The property market prepares to fully digitise.
PEXA, an Australian-founded fintech that has enabled the world’s first fully digitised property settlement process, has announced its plan to launch in the UK this year.
The news followed significant progress in a test run with mortgage lenders and the Bank of England.
PEXA was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2021. It facilitated over 11 million property transactions worth roughly AU$2trn in Australia, and is now developing a bespoke solution for the UK housing market, beginning with the remortgage process in England and Wales.
PEXA’s remortgage platform will deliver a streamlined process for mortgage lenders, lawyers, and conveyancers, enabling fast, frictionless remortgaging that will vastly reduce the time it takes to remortgage and improve consumer outcomes.
In Australia, remortgaging time has dropped from an average of 42 to 15 days, with some remortgages taking less than a day to complete.
PEXA said it aims to do the same in the UK, where remortgaging typically takes six to eight weeks, and has slowed to as long as 12 weeks as a result of COVID-19.
PEXA plans to launch its remortgage platform by Autumn this year.
For now, the fintech is undertaking product testing as part of its plan to integrate with the Bank of England’s systems.
PEXA is also working closely with HM Land Registry and other government departments, regulators, and industry groups to refine its proposition.
“The UK’s 150-year-old conveyancing system is on a journey to digitise,” James Bawa, chief executive of PEXA UK, said.
“We know that by replacing outdated and manual processes with a simple online exchange platform, we can significantly help boost both market capacity and efficiency and take a lot of stress out of consumers’ lives.”
Bawa added: “We’re incredibly excited about the forthcoming launch…. From the feedback we have had from industry so far, it’s clear how transformative our new platform will be for the UK’s remortgage market, at a time when rising interest rates and squeezed consumer finances will drive increasing demand to refinance.”
PEXA choosing the UK as its first international market “is testament to the business-friendly environment we have to offer,” noted Lord Gerry Grimstone, Minister for Investment at the Department for International Trade and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. “We welcome their initial investment into the UK creating 50 jobs by the end of 2022 and look forward to supporting PEXA’s continued growth in the UK.”
