Digital Bricks and Mortar: Transforming the Property Market

The digital age has revolutionized nearly every aspect of our lives, from communication and commerce to entertainment and education. Yet, amidst this transformative wave, one industry remains stubbornly entrenched in the past: the property market. Consumers are left to navigate a labyrinth of antiquated processes, plagued by delays, inefficiencies and a pervasive lack of transparency. This cumbersome system is further jeopardized by an ever-increasing list of market-impacting outages triggered by cybersecurity breaches, compromising the security and integrity of transactions.

But we are on the cusp of a transformative era driven by the convergence of various cutting-edge technologies that are poised to revolutionize the way we buy and sell property. This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand and navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of digital property and mortgage transactions. It offers a nuanced understanding of the transformative forces that are shaping the digital property market, and it provides a stark warning to market incumbents on the need to evolve their business models, their technology and their cybersecurity capabilities.

Praise for Digital Bricks and Mortar

‘Moving home in the UK is a slow, opaque and admin-heavy process for both buyers and property professionals, and the property market is clearly overdue the kind of technology revolution we’ve seen in other industries. But for those of us who aren’t technologists, it’s hard to know what that will look like or what it will mean. Reynolds’s brilliant book sets out a clear blueprint for the future of the property market, and it’s refreshingly easy to read too. I believe it will be a hugely influential book, and it is a must-read for anyone in our industry who wants to know what the future will look like.’ — Phil Spencer, property expert and TV personality

‘It’s very frustrating that nearly a quarter of a century after Rightmove started the UK’s property search revolution, the dream – and indeed the expectation – of the digitization of the rest of the UK’s home buying and selling process has yet to become a reality. Reynolds’s insight and clarity in setting out the intricate web of complex challenges in this area are very well timed to inspire, embolden and enable the necessary stakeholders to come together to finally make that digitization happen. The book is filled with truly inspirational content and vision from someone with an unrivalled breadth of experience in the vital component fields that need to come together, collaborate and act. Reynolds is also disarmingly modest in inviting and promoting constructive discourse. He astutely recognizes that this is a vital component if we are to shift from the tantalizing cusp of a seamless solution to a speedier and better implementation: something that will be of massive benefit to both the industry and millions of future movers.’ — Miles Shipside, Co-founder, Rightmove

‘The property market in the UK can work well if everyone has the information they need when they need it, and if buyers and sellers pay a fair price for high-quality home moving experts. However, in any one year, transaction levels can fluctuate from 900,000 to 1.5 million, putting huge pressure on the industry as experts take years to train. To provide a transparent twenty-first-century buying and selling process, we must deliver huge amounts of trusted information along with payment systems that work efficiently for everyone: buyer, seller, lender, all the way through to the removal company. Reynolds explains in detail the steps needed to achieve this, including a fascinating history of how the system works now and why it is like it is. He also explains changes such as smart data and AI that will dramatically impact on the property industry, and he shows readers how, through collaboration, change can make a positive difference for all. This is an essential read for those that want to take the necessary steps to deliver the very best service to buyers and sellers in the future.’ — Kate Faulkner OBE, leading property expert and commentator

‘Buying a home is one of the last consumer experiences to be properly digitized, and in his magnificent book, Reynolds sets out why that is and what the process will look like in the future. It’s a bold undertaking, but Reynolds has one of those rare intellects that is capable of distilling huge complexity into breathtaking simplicity. He illuminates the whole landscape and sets out bold new solutions to age-old problems. This is a visionary work: a manifesto for the digitization of the property market, and an invitation to commerce and government to collaborate (or “coadjute”, as he likes to say) and make home moving an easier, faster and more transparent process for everyone involved.’ — Dan Salmons, CEO, Coadjute

‘It’s hard to think of an area more in need of digitization than the UK housing market. In Digital Bricks and Mortar, John Reynolds provides an excellent overview of the why, the what and the how. He boils it all down into the key insights you really need to understand the space and the urgency, and just how critical it is to the fabric of the UK economy.’ — Jesper Fogstrup, former COO and managing director, Compare the Market

‘Digital Bricks and Mortar is a great resource for anyone interested in the UK housing industry. With its clear, engaging style and visionary insights, this book addresses the current inefficiencies and complexities of home buying, and it outlines very clearly how technology (including distributed ledger mechanisms) can transform the process. The author underscores the importance of user experience and the need for a customer-centric approach throughout. The book turns complex digital concepts into practical, actionable strategies, relevant to buyers, sellers, agents and legal professionals. It’s a must-read for professionals eager to streamline their operations and enhance transparency. The included case studies also serve to alleviate fears and scepticism by showing that successful digital transformations are not just possible, but have already been achieved elsewhere.’ — Elizabeth G. Chambers, fintech investor and board director at TSB Bank, Currensea and Wise plc

‘John Reynolds starts by reminding us of the innovations we have collectively delivered throughout history, and then, having set this context, he helps us see into the next phases of innovation in property and money, enabling their digitization and improved interoperability. I thoroughly enjoyed Reynolds’s insights and approach, and I recommend that others who want to be among the first to understand the next steps in this digitization journey read this book. I am very excited to work with Reynolds and fellow readers, innovators and collaborators to bring some of this vision to life.’ — Peter Left, digital and markets innovation leader at Lloyds Banking Group

‘Many scale-ups have tried and failed to “solve” the UK property market’s challenges. Praetura have supported Reynolds and the Coadjute team because they think of the housing market’s challenges on a macro scale, working with incumbents and not against them. Reynolds’s knowledge of digital property has been integral to bringing this dream to life. This book is a must-read for anyone looking to understand more about the power technological innovation can have in this space and what is practically required to get there.’ — Andy Barrow, Partner, Praetura Ventures

‘Providing invaluable insights into the future of home buying and digitization, this is a must-read for anyone working in the UK property industry. Despite being one of the most important purchases of our life, the home-buying experience is fraught with complexity. The gaps and what is needed to address them are laid bare in this book, with clear explanations and context in an increasingly digital world. We’ve made exceptional progress on collaboration, digitization and interoperability, but the vision can only be realized with the commitment and enterprise of industry visionaries like Reynolds.’ — Maria Harris, founder and chair of the Open Property Data Association

‘Despite what many people think, the practice of conveyancing – and of the home moving process more generally – is complex and multilayered. It therefore takes confidence and a deep understanding of how change can be made if we are to avoid undermining public faith in the systems as they currently operate. Reynolds is to be congratulated on producing a considered and very thought-provoking analysis – one that will hopefully result in real and long-lasting change for the benefit of consumers and those involved in advising them when buying and selling property.’ — Stewart Brymer OBE, honorary professor in law at the University of Dundee and conveyancing expert

About the author

John Reynolds is a visionary leader who is revolutionizing the property market as co-founder and COO of Coadjute, an award-winning platform backed by industry giants Rightmove, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide and NatWest. Across a distinguished twenty-five-year career leading large-scale digital transformation initiatives across both the private and public sectors, John has collaborated with the Bank of England, HM Land Registry and Mastercard to drive groundbreaking innovation in property transactions.