UK Property Research
These are resources I actually use when researching UK property — checking a deal, checking a compliance requirement, or checking who owns what. Not a directory of the best property websites, and not exhaustive.
Portals and market data are a starting point, not a source of truth. Official registers and local-authority pages are the ones worth trusting first.
UK's largest property portal.
What I use it for: First stop for listings and sold-price comparables when sizing up a deal or an area.
Alternative property portal with strong historical price data.
What I use it for: Cross-checking Rightmove — the historical price trend view sometimes surfaces things a single comparable misses.
Official title register and sold-price data for England and Wales.
What I use it for: Checking real ownership, registered title, and actual sold prices before trusting a portal estimate.
Official government guidance on a landlord's legal responsibilities when renting out a property in England.
What I use it for: The baseline reference for landlord obligations before relying on anything secondary.
Official GOV.UK guidance on the three government-backed deposit protection schemes.
What I use it for: Confirming the legal requirement — any deposit has to sit in one of these, no exceptions.
The official GOV.UK EPC lookup service for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
What I use it for: Checking a property's actual current EPC rating rather than trusting a listing's claim.
The official UK register of gas engineers.
What I use it for: Verifying an engineer's registration before any gas work — the annual landlord safety check is a legal requirement, not optional.
Guidance body for UK electrical safety, including EICR requirements.
What I use it for: Understanding what an EICR inspection actually covers and finding an approved contractor.
Sheffield-specific guidance on HMO and selective licensing.
What I use it for: Checking current licensing requirements for a Sheffield postcode directly, since these schemes change.
The UK's official planning application and guidance service.
What I use it for: Checking planning history and permitted development rules before assuming a deal's numbers work.
Once the research checks out, the numbers still need to work — that's what Deal Analyser is for. Real writing on what I've actually learned researching UK property is in Property Notes.