Fintech supplier PEXA has launched something called the Future Property Transactions Group. 

It aims to bring together stakeholders from across the market to accelerate the transformation and improvement of the chronically-slow home buying and selling process.

Using Yorkshire as a pilot area, the group aims to drive collaboration between key property market stakeholders such as Leeds Building Society, Legal & General, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Mortgage Advice Bureau, and Arch Law, as well as the Open Property Data Association (OPDA), to help make the property transaction process more efficient and seamless for all. 

The group says it will “leverage the region’s key strengths across the financial, legal and property sectors to showcase the benefits of widespread, efficient collaboration across the board. The data and technology integration this can bring will drive enhanced efficiency, significant cost and time savings, improved customer experience and a reduced risk of fraud.” 

Richard Fearon, chief executive of Leeds Building Society, says: “At Leeds, our purpose is to put homeownership within reach of more people, generation after generation. We of course achieve that through our mortgage lending and challenging the structural unfairness within the housing market, but also by making buying a home as easy as possible. We welcome the launch of this group and look forward to working closely with others to create a quicker and simpler process that our members could benefit from.”

And Maria Harris, chair of the Open Property Data Association, comments: “Collaboration and communication between all parties is clearly key in making this a reality, and the Group will facilitate this perfectly. We are pleased to be working hand in hand with PEXA on this initiative, with the evidence from the pilot in West Yorkshire likely to go a long way in driving change on a national level too.”  

Following the inaugural meeting, the group will convene again over the coming weeks, with further organisations expected to participate as the initiative gathers momentum.