Before you commit to a price, every one of these can be checked for nothing from official sources. Doing them takes under an hour and is the cheapest leverage you will ever have in a negotiation.
The pre-offer checklist
| Check | Why it matters | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sold prices on the street | The only recorded evidence of what people actually pay here | Land Registry Price Paid Data |
| EPC and floor area | Running costs, upgrade spend, and a free size measure for comparison | GOV.UK energy certificate register |
| Council tax band | A recurring annual cost, and a clue to how the property was originally valued | Valuation Office Agency listing |
| Long-term flood risk | Affects insurance, lending and resale | Environment Agency (England) or the national equivalent |
| Recorded crime nearby | Context on the immediate area, read as counts not rates | data.police.uk |
| Planning history and constraints | What has been refused here, and what you could do later | Council register and planning.data.gov.uk |
| Tenure and title entries | Lease length, covenants and rights — the expensive surprises | HM Land Registry title register |
None of this replaces a survey or a conveyancer. What it does is tell you which questions to ask them, and whether the asking price already reflects a problem everybody else can see.
Do the checks before you offer, not after. Once you are under offer the information is exactly as useful but your negotiating position is weaker.
Check it yourself, free
Run the free checks on any postcode — no account, no email wall.
Sources
- GOV.UK — Search for property information
- GOV.UK — Find an energy certificate
- GOV.UK — Check your long-term flood risk
Related
- How to check the sold price history of any address
- What a conveyancer's searches actually cover
- How to read a title register
- Property research hub
Last reviewed: 2026-09-20. We check these against the linked official sources and re-date the page when they change.