Top 5 Things to Check Before Buying a House in the UK (2026)
The five checks that matter most before you offer on a UK property. Skip the rest if you have to, but do these.
Check this address before you make an offer
Flood, coal mining, radon, planning apps, crime trajectory, school catchment, investment forecast and stamp duty. £7.99, instant PDF.
1. Flood risk verdict + history
Why: Surface water flooding is now the bigger insurance problem than river flooding. The Association of British Insurers reports rising claims year-on-year. A flood-risk property may still be insurable through Flood Re, but premiums and excesses change the affordability calculation.
How: Free: Environment Agency Flood Map for Planning. Postcode-level. Or run the £7.99 Buyer Address Report — both river and surface water for the address, plus historical events and insurance impact summary.
2. Coal mining + subsidence + radon
Why: Roughly 42% of English homes sit in former coal-mining areas requiring Coal Authority notification for any works. Shrink-swell clay subsidence is the leading subsidence cause and concentrates in London, the South East and East Anglia. Radon affects parts of the South West and Pennines. Each one affects insurance and resale.
How: Free: Coal Authority basic map, BGS GeoIndex, UKRadon postcode lookup. Three sites. Or the £7.99 Buyer Report which bundles them with searches-required flags.
3. Planning applications within 500m
Why: A new estate, supermarket, mast or HMO conversion within walking distance can change the area materially within months of completion. Asking-stage disclosure rarely covers it. The local council's planning portal is public but slow to navigate.
How: Free: your local council planning portal (slow). Or the £7.99 Buyer Report which auto-aggregates live and recent decisions within 500m of the address.
4. Crime trajectory (not just current rate)
Why: Most free tools show only the current crime rate. Direction matters more than absolute number. A medium-crime postcode improving fast is often a better long-term bet than a low-crime postcode worsening fast. The 3-year trajectory tells you which way the area is heading.
How: Free: Police.uk + free area report on postcodecheck.co.uk for current rates. Or the £7.99 Buyer Report adds the 3-year violent vs property breakdown and trajectory direction.
5. School catchment probability + Ofsted
Why: Catchment areas are not legal boundaries; they are probabilistic, based on the previous year's admissions distance from each school. Two streets can sit on different sides of the same outstanding-rated school's catchment. The wrong side adds £30k-£70k to comparable house prices nearby.
How: Free: GOV.UK School Performance + your council admissions page (slow to cross-reference). Or the £7.99 Buyer Report — admission-distance probability for every nearby school, with Ofsted ratings.
Why these 5 first
They are the deal-breakers, not the negotiating chips. If your top 5 reveals a Zone 3 flood risk, a Coal Authority notification area with active mining nearby, a planning application for a 200-home estate behind, a crime trajectory worsening fast, or a catchment miss for the school you wanted — you walk. There is no point spending £400-£800 on a survey for a property you should never have offered on.
Everything else (drainage, chancel, planning history, lease terms, listed building status, conservation area) your solicitor handles at exchange.
If you have time for more
- Subsidence shrink-swell clay risk (BGS) — important in London / South East
- Comparable sold prices (Land Registry, free)
- Investment forecast + rental yield if renting it out
- Stamp duty + mortgage affordability for the actual offer price
- Broadband + mobile signal at the address (Ofcom)
The £7.99 Buyer Address Report runs all 5 above plus those nice-to-haves in one PDF.
Check this address before you make an offer
Flood, coal mining, radon, planning apps, crime trajectory, school catchment, investment forecast and stamp duty. £7.99, instant PDF.
Run the Buyer Report on the address
£7.99, instant PDF + email.