Digital ID scheme for buyers and sellers wins government support

A PropTech company has won a grant for a project to improve ID verification in the buying and selling process, via “a digital identity trust scheme.”

The project will enable consumers to use one digital identity when buying or selling a home and share this with estate agents, conveyancers, mortgage intermediaries and mortgage lenders. 

The project is supported by the Law Society, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, Propertymark, The Guild of Property Professionals, RICS and the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agent Team. 

The managing director of the firm winning the grant, Etive, is Stuart Young who says: “Currently a seller's and buyer's identity is verified up to five times by the different parties. Conveyancers, estate agents, mortgage intermediaries and financial services are regulated by different entities with various levels of oversight and compliance which can cause conflicting guidelines on identity verification.”  

Etive says developing a “trust framework for digital identity” in conveyancing holds out the promise of faster and more secure transactions. 

“This is critical in scope and working with the calibre of those involved to achieve a very real change will speed up the process and add increased certainty to the transaction” says Mark Hayward, chief policy adviser at Propertymark. 

Iain McKenzie, chief executive of The Guild of Property Professionals, comments: “Digital communication and cohesion is long overdue between the stakeholders involved in the moving process. Finding ways to reduce the time it takes for a property transaction to take place will be highly beneficial to both the industry and of course our customers who are eager to move into their new property as quickly as possible.”

And Law Society of England and Wales president David Greene adds: “This will ease the burden on consumers having to produce information for ID checks with different parties and could help reduce fraud and reduce delays in the sales process - all beneficial developments for our members.  The Covid-19 crisis has resulted in transformational technological change in the conveyancing market and this represents another important step forward.”