Barclays, RBS, Clifford Chance join blockchain trial to streamline property sales

Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and law-firm Clifford Chance are among 40 companies trialling a new blockchain platform that could streamline buying a property, Bloomberg reports. R3-backed startup Instant Property Network (IPN) is using distributed ledger technology to reduce the time it takes to buy a house—to weeks instead of months.

According to IPN, the platform could potentially save $160 billion globally by providing a secure and trusted record of all the information necessary to buy a property on one platform. In theory, this could eliminate some middlemen and save time, simplifying the purchasing process.  

The company is planning to launch a beta version of the platform in September.

“Property is an industry that is ripe for this [technology], where a complex difficult process for customers could be made cheaper and more transparent,’’ said Dan Salmons, director for mortgage innovation at RBS.