Quick answer
To check a house before buying in England, look up what it last sold for on HM Land Registry's free price data,1 its long-term flood risk on GOV.UK,2 its EPC rating,3 whether it is listed or in a conservation area,4 planning applications on the council's site, and its council tax band.5 All of these are free and take under an hour. Then pay for a survey, and let your conveyancer run the legal searches.
Key takeaways
- Sold prices: free from HM Land Registry, every sale in England and Wales since January 1995.1
- Flood risk: GOV.UK's long-term flood risk service covers rivers and sea, surface water and reservoirs.2
- EPC: free on the GOV.UK register; valid for 10 years.3
- Listed status: the National Heritage List for England; conservation areas from the council.4
- Council tax band, broadband, crime and planning applications are all free to check online.5
- None of this replaces a survey or your conveyancer's searches; it tells you what to ask before you pay for them.
Most buyers spend hours on viewings and minutes on records. The records are where the expensive surprises hide: a flood zone, a listing that blocks the extension you planned, a sale history that says the asking price is ambitious. Every check below uses free, official data.
This guide is for homes in England. Wales shares the Land Registry price data and the EPC register but has its own flood maps (Natural Resources Wales) and heritage list (Cadw). Scotland has separate registers for all of them.
Which checks can you do yourself before an offer?
Work through the list in this order. The first four can change the price you offer or whether you offer at all; the rest change what it costs to live there.
| Check | Where (free) | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Last sale price | HM Land Registry price data | What the seller paid, and when |
| 2. Nearby sales | HM Land Registry price data | What similar homes on the street went for |
| 3. Flood risk | GOV.UK long-term flood risk | Rivers and sea, surface water, reservoirs |
| 4. EPC rating | GOV.UK Find an energy certificate | Band A–G, floor area, heating, upgrade costs |
| 5. Listed building | Historic England list | Grade I, II* or II, and what is protected |
| 6. Conservation area / Article 4 | Council website, Planning Data map | Limits on extensions, windows and trees |
| 7. Planning applications | Council planning search | Extensions, refusals, new building next door |
| 8. Council tax band | GOV.UK council tax bands | Band A–H and the yearly bill |
| 9. Broadband and mobile | Ofcom checker | Speeds available at the address |
| 10. Crime | Police.uk | Street-level crime by month |
| 11. Coal mining and radon | Mining Remediation Authority map, UKHSA | Ground and radon risks in affected areas |
| 12. Tenure and lease | Ask the agent; title register £7 | Freehold or leasehold, years left, charges |
Checks 1–4 are free. The title register (check 12) costs £7 from HM Land Registry; a radon report costs £3.90.
How do you check what the house last sold for?
Search the postcode on GOV.UK's house price data. It lists every recorded sale in England and Wales since January 1995, with the price, date, property type and whether it was new-build, freehold or leasehold.1 Recent sales take two weeks to two months to appear.
Compare the last sale with the asking price, then with sales of similar homes on the same street. If the seller bought for £280,000 in 2021 and the three similar houses nearby sold for £300,000–£310,000 this year, an asking price of £350,000 needs a reason: an extension, a refit or a bigger plot. Our guide to finding out what a house sold for shows how to read the record.
How do you check flood risk, the EPC and listed status?
Flood risk: enter the postcode on GOV.UK's Check your long term flood risk service.2 It shows the chance of flooding from rivers and the sea, surface water and reservoirs for the area. High means more than a 3.3% chance in any year. Ask the seller whether the house has ever flooded and whether insurance has been hard to get.
EPC: search the postcode on GOV.UK's Find an energy certificate.3 The certificate gives the rating, the floor area and a list of recommended improvements with estimated costs. A D-rated home that needs £8,000 of work to reach C is worth less to you than the same house rated C.
Listed status and conservation areas: search the National Heritage List for England for the address,4 then check the council's conservation area map. Both limit what you can change, and unauthorised works to a listed building are a criminal offence.
What should you check about the area and running costs?
Council tax: look up the band on GOV.UK5 and the council's charge for that band. Broadband: the Ofcom checker shows what speeds are available at the address.6 Crime: police.uk shows reported crimes by street and month, though locations are approximate.7
Planning: search the council's planning register for the address and its neighbours.8 Look for refused applications at the house (what the seller could not get permission for), recent extensions (ask for the approval and building regulations sign-off) and large schemes nearby.
Ground: in former coalfields, check the Mining Remediation Authority's free map;9 your conveyancer will order a mining report if the home is in the reporting area. In some areas a radon report from UKHSA costs £3.90.10
Checklist: what to do with what you find
Write down anything that worries you and turn it into a question for the agent before you offer: why the price is well above the last sale, whether the house has flooded, when the boiler was replaced, whether the extension has building regulations sign-off. Our list of questions to ask before making an offer covers the rest.
After your offer is accepted, a survey checks the building's condition, and your conveyancer's searches check the title, the local authority's records, drainage and environmental risk for the exact address. The free checks tell you which of those to worry about, and whether to spend money on them for this house at all.
What do these free checks not tell you?
They do not check the building's condition (that is the survey's job), confirm who owns the boundaries or rights of way (the title and your conveyancer), or replace local authority searches, which pick up road schemes, enforcement notices and other records about the exact address.
Sale price records also leave out some transfers, such as gifts and inheritances, and data for the last couple of months is incomplete. Treat a missing sale as a question, not a fact.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I check a house's history for free?+
Mostly, yes. Sold prices, flood risk, the EPC, listed status, planning applications, council tax band, broadband and crime data are all free online. The title register costs £7 from HM Land Registry.
Should I do these checks before or after making an offer?+
Before. They take under an hour, and what you find can change your offer. After your offer is accepted, pay for a survey and let your conveyancer run the legal searches.
Do these checks replace a survey?+
No. A survey inspects the building. These checks use public records about the address and area. You need both.
Does this work for Wales and Scotland?+
Wales uses the same Land Registry price data and EPC register, but flood maps come from Natural Resources Wales and listed buildings from Cadw. Scotland has its own registers for sales, energy certificates and flood risk.
What is the quickest single check?+
The last sale price. It tells you what the seller paid and when, and puts the asking price in context in seconds.
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OfficialThe figures and rules on this page are drawn from the official UK government sources below. Rates are the confirmed 2026/27 amounts. Each link opens the relevant official page in a new tab.
- GOV.UK: Search house price data (HM Land Registry) www.gov.uk/search-house-prices Free sold prices for England and Wales from January 1995.
- GOV.UK: Check your long term flood risk check-long-term-flood-risk.service.gov.uk Rivers and sea, surface water and reservoirs; high, medium, low and very low.
- GOV.UK: Find an energy certificate www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate Free search of the EPC register by postcode.
- Historic England: Search the National Heritage List for England historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/ The official register of listed buildings in England.
- GOV.UK: Check your council tax band www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands England and Wales bands, from the Valuation Office (part of HMRC from April 2026).
- Ofcom: broadband and mobile checker www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/coverage-and-speeds/ofcom-checker Broadband speeds and mobile coverage by address.
- Police.uk: crime in your area www.police.uk/pu/your-area/ Street-level crime map; locations are approximate.
- GOV.UK: Search the register of planning decisions www.gov.uk/search-register-planning-decisions Finds the council's planning applications search.
- GOV.UK: Using coal mining information (Mining Remediation Authority) www.gov.uk/guidance/using-coal-mining-information Free map and when a mining report is advised.
- UKHSA: Radon address search www.ukradon.org/services/address_search Radon risk report for one address, £3.90.
Verified against published UK government guidance. See also Methodology and Editorial standards.