What to check before buying a house
A house is the biggest purchase most people ever make, often on remarkably little hard information. These are the checks worth doing before you make an offer, while you can still negotiate or walk away.
In short: before you offer, check the legal facts (tenure, lease length, owner), the financial facts (what it last sold for, what it's worth, running costs) and the location (flood, planning, schools). Most of this is on public record, and a property report pulls it together for one address.
1. The legal facts
- Freehold or leasehold? If leasehold, how many years are left? A short lease is expensive to extend and can affect a mortgage.
- Who owns it, and are there any charges, covenants or rights of way on the title that could limit what you do?
2. The price
- What did it last sell for, and when? Straight from HM Land Registry.
- What did similar homes nearby achieve? Your single best guide to a fair offer.
- What's an independent valuation, as a check against the asking price?
3. The running costs
- The EPC rating and estimated energy bills.
- The council-tax band, and the rebuild cost for insurance.
4. The location
- Flood and environmental risk, including surface water, not just rivers.
- Planning nearby, applications that could change your view or your street.
- Schools, catchments, transport and crime for the immediate area.
5. The building itself
The checks above are desktop research. The one thing they can't tell you is the physical condition of the building, that's what a survey is for, and it comes later, before exchange. Use the early checks to decide whether a property is worth a survey at all.
Run the desktop checks in one go
Title, valuation, sold prices, flood, planning, schools and more for any UK address, before you offer.
Explore property reportsFrequently asked questions
What should I check before making an offer on a house?
The desktop checks you can do before spending on solicitors: tenure and lease length, who owns it, what it last sold for and what similar homes achieved, flood risk, nearby planning, the EPC and council-tax band. These tell you whether the price is fair and whether there are any red flags.
What checks can I do myself before buying?
More than most people realise. Title and tenure, sold-price history, flood risk, planning applications, EPC, school catchments and crime data are all on public record, and a property report gathers them for a single address in one go.
Do I still need a survey if I get a property report?
Yes, they're different. A property report covers the legal, financial and locational facts; a survey is a physical inspection of the building's condition by a chartered surveyor. Use a report early to decide whether to proceed, then a survey before exchange.
When should I do these checks?
As early as possible, ideally before you make an offer, or at least before you instruct a solicitor. That's when the information is most valuable, because you can still negotiate or walk away cheaply.