I’m not sure we have ever been as aware of risk as we are today – or had the ability to manage it as well as we do. Just as well. Governance is now a major issue for financial organisations and real progress has been made in understanding financial risks and the elements that feed into them – in particular in property lending whether that be geographical risk, environmental risk, building energy performance or climate risk.

Technology has been an important part of satisfying our appetite for risk management. With so many lenders now relying on property risk assessments through AVMs or digital or remote valuations, the need to have and access to and understand the right data is acute.

But there is another angle to this. Physical inspections are becoming the ‘go-to’ methodology for understanding the more nuanced stuff. High LTV lending, short-term leases, rental assessments, HMO’s, equity release to name a few, are examples of areas of enquiry which demand boots on the ground.

However, while boots on the ground might be the right methodology for specialisms in many cases, we should ask ourselves if those being asked to deliver on-site judgments are always supported by the very best and latest information with which to do so. There is a wealth of data that can support or inform the difficult decisions people have to make on the road.

But it is not just at the point of inspection that good data matters. To put this esoteric point into a real world example, we can look at the changes being considered in mortgage underwriting departments.  Decisions on-site and off-site are relying on huge volumes of data. And there are today vast data lakes of robust data upon which lenders can draw. We ourselves have over twenty years of historic sales, listings and valuation data, 29.7m UK residential properties monitored daily for events, and a database with over 150 million property transactions.

The products and services on offer now provide an opportunity to not only reshape processes but also expectations in the office and out in the field. With the right connectivity, lenders can enjoy a reduction of cost but also, by easing pressure on the valuing industry, they can assure quality. Products like CoreLogic APIs allow websites, CRM-derived reports, Apps, software and dashboards to be updated with up-to-the-minute data and insights, driving informed decision-making, through proprietary platforms and systems.

Technology is enabling much broader solutions to the strategic risks that lenders face. New products and ways of doing things are now non-negotiable if lenders are to compete in the long term. The risks connected with developing new ways of doing things may be significant but the alternative strategy of persisting with products and processes in mature markets where sales are static and ultimately likely to decline is not an option.

Specialisms will create margin and opportunity for lenders and valuers. Delivering them will need specific people, the right data and real technological know-how.

Mark Blackwell, Chief Operating Officer at CORELOGIC UK