What to check before buying a house in the UK
Most of the research that changes an offer can be done before you ever instruct a solicitor. Almost all of it comes from public records, and almost none of it appears in the estate agent listing.
Start with what the house last sold for
HM Land Registry publishes the price paid for property sales in England and Wales going back to 1995. Knowing the last sale price and date tells you how much the asking price has moved, whether the seller bought at the top of a cycle, and whether there has been a quick flip that might indicate work done in a hurry.
Compare it with sales on the same street rather than the same town. Streets vary enormously within a single postcode district.
Check the tenure, then check the detail
Freehold means you own the building and the land. Leasehold means you own the right to occupy for a fixed term. For a leasehold home the term left on the lease matters more than almost anything else, because short leases get expensive to extend and can be difficult to mortgage.
- How many years remain on the lease
- The annual ground rent and service charge, and how fast they have risen
- Whether there is a managing agent and what the recent major works history is
- For a flat, whether the leaseholders own the freehold between them
Read the energy certificate before the viewing
The EPC tells you the wall type, loft insulation depth, glazing, heating system and controls. That single page turns a viewing from a decorating exercise into a proper inspection, because you can ask why a certificate records single glazing when the windows in the photographs look new.
Flood risk, in three separate questions
Flooding is not one risk. Ask about rivers and the sea, surface water, and reservoirs separately. Surface water flooding catches out buyers on high ground, because it is about drainage and hard surfaces rather than proximity to a river.
Crime, schools and the things you cannot see on a Tuesday viewing
Street level crime figures are published monthly by police forces and give you a picture of what is reported around the address over time. Read the trend and the mix of categories rather than the headline count. A high count in a town centre postcode with mostly shoplifting is a different thing from a rising burglary count on a residential street.
For schools, check the phase you actually need, the distance, and the most recent inspection outcome. Admission is not decided by distance alone, so treat catchment claims in listings with caution and check the school's own published criteria.
Planning history and what the neighbours are allowed to do
Planning applications are public. They tell you whether the extension was approved, whether an application was refused, and what is being proposed nearby. A pending application for a large development behind the garden is the sort of thing that is much cheaper to discover before you offer.
Work out the running costs, not just the mortgage
| Cost | Where to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Council tax | The band on the public valuation list | Bands are fixed to the property, not the owner |
| Energy | EPC estimated costs and fabric detail | A solid wall home can cost far more to heat |
| Water | Whether the property is metered | Large homes with few occupants usually gain from a meter |
| Service charge | Lease and management pack | Flats only, and it can rise sharply |
| Insurance | Flood and subsidence history | Past claims follow the building |
A sensible order to do it in
- 1Before booking a viewing: sold price history, EPC, council tax band, flood risk
- 2Before offering: crime trend, planning history, schools, transport, tenure detail
- 3After offer accepted: survey, searches, and the questions your research raised
The first two stages cost nothing but time, and they are the ones that change the number you write down.
Check this for a real address
Enter any address in England or Wales and we pull the energy certificate, sale history, council tax band, flood and crime data, schools and neighbourhood context into a single report.
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