The Open Property Data Association (OPDA) has called on the mortgage industry to help shape the future of the market, and urged brokers to prepare for a transition to a smart property data market.

It comes with work underway on the Smart Property Data Trust Framework sandbox, a Government-backed project designed to test the technical, governance and security foundations needed for a data-centric property market.

Funded through a £742,700 award from the Government’s Regulators’ Pioneer Fund, the year-long project is being delivered by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) in partnership with OPDA, with support from Raidiam and oversight from the Digital Property Market Steering Group.

The sandbox is designed to be a safe, controlled environment to test how trusted property data can be securely accessed, shared and reused between accredited participants such as estate agents, conveyancers, lenders, brokers, search providers and technology firms.

It tests real-world use cases, including data provenance, consent management, secure APIs, role definitions and liability models. Findings are then shared publicly, helping the sector to understand how trust frameworks can reduce duplication, improve transaction certainty and unlock automation across the property and mortgage lifecycle.

Chair at OPDA, Maria Harris, stated: "We’ve been talking about the digitisation of the property market for a long time, but with this project, the vision starts to become a reality. The sandbox approach means the transition from digital property data to smart property data is not just theory but a live proof-of-concept.

"Digitising property transactions isn’t just about moving forms online. Without common standards, clear governance and trusted data sharing, we simply replicate existing inefficiencies in digital form. Trust frameworks provide the foundation that allows data to flow safely and reliably across the ecosystem, with confidence for both consumers and professionals."

OPDA added that firms should consider where manual, document-based processes should be replaced by structured data, how their systems will adopt the emerging standards, and what governance and verification requirements they will need to meet.

Harris concluded: "The sandbox is an opportunity for the industry to shape how smart property data works in practice and the user experience for consumers and property professionals. Early engagement will help firms prepare for a more efficient, transparent and trusted property market."

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