How much is my house worth?
We will show you what homes near you actually sold for, taken straight from the HM Land Registry record. Not an estimate from an algorithm that has never seen your house. The real evidence a valuer starts the job with.
Why sold prices are only the starting point
Sold prices are the strongest evidence there is, and they are still not a valuation. Here is what the register does not record, and what a valuer is doing when they adjust for it.
Condition
Two identical houses on the same street can differ by tens of thousands on condition alone. The register records what was paid; it does not record that the roof was replaced last year, or that the rear elevation is holding damp. Nothing in this data knows the state of the building.
Accommodation and size
Price Paid Data has no floor area and no room count. A three-bed semi that has been extended into a five-bed and a three-bed semi that has not appear identically here. This is the single biggest reason automated estimates drift.
Plot, aspect and outlook
A corner plot with a south-facing garden and a mid-terrace backing onto a railway line can share a postcode and a property type. Position within the street is a real adjustment and it is invisible in the numbers.
Tenure and what comes with it
Leasehold sales are recorded as leasehold, but not the unexpired term, the ground rent or the service charge — and a short lease can move value more than any amount of decoration. Freehold sales say nothing about rights of way, shared drives or covenants.
When you need a figure that will stand up
Probate and inheritance tax, capital gains, separation, shared ownership, Help to Buy redemption, transfers between parties. In each of these the figure has to satisfy someone other than you. An online estimate and an agent's appraisal will not do it, because neither is independent and neither is Red Book compliant.
A formal valuation is carried out by an RICS Registered Valuer who inspects the property, analyses the comparable evidence properly, and signs the figure. Guide range £245 to £795 inc VAT, confirmed in writing before anything is booked.
Buying rather than valuing? A Level 2 or Level 3 surveyis the one that tells you about condition.
Where to research further
All free, all official, none of them ours.
- HM Land Registry Price Paid DataThe official register of completed sales in England and Wales. The same source this tool queries.
- UK House Price IndexMonthly index of price movement by local authority. Useful for direction of travel, not for a specific house.
- ONS housing statisticsIndependent national and regional data, including private rents and affordability.
- Find an energy certificateAn existing EPC lists floor area and construction — the size information Price Paid Data lacks.
Common questions
How can I find out what my house is worth for free?
Start with what houses near you actually sold for. HM Land Registry records every completed sale in England and Wales, and the tool on this page searches those records around your postcode. That gives you evidence rather than an estimate. What it cannot tell you is how your house compares to those sales in condition, size and position, which is where a valuation begins rather than ends.
Are online house valuations accurate?
They are estimates produced from sold prices and property attributes, with no inspection behind them. They are reasonable for a conventional house on an estate of similar houses, and they drift badly on anything unusual: extended properties, non-standard construction, short leases, or houses in materially better or worse condition than their neighbours. No automated estimate can be relied on for probate, tax, matrimonial or shared-ownership purposes.
What is the difference between a valuation and a survey?
A valuation answers what the property is worth on a given date. A survey answers what condition it is in and what needs doing. They are different pieces of work, and a survey is not a valuation even though it may mention value. If you need a figure you can rely on formally, you need a Red Book valuation by an RICS Registered Valuer.
When do I need a formal RICS valuation?
When the figure has to stand up to someone else: probate and inheritance tax, capital gains, matrimonial and separation matters, shared ownership staircasing, Help to Buy redemption, transfers between parties, and some lending and company purposes. An estate agent appraisal and an online estimate are neither independent nor Red Book compliant, and are usually rejected for these.
Does a sold price tell me what my house is worth today?
It tells you what a buyer paid for that house, on that date, in that condition. It is the strongest single piece of evidence available and it is still only a starting point. A valuer adjusts recorded sales for date, condition, accommodation and position before arriving at a figure for a specific property.