Nationwide Building Society has partnered with the Open Property Data Association, a body set up to facilitate access to property data in a standardised, shareable way.
The mutual’s decision to join the group is part of its efforts to accelerate the home buying process and play its part in making property transactions easier to execute for all involved.
The OPDA has been lobbying government ministers, policymakers and industry stakeholders for stricter standards and requirements around digitising the home buying journey since its formation in June last year.
“We can bring our wealth of mortgage experience as well as customer engagement and insights to ensure that data is shareable to create a safer, more trusted experience for customers,” said Henry Jordan, director of home at Nationwide.
“We are totally committed to improving the end-to-end house buying and homeownership journey. Our joining OPDA is a major part of this commitment as standardisation of data is vital for achieving improvements.”
The OPDA said that the addition of the UK’s largest building society to its ranks represented a huge milestone in its mission.
“Having a well-known and respected brand such as Nationwide as an OPDA member will really boost the message around importance of open data standards to digitising property transactions,” said Maria Harris, the organisation’s chairperson.
“Nationwide’s membership marks another huge milestone for our mission to radically transform the homebuying process for the better.”