UK’s first residential property sale recorded in blockchain

A Manchester-based property firm says it is the first to record the online exchange of a home using blockchain technology.

HS Property Group used the Clicktopurchase blockchain platform to sell a four-bedroom investment property in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The house sold for £116,500.

Heralded by many as the future of finance and real estate, blockchain technology has attracted headlines recently as volatile cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are underpinned by this mechanism, thus enabling technologies such as peer-to-peer financial transactions, without a third party mediator.

Guy Horne, director and co-founder of HS Property Group, commented: “Using blockchain technology will be the future of property transactions. The speed and transparency it offers will democratise property investment worldwide.

“As a company which prides itself on innovation, we want to offer our global investor network a more straightforward and secure method to purchase residential investments without compromising any legal safeguards.”

Neil Singer, CEO of Clicktopurchase, added: “Some of the biggest problems the property industry faces is the length of time it takes to exchange contracts along with the lack of certainty. Real estate transactions can be complex but by using blockchain the process is significantly quicker.”

Meanwhile, across the pond a woman from Vermont became the first person to sell a residential property on the Blockchain in the US. Katherine Purcell sold her home in February using the Etherium blockchain, through a pilot scheme with San Francisco proptech company, Propy.

The first ever property to be sold via blockchain was in November 2017, when Ukrainian developer Mark Ginsburg sold an apartment in Kiev to Michael Arrington, co-founder of the tech news site TechCrunch, for $60,000. This transaction was also completed through Propy.

Blockchain helps facilitate a quicker and safer method of buying and selling property, as all transactions – from making the offer through to a legally binding exchange of contracts – are recorded on an immutable ledger.

Experts say that using a blockchain makes the transaction much simpler, while delivering certainty, transparency and accountability. Blockchain enables distant buyers to transact as easily as a local purchaser and brings the huge benefits of liquidity and flexibility.