The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Mortgages and Open Finance Policy Sprint brought together lenders, regulators, technology providers and representatives from across the mortgage and property sectors to explore how trusted financial data could improve outcomes for consumers.
The discussions raised important questions about how consumers demonstrate their financial circumstances, how organisations make decisions based on that information, and what more connected approached to data sharing could mean for the future of homebuying. The reflections below consider some of the key themes that emerged during the Sprint and their implications for Open Finance, Smart data and the broader evolution of the homebuying process.
Looking beyond historic snapshots
Throughout the two-day Sprint at the FCA’s headquarters in London, participants were encouraged to step away from products, platforms and individual processes. Instead, the discussion centred on how consumers could use trusted financial data more effectively to evidence their circumstances and support better outcomes throughout the mortgage journey.
Each team was assigned a consumer persona and challenged to redesigning their journey. Our team focused on “Leanne”, a consumer who had rebuilt her financial position after leaving an abusive relationship and successfully completing a debt management plan. Several years later, she had achieved financial stability yet continued to encounter barriers when accessing financial products and services.
Leanne believed historic events may still have been influencing those outcomes, but she had little visibility into the information being used, how decisions were being made, or what additional data could help provide a more accurate picture of her current circumstances.
Her situation highlighted a challenge that extends well beyond mortgage lending. Too often, assessments are informed by snapshots of a consumer’s past rather than a fuller understanding of their present reality. The issue is not necessarily a lack of information, rather it’s whether trusted financial data can be used in a way that fairly reflects a person’s current circumstances and supports better decision making.
The opportunity is bigger than Open Finance
While Open Finance is often discussed in terms of access to data, participants repeatedly returned to a different question: how can trusted financial information help consumers tell a more complete and accurate story about their circumstances?
The potential benefits are significant. Consumers could spend less time gathering and repeatedly providing information. Organisations could make decisions with greater confidence, supported by richer and more relevant evidence. The result could be improved transparency, reduced duplication and a more efficient experience for everyone involved.
Discussions explored how additional sources of information, including rental payment histories, utility payments and debt management records, could contribute to a broader understanding of affordability and financial resilience.
But data alone will not solve existing challenges, and unlocking the benefits of Open Finance will require common standards, clear governance, well-defined liability frameworks and widespread industry participation. Just as importantly, it will require consumer trust. The technology may already exist, but confidence in how information is shared, protected and used will ultimately determine whether Open Finance delivers value at scale.
What does this mean for homebuying?
The questions raised during the Sprint have implications far beyond mortgage lending.
For consumers, buying a home is experienced as a single journey. Behind the scenes, however, information is often requested multiple times by different organisations at different stages of the transaction. The result is friction, duplication and uncertainty at precisely the moment consumers are trying to make one of the most significant decisions of their lives.
This is where the wider Smart Data agenda becomes particularly relevant.
If trusted information can be securely shared and reused across the homebuying ecosystem, consumers could move through the process with greater confidence and less repetition. At the same time, lenders, conveyancers and other participants could benefit from improved data quality, greater transparency and more informed decision-making.
The opportunity extends beyond improving individual transactions. It is about creating a more connected system in which information follows the consumer rather than requiring the consumer to continually reproduce the same evidence at every stage of the process.
Building a more connected property market
One of the strongest messages to emerge from the Sprint was that improving consumer outcomes will require collaboration across industry and government.
Policymakers, regulators, lenders, technology providers and conveyancers all have a role to play in establishing the policy, legislation and standards required to support more effective use of financial data.
From a PEXA perspective, the discussions highlighted that improving the homebuying experience is not simply a technology challenge. It requires industry-wide collaboration to address the policy, governance and operational frameworks that enable innovation to scale.
Looking ahead
The most important question raised during the Sprint was not how to share more data. It was how to use trusted data more effectively to help people achieve their goals.
As Open Finance, Smart Data and digital property transactions continue to evolve, there is an opportunity to rethink how information is shared, evidenced and reused across the homebuying process. The challenge now is turning that ambition into practical change that reduces friction, improves transparency and gives people greater confidence as they move through one of life’s most significant transactions.
The question is no longer whether trusted data can play a bigger role in homebuying. It is how quickly the industry can work together to unlock its potential.
Looking beyond Open Finance
Many of the themes discussed during the FCA Sprint align closely with the UK’s wider Smart Data agenda. Our article, Why the UK’s Smart Data Strategy Matters for the Property Industry, explores why Smart Data is becoming increasingly important in delivering a more connected and efficient property market.