FAQs

How can you give an accurate value by only asking a few questions?

Please see our Technical Specification document for more details.

Can I use the value that PropertyPriceAdvice has suggested instead of using an Estate Agent or Surveyor?

Whilst in theory you could market your property using the estimate value provided by Property Price Advice as a guide, if you need a valuation on a property for a mortgage lender or in order to sell the property, an inspection by either a Chartered Surveyor or Estate Agent would be advisable.

What are "reception rooms"?

A 'reception room' is defined as a room that is not a kitchen, bathroom/wc or a bedroom.  In other words a lounge, dining room, study, playroom, family room or garden room are all reception rooms.

What is a "bathroom/toilet"?

Property Price Advice uses the amount of toilets in a property as part of the value calculation.  So, as well as needing to know how many bathrooms or en-suite bath/shower rooms a property has, we also need to know if there are any additional toilets.  This means you need to count all toilets in a property, so if for example there is a 'w/c' or a 'cloakroom' with an additional toilet then this would need to be included in the total number of 'bathroom/toilets' in the property.

What is a "new" property?

The Property Price Advice definition of a 'new' property is one that has not been occupied before - in other words you would the first owner of the property.   As soon as a property is bought and occupied, it then falls into the 'less than 10 years old' category.

Why is it important to put in all of the unusual features of a property?

Unusual features have a big effect on the value of a property.  So that Property Price Advice can give you the most accurate estimate, you must enter all the unusual features of the property you want an estimate for.  We have given you a list to choose from for the various property types, but you will see that we also have included a option which says 'other' that you can use in case the unusual feature of your property is not included on our list. 

Why is "Stamp Duty" relevant to the price of the property?

Stamp Duty has a big impact on the marketing value of a property - it is common practice for Estate Agents to 'round down' the value of a property to just under the Stamp Duty threshold.  For example, a property may be valued at £260,000 but at this price, the buyer would need to pay 3% Stamp Duty.  However, if the property is valued at £249,950 the buyer will only need to pay 1%.  The Property Price Advice tool will provide you with an estimate value, but this may be affected by Stamp Duty thresholds. For more information about Stamp Duty and the current thresholds, please see our User Guide.

Why do I need to put in the full postcode of the property I want to get a value for?

Property Price Advice operates on the postcode of the property in order to generate the estimate value.  You will not be able to get an estimate price for the property if you do not know the full postcode.

The valuation isn't what I expected it to be - what does this mean?

This could be due to a number of factors:

Firstly, make sure that you have answered all of the questions correctly, and that you have checked all the relevant boxes for relating to Unusual Features. Also, check that you have the right postcode for the property, as this makes a very big difference to the values that will be returned.

If the Property Price Advice figure is substantially less that you expected, then it is likely that at this time, our available data would suggest that the property could be overpriced or that houses of a similar specification in the local area have not sold for the price you were expecting.

If the Property Price Advice figure is more than you had expected, then you may need to take into account the current seller's situation – e.g. there could be personal reasons which mean that the Vendor has to sell quickly, and therefore the property has been priced competitively for a fast sale. Alternatively, the property may need extensive renovation or repair (for example, has the property suffered from Subsidence, or is it in a regularly flooded area?) and is therefore priced to reflect this. If you suspect that the property does need a considerable amount of work or has structural problems, then we would strongly advise that you ask a registered Surveyor to provide a structural survey of the property before proceeding with your purchase.

If you have valued your own property, and the Property Price Advice figure is higher than you expected, consider when you last had the property valued, and also have you carried out any renovations or extensions to the property since you purchased it.

If you would like further information about a particular property where the Property Price Advice estimate is substantially lower than you had expected, please e-mail us at priceenquiry@propertypriceadvice.co.uk with full details of the property (including the full postal code) and we will do our best to help you.

What if I want to use Property Price Advice to value more than one property?

You can use the property price advice website to value as many properties as you wish - the service is totally free and we do not limit the number of times you can use the website!