Housing minister calls for a digital revolution in the property sector

The Housing Minister, Esther McVey, is) announcing plans today which will see the release of data held by local bodies to enable the UK PropTech sector to thrive and for them to “bring about a digital revolution in the property sector.”

The Housing Minister will announce measures to:

  • Open up Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) data for the first time in a transparency drive and enable PropTechs to obtain things like energy performance certificates and the square footage information of properties.
  • Introduce a national index of all brownfield data, simplifying and improving the quality of Brownfield Land Registers to help developers to find brownfield land to build on.

More info here.

Founder and CEO of Stone Real Estate, Michael Stone, commented:

“Any initiative to open up land supply and provide greater transparency within the house building process should be welcomed. After all, we’re building 200,000 new homes a year nationally while the reality is that we need to deliver 300,000, so that’s some deficit that needs to be addressed.

However, whilst the Housing Minister’s announcements today on promoting digitisation and better brownfield site identification will be welcomed, perhaps they should go a step further and start mandating that public land is also utilised more readily.

There’s an ironic reality that while the Government has failed to bolster house building via a number of recent initiatives, a very real solution remains right under their nose.

The swathes of untapped land that could be used to develop and deliver more homes are largely controlled by the very public sector that is responsible for, you guessed it, building these homes in the first place.”

Properganda PR

National and local media coverage for property businesses. Journo quotes delivered in minutes.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Volume doubles as property market sees strong return of new applicants

Foxtons Lettings Market Index – January 2026 Demand rebounded sharply from December, with registrations up 93% month on month and new renters per instruction up 11% compared to December, reflecting a seasonal uplift in activity at the start of the year. New renters per new instruction fell 12% year on year, indicating that competitive pressure…
Read More
Home and Living

Guide to Responsible Waste Trash Pickup Options in San Diego

Most people don’t think about junk removal until something large gets stuck in their space. Sometimes it’s a couch you meant to throw out months ago, a dead appliance taking up space, or yard debris that somehow grows after every weekend project. Over time, those items stop being temporary clutter and start feeling permanent. That’s…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Property valuation leads to agents up 50% on last year

The launch of a new valuation product and AI optimisations to the existing product suite led to a significant uplift in valuation leads for agents from Rightmove in January. Valuation leads grew by 50% in January 2026 compared to the same period last year. The launch of Online Agent Valuation towards the end of 2025 helps connect…
Read More
Breaking News

Worst areas for landlord eviction waiting times

The latest research industry insight from LegalforLandlords has highlighted where the longest and shortest wait times are when it comes to court hearing dates for landlords who are trying to repossess their properties, with the most overstretched courts found in the likes of Birmingham, Croydon, and Slough. Having analysed internal data on wait times for…
Read More
Breaking News

726,000 rented homes could remain non-decent by 2035

And that’s without holding them to the updated standard outlined in the recent DHS consultation A new consultation on the Decent Homes Standard (DHS) has suggested that all rented homes, private and social, must meet an updated, more stringent standard by 2035. However, new research from Inventory Base reveals that if the current rate of…
Read More
Breaking News

UK House Price Index for December 2025

The latest UK House Price Index shows that: The average monthly rate of house price growth in December was -0.7%. Average UK house price annual inflation was 2.4% in the 12 months to December 2025. As a result, the average UK house price currently sits at £270,000.   Here are some thoughts from the Industry.…
Read More