The document, which sets out the direction Labour hopes UK industry will take over the next 10 years, commits it to spending £36m to support new smart data schemes.

It says the move will “allow consumers and businesses to share their data securely with authorised third parties in return for improved product offers, tailored services, and financial compensation.”

The paper adds: “We will progress proposals for schemes in energy and financial services and explore the potential for smart data in other sectors, including transport, digital markets, and property. 

“Smart data could have a significant impact on growth due to the competition and productivity benefits of data mobility.”

The government points to “the success” of open banking, which it says has seen 82 firms raise over £2bn in private funding since 2018 and created 4,800 skilled jobs.

Pexa UK chief executive Joe Pepper calls the move “highly encouraging.”

He says: “It takes an average of 22 weeks to complete a property purchase across the UK and more than 30% of property purchases fall through, putting pressure on homebuyers, lenders, conveyancers and, importantly, the economy. Simply put, those numbers are too big.  

“Standardising and improving data through the introduction of a smart data framework is not a magic bullet by any means.  

Pepper adds: “For too long, property transactions have been slowed and overcomplicated by the patchwork approach taken across the sector to data collection and sharing, given both the complex process and the number of stakeholders involved.  

“We know there is appetite across our industry to move this forward, and it is highly encouraging to see the government recognise this too.”     

Labour and the property industry are engaged in a range of measures to digitise and speed up homebuying. 

Earlier this month, lender Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, homemoving firm Pexa and conveyancer Muve completed what they say is the UK’s first fully digital house sale. 

Pexa said a fully digital sales and purchase platform is due to launch later this year. 

In February, the housing department said it plans to bring down housebuying delays of almost five months for millions of buyers by “driving forward plans for digital identity services to slash transactions”. 

It said it would do this by, “opening up key property information to ensure data can be shared between trusted professionals more easily”.   

The department launched a 12-week project “to identify the design and implementation of agreed rules on data for the sector so that it can easily be shared between conveyancers, lenders and other parties involved in a transaction”.  

It added that the Land Registry would build on its work in digitising property information and lead 10-month pilots with a number of councils to identify the best approach to opening up more of their data and making it digital, while the government pushes ahead with plans for digital identity verification services including in the property sector.   

The housing department pointed out that collapsed home sales – which impact one in three transactions – cost people around £400m a year, on top of the four million working days lost by conveyancers and estate agents alone which amounts to £1bn.      

Last Thursday, the Data (Use and Access) Bill became law, which allows consumers to share data across a variety of platforms. 

Labour said this could range from GP surgeries to beat waiting times, to price comparison apps that provide “hyper-personalised experiences” to save consumers “money and time with bills and food shops”. 

The government said the Bill would inject £10bn into the UK economy over the next decade.