Residential Open Data
DraftA machine-readable representation of renting and letting representation connections.
Purpose
Residential Open Data is a machine-readable way to represent the profiles and connections involved in renting and letting: renters, landlords, letting agents and the representation connections between them.
Scope
Covers the representation connection (an agent authorised to act for a renter or a landlord) and the claims that support it. It does not cover listings, pricing, availability or the mechanics of a tenancy: those stay product-specific.
Motivation
Rentiful, a Beautiful-built product, needs a way to represent "this agent is authorised to act for this renter" that is not locked inside Rentiful itself. Residential Open Data lets that representation connection be published and checked independently of Rentiful, so other letting products can read and interoperate with it. Rentiful is a reference implementation, never the standard itself.
Guiding principles
- The standard represents the connection, not the listing or the transaction.
- An agent's authority to represent a renter or landlord is a delegation: signed, scoped and revocable, not a label.
- Residential Open Data commoditises the representation data. It does not compete with the judgement, negotiation and trust an agent provides.
Current status
Draft. No published technical specification yet. Rentiful is expected to be the first product to consume it.
Repository
Not yet published.
Discussion
Not yet open. A discussion venue will be announced alongside the first published specification.