Conveyancing services provider LMS is one of the most forward-thinking companies in the industry today.
After years of investment, the company now finds itself at the vanguard of technological transformation, with a revolution in speed and efficiency set to transform the property transaction landscape over the next couple of years.
LMS’s overall mission is to make conveyancing easy for lenders, law firms, brokers, estate agents and customers, and Novus has helped the business tackle three key challenges to make that happen. Here we explore that work in detail.
“Their industry knowledge and advice has been invaluable. They help us spot where R&D is needed early, get to proof of concept quickly, and focus on the ideas with the biggest potential.” - Nick Chadbourne, CEO of LMS
Creating an internal AI capability
Firstly, the company could see the potential of AI and wanted to build its own AI practice to begin developing new use cases for the technology. The aim was to future-proof the business and identify key areas of investment for new products and services.
How did we help?
We helped distil down the key aims and advised on how this new AI practice would need to be built from the ground up, covering not just its structure and approach but its staffing and expertise too. Working with Novus’s own AI specialists, the result is an AI practice that is at the forefront of innovation, mapping customer journeys and data lakes to create new products that make the most of the latest Large Language Model (LLM) capabilities.
National Property Transaction Network (NPTN) by LMS
LMS had been a keen participant in industry-wide synchronisation initiatives in the past, and could see that inefficiency was holding the whole property transaction and conveyancing process back.
The company had long worked to make the conveyancing process more efficient using its own network of lenders, law firms, brokers, estate agents and partners. But CEO Nick Chadbourne believed the business could play an even more important role by creating a network that was open to anyone in the industry to use.
The result was the National Property Transaction Network (NPTN), an initiative that not only improves coordination through real-time data sharing between parties but allows them to share data that has been pre-authenticated, such as an identity check. NPTN acts as the trusted third party that manages and validates all that data.
The impact of NPTN’s pilot, which began in late 2024, is hard to overstate, with cancellation rates cut by 43% and a 35% reduction in the time it takes to get from Sold Subject to Contract (SSTC) to exchange.
NPTN is an example of what is known as Horizontal Digital Integration (HDI). HDI is a concept we developed and is therefore one of our main areas of expertise. It’s characterised by open networks and data standards that, in the homebuying space, unlock transparency and information sharing across all businesses involved in a transaction. In NPTN’s case, these standards originate with the Open Property Data Association (OPDA) and the Property Data Trust Framework (PDTF).
What is Horizontal Digital Integration (HDI)? HDI = open networks and data standards. It unlocks transparency, information sharing and the ability to use data permissions and verification again and again across all businesses involved in a transaction.
What did we do?
We were involved right from the beginning, helping to devise the strategy that would see LMS become synonymous with industry transformation, through a bold move to open the market and democratise access to its network. This extended to helping to make the business case for the project, guiding the go-to-market strategy and shaping the network’s mechanics in a way that would maximise participation and adoption.
The NPTN Sandbox
We also played an important strategic role in the creation of The NPTN Sandbox by LMS. This is where lenders and other participants can test different AI, HDI and open data standard use cases in a safe environment using synthesised data. Imagined gains such as the effect on cancellation rates and time-to-exchange can be verified before innovations are taken into the real world. Examples of these use cases are digital ID verification and Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES), two important cornerstones of HDI that have already been rigorously tested in the Sandbox.
We supported the LMS team that built the Sandbox in ensuring it was fit for purpose, scalable and suited the needs of the different types of participants.
Nick Chadbourne, CEO of LMS, said: “Working with Novus means we can move fast. They help us spot where R&D is needed early, get to proof of concept quickly, and focus on the ideas with the biggest potential.
Their advice and industry knowledge have been invaluable, and their agile way of working fits naturally with us. From designing processes to embedding expertise directly into our team, Novus gives us the flexibility to scale as opportunities arise.
AI is central to our future, and we believe it will fundamentally reshape our industry. Our AI practice is a core part of LMS and will feed into both NPTN and our core business. Novus helps us move product development forward quickly, while keeping the right balance of risk, governance, and innovation.
Most importantly, they understand where we’re heading. They help us bridge gaps, seize opportunities, and bring fresh external knowledge — particularly around Horizontal Digital Integration. As we expand our offering across the industry, their experience with lenders, brokers, and other stakeholders gives us the insights we need to build products that work in the real world.”
Novus Strategy is the UK’s only strategic consultancy dedicated to providing the property industry with the intelligence and know-how it needs to reduce friction, cost and delay using Horizontal Digital Integration (HDI). If you want to talk to us about how we can help your business succeed, use our contact form or feel free to email us at hello@novus-strategy.com.
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