Five official property data sources, from Price Paid Data to the Companies House register

The phrase property creators best tools can suggest a ranking the evidence cannot support; this unranked desk list has five useful official sources for checking bounded statements about property in England.

Researched on 5 September 2026 from free services run by government departments, agencies or public bodies. Paid datasets, supplier platforms, local-authority portals and Scotland-only services were excluded.

No source was tested and no entry proves a live property description by itself. Selection was based on official ownership, relevance to a distinct verification task, published scope and visible limitations. Users must check the live record, licence and update notice.

What to take away

1. HM Land Registry Price Paid Data

The Price Paid Data downloads cover residential sales for value lodged for registration in England and Wales. The page provides monthly and full files, but warns that recent material can be incomplete and that the dataset has exclusions. It is useful for a dated statement about a recorded transaction, not a valuation or proof of every sale.

Save the file edition, transaction row, price unit, category and extraction date. The page also identifies licensing limits affecting address information and linked identifiers, so do not assume every field can be republished under one blanket licence.

2. Planning Data

The official Planning Data documentation describes downloadable datasets and an API for planning and housing information in England. The service is useful for finding candidate records and normalised fields across participating areas.

Coverage varies by dataset and location. Its documentation says that no returned result does not mean no relevant constraint exists. Record the dataset, responsible organisation, coverage date and query, then confirm a material statement with the competent planning authority or source document. The service's terms also note that content may change or be removed.

3. Find an energy certificate

The government's energy certificate search covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland; Scotland uses a different service. It can locate an EPC, display energy certificate or air-conditioning report by address or certificate number.

Match the exact property and certificate number, note the issue and expiry information shown, and preserve the retrieved record. Do not turn a rating into a claim about present bills, comfort, value or future works. Those conclusions require separate evidence and suitable expertise.

4. Check long-term flood risk

The Environment Agency's long-term flood-risk service is for locations in England and combines stated flood sources. Its boundary is unusually important: the service says it does not tell a user whether an individual property will flood and does not cover every cause, such as blocked drains or burst pipes.

Use it to describe the service's area-risk output with its date and source type. Do not claim that a home is flood-free or certain to flood. Where history matters, the agency provides a separate flooding-history request, which may still be incomplete.

5. Companies House register

Companies House explains that its company information service provides public UK company records, including status, registered office, filings and officers. It is useful for checking the legal identity stated by a supplier or property business.

The register records filed information and warns that the service is not comprehensive. It does not establish service quality, professional competence, authorisation, beneficial conduct or regulatory permission. Capture the company number and filing date, then check the responsible professional or regulatory register for any separate status claim.

Apply a two-stage check

First, record what the selected official service actually reports, preserving geography, identifier, date, unit and limitation. Second, ask whether that record supports the exact sentence proposed for publication. If the statement extends beyond the source, narrow it or obtain competent additional evidence.

The property evidence editor owns this check; rights and data reuse need separate review. Advertising, estate-agency, FCA financial-promotion, privacy, security and accessibility gates remain open until named specialists clear the real asset. Recheck every source on publication day because coverage, methods and terms can change.

Before you act

Common questions

What does Price Paid Data actually cover?

It covers residential sales for value lodged for registration in England and Wales, with monthly and full files. The page warns that recent material can be incomplete and that the dataset has exclusions. It supports a dated statement about a recorded transaction, not a valuation or proof of every sale.

Can the long-term flood-risk service say whether a specific home will flood?

No. The Environment Agency service is for locations in England and combines stated flood sources. It says it does not tell a user whether an individual property will flood and does not cover every cause, such as blocked drains or burst pipes. Use it only to describe area-risk output with its date and source type.

What does the Companies House register not establish?

It records filed information and warns the service is not comprehensive. It does not establish service quality, professional competence, authorisation, beneficial conduct or regulatory permission. Capture the company number and filing date, then check the responsible professional or regulatory register for any separate status claim.