The technology works to standards set out by the government in February of this year.

It allows home buyers and sellers to input their details into a central hub, accessible to all relevant parties in a property transaction, including conveyancers, solicitors, and mortgage intermediaries.

It is hoped that not having to repeatedly enter these details into different systems will help speed up completions, reduce the current administrative burden involved in buying and selling property, and help to lessen the risk of property and mortgage fraud.

The pilot scheme will run until 22 August.

Participating areas are as follows:

• Cheltenham
• Gloucester
• Harrogate
• York

And within London:

• Battersea
• Chiswick
• Clapham
• Putney
• Wimbledon
• Richmond
• Kew

The technology is being delivered by Etive Limited, the director of which, Stuart Young, says: “We are really pleased that the residential property industry has come together on this to work and improve such an important aspect of the home buying and selling process”.

“Working with MHCLG and DCMS, as well as all the necessary regulators and representative bodies, we expect to be in a position to run real live customers and transactions through the new scheme from October of this year”

And Housing minister Christopher Pincher comments: “It is good to see the progress being made on rolling out this scheme. We know that buyers and sellers are confused and frustrated by the current process where they have their identity checked multiple times.

“A single check which can be relied upon by multiple parties will help us to deliver a modernised and better home buying experience.”