Valuations between estate agents can vary wildly, but a raft of high-tech websites now give you access to the kind of detailed house price data that was once the preserve of agents and mortgage lenders. It’s possible not only have a nose at what neighbours have got for their houses, but look at future predictions and even get a free online house price valuation.

  • Check how much houses in any street sold for

    While some websites try and charge for this information, you can get it speedily and for free from Nethouseprices or Houseprices. Simply enter a postcode or street and they list which properties sold and for what, plus allow you to narrow the search by house age and style. The sites take their data from the Land Registry and the Registers of Scotland.

    To take it a step further, Houseprices also plots houses and prices on a Google map. Just click on one of the pins and it’ll show all the info and sale price for that particular house.

  • Get an instant online 'valuation'

    There are a couple of sites offering free online tools that will value your house. Yet it's important you take these with a pint pot, not a pinch, of salt. Any slight variation from the norm and they're way off, so only use these as a guide and a bit of fun rather than a fully reliable source.

    The first to try is Zoopla.co.uk. Type in a postcode and it will give you a rough indication of sales prices for that area. You can then select a home in that street and answer questions to get a bespoke online valuation based on previous sale prices and market climate; you will have to login to do this though. Alternatively, there's Propertypriceadvice: it's slightly quicker and easier to work through, though asks less questions. It also requires your e-mail address to get its full valuation.

    There are also paid for reports out there from Mouseprice and Hometrack for around twenty pounds. As the accuracy of online valuations is still highly questionable, if you want one, stick with the free ones.

  • Property Price Trends

    For some serious data on price trends, the Land Registry’s House Price Index gives average house prices by country and region, breaking them down into different property types. Stats geeks will enjoy Lloyds' housing research, which features its official house price index, a regional house price map and average prices by postcode, closely followed by Nationwide's similar research.

  • Property Price Predictions

    No one can tell you what's going to happen to house prices, though many will try. I remember doing an ITV News debate with a senior estate agent, and a City economist. The first predicted strong house price growth, the other a 30% crash. I said "anyone who tells you what will happen to house prices is talking nonsense; no one knows". To which they both said "rubbish!"

    Property is an asset just like any other, and just as no one can always call the stock market right, the same's true of property. Yet if you're looking to see what the pundits predict, a useful place to do that is Housepricecrash. It's an website with a pro-property price crash agenda. Yet don’t be put off by this: it also collects statistics from places like the Land Registry, the Financial Times and Hometrack to track house price trends. Plus it tracks house price predictions from different experts to give an idea of what the future might hold.

  • Find properties that have dropped their asking prices

    A clever little website, Propertysnake, shows which properties in an area have recently dropped their asking prices, and by how much. Type in a postcode to see who’s having trouble offloading their house and what percentage they’ve trimmed the price by - a useful bargaining chip in purchase negotiations.
  • COMPILED BY MONEYSAVING EXPERT

 
 
13th October 2009

New EU proposals could force landlords to alter rental properties for disabled tenants they may never have.

The UK's current regulations require certain changes to be made to a property to cater for the needs of a disabled tenant.

However, regulations by the European Commission could mean changes would have to be made in all rental properties, irrespective of whether the present tenants require them.

Necessary changes could include external ramps, and adapted bathroom and kitchen facilities among other points.

There is worry from some sectors who believe that the legislation would mean an unnecessary expense for landlords.  There is also concern that it could turn investors away from buy-to-lets, exacerbating the housing shortage in much of the UK.

Richard Jones of the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) states: "This is particularly wasteful and excessive when landlords cannot possibly know in advance what work may be needed to cater for a tenant who, in most cases, will probably never appear anyway."

This opinion is shared by Stephen Parry of property law experts, Landlord Assist: "We are being told of a housing shortage and therefore government initiatives should encourage the development of the private rented sector."

However, as a directive it would be meant only as a guideline. Each government would have significant flexibility in to the extent to which it is enforced.  The government has so far not commented on how it would respond to the legislation if passed.

Compiled by LUDLOW THOMPSON ESTATE AGENT