Online User Guide
The Property Price Advice service provides you with an instant, up-to-date valuation on any residential property in England, Scotland and Wales. So that we can provide you with the most accurate estimate, weve put together a User Guide, which will help you to get the most from Property Price Advice. If you need further information, please read through our Frequently Asked Questions.
Follow the links below to read up on the specified subject:
Postcode
Property Type
Property Age
Freehold or Leasehold
Number of Bedrooms
Number of
Bathrooms/Toilets
Number of Reception
Rooms
Does the Property have it's own
Garden?
Is the Garden over two
acres?
Does the Property have a shared
Garden?
Does the Property have a
Garage?
Does the property have off road
parking?
Central Heating
Unusual Features
Condition
Understanding the
Results
Stamp Duty
Postcode
You will need to enter the full postcode of the property. If you dont know the full postcode, then unfortunately we will not be able to provide you with an estimate.
Property Type
It is important that you enter the right property type, as this has a major effect on the value of a property. The Property Price Advice definitions of property types for use with our online applications are:
Terraced - a property that is joined on both sides. Townhouses (e.g houses with three or more floors) and Mews houses are also defined as Terraced if they are joined at both sides with another property.
End of Terraced - a property that is
joined on one side only by a series of terraced houses.
Semi-detached - a property that is joined on one side only either by a main wall or by a garage (this is sometimes called a link-detached by an Estate Agent)
Detached - a property that does not join a
property on either side
Apartment - a self-contained property which has its own bathroom/s, bedroom/s, kitchen and reception room/s that forms part of a building. Apartments and Masionettes are also defined as Apartments. If the Apartment has more than one level, please select the Duplex/multi level option from the Unusual Characteristics section.
Studio Flat - a self-contained property which has it's own bathroom and kitchen, but has one living area that is both a bedroom and reception room.
Bungalows are not included as a property type on their own. Please select from either a Detached, Semi-detached or Terraced property type as applicable.
Property Age
The Property Price Advice definitions of property age for use with our online applications are:
New - This means that the property has not been previously or is not currently occupied.
Less than 10 years old - As soon as a new property is bought and occupied, it will fall into this category.
Between 10 - 50 years old - The Estate Agent who is marketing the property or the current owner should be able to give you an estimate age of the property
Over 50 years old - most Character properties fall into this category. Again, either the Estate Agent who is marketing the property or the current owner should be able to give you an estimate of the age of the property.
Freehold or Leasehold
Either the Estate Agent who is marketing the property or the current owner should be able to tell you if the property is Freehold or Leasehold.
Number of Bedrooms
Please include any rooms that are currently (or could) be used as a bedroom, for example a childs nursery would be considered a bedroom, as could a second bedroom that is currently being used a study.
Number of Bathrooms/toilets
Please include any rooms in the property that have a toilet, for example a family bathroom, an en-suite bath or shower room, a shower room, a cloakroom or a w/c could all have a toilet.
Number of Reception Rooms
Please include any rooms that are not a kitchen (or part of a kitchen, such as a 'breakfast area') bathroom/toilet, bedroom or hallway. For example a lounge, dining room, study, playroom, family room or garden room are all defined as Reception Rooms.
Does the Property have it's own Garden?
Please check this box if the property has a front, back and/or side garden that is not shared with any other property. The garden may not be grass (some properties have a patio instead of a garden) but is defined as an own garden by Property Price Advice.
Is the Garden over two acres?
If the actual garden of a property is over two acres, then you will need to check this box. If the garden is under two acres, but the property has adjoining land or is situated in agricultural land, then you will need to check the own garden box, but also check the additional land/agricultural land box under the Unusual Characteristics section.
Does the Property have a shared garden?
This is particularly common in flats and other Leasehold properties. If the property does not have its own garden, but shares a garden (normally described a Communal Garden) then you need to check this box.
Does the Property have a garage?
If the property has a garage, you will need to check this box, and then in the next box tell us the number of cars that you can park in the garage.
Does the Property have off road parking?
This takes into account the amount of cars that you can park the driveway of a property and/or any allocated off-road-parking spaces that a property may have (apartments commonly have allocated parking spaces). This includes underground allocated parking spaces.
Central Heating
Property Price Advice defines central heating as either gas or electric heating that is controlled via a boiler and/or timer and is distributed throughout the property either by radiators or heaters. Please indicate the level of heating throughout the property by selecting one of the drop-down options.
Unusual Features
To give you the most accurate estimate, you will need to tell us about any Unusual Features of the property. We have provided a list of some of the types of unusual features, depending on the property type that you have selected. However, if the property has an unusual feature which is not listed, please select the other box. You can select as many unusual feature options as you wish - so its important that you select all of the unusual features of the property to make sure that your estimate is as accurate as possible.
Condition
Please select one of the drop-down options. If you select the age of the property as New, the system will automatically select Excellent in the Condition question.
Understanding the Results
When Property Price Advice gives you an estimate on the value of a property, you will actually see that three figures are provided, which are:
- Average Price This
is what we would suggest the property is worth in a reasonable
market with properties selling steadily in your area. It is also
based on a moderate demand in the local area for properties of the
same type
- Upper Price This
is what we would suggest the property would be worth in a
particularly strong market of if there was a high demand in the
local area for properties of the same type
- Lower Price This
is what we would suggest the property would be worth in a slow
market, or if there was not much demand in the local area for
properties of the same type
Depending on local market demand, it could be that the property is actually worth nearer either the Lower or Upper figures, rather than the Average figure.
In addition to the Average, Upper and Lower prices, you will see that your Property Price Advice Online Valuation is given a confidence level that provides you with an indication of how accurate the valuation range is. This confidence level is based on current data available which is relevant to the type of property that is being valued.
Property Price Advice operates within three confidence levels, which are Fair, Good and Excellent.
- An Excellent confidence level would indicate a high degree of accuracy in the valuation range
- A Good confidence level would indicate a reasonable degree of accuracy in the valuation range
- A Fair confidence level would indicate a lower but still reliable level of accuracy across the valuation range
Stamp Duty
Stamp Duty Land Tax (commonly known as Stamp Duty) is the tax paid in the UK and Wales when you buy property. At the present time, Stamp Duty is charged on a sliding scale, and a property will fall within one of the following bands:
Up to £125,000 - no Stamp Duty Payable
Between £125,001 and £250,000 - Stamp Duty Payable at 1%
Between £250,001 and £500,000 - Stamp Duty Payable at 3%
Over £500,000 - Stamp Duty Payable at 4%
These bands can also affect the marketing price of a property.
For example, if a property is valued at £255,000, anyone who purchases the property will have to pay 3% stamp duty. Therefore, an Estate Agent is likely to suggest that the property is marketed for £249,950 so that the buyer will only have to pay 1%.
Properties valued between £250,000 and £270,000 suffer from this the most, and as a result are normally marketed at a figure of £249,950, although this is generally dictated by the overall housing market.
The same is also applied to more expensive properties that are actually valued at just over £500,000 - because of the 4% Stamp Duty band payable on properties over £500,000, properties valued between £500,000 and £520,000 are generally marketed for £499,950. Again, this is recommended by Estate Agents as it is more appealing for those who may buy the property to only pay 3% Stamp Duty, rather than 4%.
It is very useful to remember the Stamp Duty thresholds when understanding and applying the estimates that the Property Price Advice has provided.
