication of the Open Property roadmap marks a significant milestone in the UK’s journey toward a more efficient, transparent, and digitally enabled economy – and a clear signal that the Smart Data revolution is moving from concept to reality.

Further reading: CFIT secures public and private funding to drive UK financial innovation