OPDA reacts to July property transaction data

28 August 2026

Maria Harris, chair of the Open Property Data Association:

“A fall in July’s property transactions is another reminder the housing market remains vulnerable to uncertainty, but it should also reinforce the need to address the structural problems that make moving home unnecessarily difficult.

“People are still navigating a homebuying process that is too slow, too fragmented and too uncertain.

“The focus needs to move beyond simply increasing transaction volumes and towards making every transaction more reliable and less prone to delay and failure.

“The Government’s commitment to modernise homebuying creates a real opportunity to do this. But turning ambition into reality will require trusted property data, common standards and systems that can share information securely and consistently.

“If we get those fundamentals right, higher transaction volumes can be matched by a homebuying experience that works better for everyone.”