Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) has joined the Open Property Data Association (OPDA) to improve the home buying and selling process through a standardised approach to sharing of digital data.

The lender says this creates an opportunity to make transactions quicker, more transparent, and easier for buyers and sellers.

This comes as less than 1% of property data is openly available in a digital format.

OPDA’s aim is for every that’s part of the mortgage and property chain to share open data in a digital, standardised, and trusted format.

LBG will support the association in developing transparent data sharing practices, raising standards, creating a best practice across the property industry.

Members of LBG’s leadership and technology teams will work alongside OPDA’s executive committee.

LBG will support OPDA’s latest framework for property data standards.

The framework is a standardised set of data and governance principles that includes a common data dictionary, a standardised way to describe property attributes and a methodology for sharing data with trust and provenance.

LBG will further support the ongoing development of the trust and interoperability framework.

The first stage of the new framework is freely available to the property industry and their software providers.

LBG head of strategic and technology partnership Claire Cherrington says: “We are right behind OPDA in their mission to change the way people buy and sell houses by implementing open data standards and encouraging transparent data sharing across the residential property sector.”

OPDA chair Maria Harris says: “Lloyds Banking Group joining us is a momentous step forward for open data sharing and a huge endorsement of our mission.”