A government-backed sandbox has demonstrated how property data can be accessed, verified and shared securely across the homebuying process.
The Smart Property Data Trust Framework sandbox, backed by £742,700 from the government’s Regulators’ Pioneer Fund, has shown how trusted property data could be reused between accredited parties under common standards.
The 12-month project is being delivered by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers in partnership with the Open Property Data Association, with support from Raidiam, data from HM Land Registry and oversight from the Digital Property Market Steering Group.
Rather than relying on repeated document exchanges or separate integrations between individual firms, the sandbox has been designed to test how property data can be shared securely between organisations using a common framework.
Proptech firm Kotini was one of the first businesses to prove the model in practice. The test showed that Kotini could securely access property data from HM Land Registry as an authoritative source, verify credentials, and then share that data onwards while retaining a clear record of its source and confirming that it had not been altered.
Before the sandbox, each new use case would have required another bespoke connection. The sandbox instead created a shared environment where organisations can connect once and reuse that connection as others join.
Kieran Witt, founder of Kotini, said: “Every time we wanted to do something new or work with another business, we were paying what I’d call an innovation tax. We weren’t spending our time improving products for customers — we were spending it dealing with different systems, different providers and lots of admin.”
Witt said the experience was like arriving early to a party that is only just getting started.
He said: “We’re the first ones there, and we’re really pleased we’ve been able to prove the connection works with Land Registry data. Now, anyone else who joins later doesn’t need to build that connection again — they can just plug in.”
The approach could have implications for the wider property market, where transactions are often delayed by repeated checks, duplicate requests for the same information and uncertainty over which version of the data is correct.
Witt added: “It genuinely democratises the property industry. If you can build one connection instead of hundreds, it changes who is able to innovate and compete.”
Maria Harris, chair of the OPDA, said the findings were a significant step towards a smart data-led property market.
She said: “There’s some amazing work being done across the industry and the recent Lloyds, Connells, LMS collaboration is a great example of that. The sandbox is innovative and supports the whole ecosystem to work together in that way.
“Because it’s not a closed environment, anyone can plug in and test data sharing.
“While the sandbox will continue through to later this year, including further testing and collaborative hackathons, this first use case marks an important milestone. It shows that a more connected, trusted approach to property data is no longer just a policy ambition, but something that has now been proven to work in practice.”
Stephen Ward, director of strategy at the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, said: “What we’ve proven with the sandbox is the ability to reuse and share data openly across the property ecosystem for the first time.
“This is an exciting development for the industry, and we want more organisations to follow Kotini’s lead and help us to build the trust framework, governance, and standards that will allow us to transform the home moving process.”
The sandbox is now moving from demonstrating technical capability to addressing practical business problems. A four-day hackathon will bring organisations together to define use cases, shape problem statements and explore potential solutions, with support available throughout.
Participation will not be limited to technical teams. Non-technical contributors will be able to help map customer and operational journeys, develop scenarios and test ideas to ensure the outcomes reflect real-world requirements.
Findings from the project will be shared openly to help the property industry understand what works, what does not, and what further changes may be needed.
