Are we heading towards a signifcant data privacy problem around our homes?

A guest blog by the Real Estate Data Foundation.

A Review Of RLBA Activity Around Data Exchange and Reporting October 2021 The RLBA and its' member companies are working across a number of functions and government departments to look at how Property Logbooks can support Government home buying, housing and energy policy. We have pilot projects in Home Buying & Selling, Local Government, Retrofit and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). In each of these areas, a core emphasis of the Logbook work to date has been building on their ability to aggregate documents and data from a wide variety of source to create a single source of truth. This is still a crucial function, but we anticipate, as logbooks and data sources evolve, there will be less emphasis on 'documents' and more emphasis on live links to data sources through integrations. The RLBA is working on standardised industry mechanisms for connecting Logbooks to property registration and Certification Bodies, Local government and Industry organisations. The initial focus is gathering data. But this ‘connectivity’ brings opportunities to do other interesting things. Increasingly we are being asked what Logbooks can deliver back up these connections. There is an emerging theme across all strands of our work which we haven’t picked out and reflected on – the ability of a property logbook to deliver monitoring and reporting of specific activity where national and local government goals and targets are involved. For the professional and industry bodies, the answer is simple. Logbooks can deliver the data required to support a wide range of functions. For Home Buying & Selling (HBS) Logbooks are being configured to deliver data for the BASPI form, and even complete ‘Property Packs’ configured to the agreed ‘Contract Ready’ standard agreed by the HBSG’s Upfront Data workgroup. For Local Authorities Logbooks can deliver standardised Building Control and Planning applications, and the information needed to support them. We are also working with councils to investigate how, using systems developed for Open Banking, we can enable Property Logbooks to have ‘privileged links’ giving homeowners secure access to Council records for things like the Electoral Register, Council Tax But beyond these connections, there are an increasing number of trials being planned where Logbooks will provide reporting and accountability BACK to the connecting bodies. Examples of this include: A project with a group of Local Authorities to look at how logbooks can be connected to council systems to exchange data and receive services from councils. Councils are under pressure from government to be able to report on a range of issues including the NetZero status of homes in their areas, and the progress against Retrofit goals. Our trial is looking at how Property Logbooks (with permission from owners) can offer a data feed that reports status of projects and certification in these areas. In the long term this will be a direct data feed between Logbook and Council, but in the short term (given the limitations of current council services) the RLBA is building a council dashboard to deliver reports aggregated from Logbooks connected to the RLBA Hub. A second area, also linked to the Retrofit debate, is in the role of Property Logbooks in delivering Retrofit Plans (See previous blog here ). Working with the Green Finance Institute 'Retrofit Framework', we have built a model to host Retrofit Plans within Property Logbooks and have them report (again, with homeowner permissions) on the status of the Retrofit works within the plan and the EPC rating achieved. Reporting on progress at individual property level, and aggregated level can deliver huge insight Building on the Retrofit activity, we are working with a group of banks and building societies, to establish a reporting basis for Mortgages and Green Loans. The challenge these finance houses face is that they are being asked to report on the green status of their loan books but have no mechanism to do it. Our projects are looking to give every homeowner taking a green loan a property logbook, with the ability to report project status and the EPC status resulting from the work. Once again, our projects are based on Logbooks initially reporting to a dashboard on the RLBA Hub, before aggregated reports are sent to the finance houses. Our aim is to make the case that all mortgages given with Government assistance should bring with them an obligation to report on retrofit/green energy issues. A Logbook given out with each mortgage can deliver that reporting. The long term vision is of a national ‘digital twin’ with every home in possession of a node on a national property data network through which they exchange data and services with local and national government, certification bodies and finance groups. Our projects are the initial steps towards this goal, and we aim for logbooks to be at the core of meeting the monitoring and reporting needs of the new greener housing market.

A review of how Residential Property Logbooks can deliver Building Retrofit Plans (BRPs) within their wider data set and service functions.

Chimni is a property logbook company that provides a digital companion for the complete lifecycle of buying, developing, enjoying then selling a home. Chimni has a direct to consumer service in which homeowners can set up a logbook and 'get their ducks in a row' before they even consider selling. Click our introduction video below to get an overview of the Chimni service from the perspective of your customers:

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