The Minister for Finance, Services and Property, Dominic Perrottet has announced reforms to separate the regulatory and operational functions of Land and Property Information NSW (LPI), which will include a new and transparent pricing framework, with a planned implementation by February 2016.

Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian said the NSW Government was launching a comprehensive scoping study to investigate future options for LPI including possible private investment.

“This scoping study will examine whether the private sector is better positioned than Government to run the operational side of LPI’s business in an efficient and cost effective way,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“Any potential future private sector involvement in LPI will only proceed should the scoping study conclude that it is in the best interest of the people of NSW and the agency’s workers in Sydney, Bathurst and across regional NSW.”

The developments come as residential sales history data will now be available free of charge on the NSW Globe application as part of a NSW Government reform package that aims to bring property information services into the digital age.

“Today we are meeting our election commitment to make sales data available for free and in an open format by the end of October 2015,” Minister Perrottet said.

“Consumers expect the latest information at their fingertips anywhere, anytime – we are pleased to help them make affordable and informed choices when buying and selling property.”

Minister Perrottet said the Government was looking to further reform LPI so that it continues to provide innovative and up to date data.

The first plank of this reform will be a structural separation of LPI’s operational and regulatory arms by early next year, along with a more transparent pricing framework.

“We hope these reforms will align LPI with international best practice, allowing it to respond more effectively to emerging trends in the property industry,” he said.