Free House Valuation Services & Online Tools

Below is a list of free methods to finding out the value of your home- they range from utilising free valuation tools online, to booking free home visit valuations by a local expert. But first, let’s quickly look at “why”…

Why get a Property Valuation?

The most common reasons…

• First step to selling a home – finding out how much the property is actually worth before going to market.
• Useful for buyers and investors – valuations help with research and decision-making, particularly at the early stages when preparing an offer (although serious buyers should later commission a full homebuyer survey and valuation from a RICS-qualified surveyor).
• Understanding your net worth – rightly or wrongly, many of us like to know the value of our biggest asset, and a property valuation helps put that into context.
• Identifying value-adding improvements – homeowners often get a valuation to understand what changes or upgrades could help increase the property’s value.

However, that’s not to say they’re the only reasons. You don’t even need a reason, to be fair.

Fortunately, with so many useful and data rich resources available online these days, it’s never been easier to get a ballpark value of our home! As with most things in this digital age, all it takes is a few taps and clicks. Of course, the traditional route of contacting local agents to conduct valuations is still relevant and perhaps still the most reliable method, but it’s not always the easiest, or the most convenient.

Let’s take a look at some of our options…

Different Ways to Value Your Home

• 1) Free In-person Property Valuations by Online Agents
• 2) Free Online Property Valuation Tools (The Quick/Instant method)
• 3) Historical Sold House Prices
• 4) Property Portals & Current house Prices
• 5) Your Local Estate Agents

1) Free, No Obligation, In-Person Property Valuation Services

While most Online Estate Agents largely operate purely online, some of them do actually operate under a Hybrid Agency model (a ‘hybrid agent’ is a cross between an online agent and a traditional high-street agent), which essentially means they provide real in-person valuations by one of their local agents! Similarly with high-street agents, the valuations are typically free. All you need to do is go onto the online agent’s website and complete a booking form to schedule a home valuation.

Purplebricks and YOPA are examples of Hybrid agents that offer free, no obligation, in-person home valuations. Details below…

Please note, “Price” is the cost for using the agent’s services to sell your house after the valuation. You do NOT need to pay in order to get your free valuation! Whether you decide to use their services after the valuation is completely your call!

Estate Agent	Rating	Duration	Includes / Notes	Price from
PurpleBricks	Rating 3.9 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration 12 months	Includes / Notes Pay Upfront package Key features Rightmove listing Zoopla listing Photograghs Floorplan Negotiation For sale sign In-person valuation 16 weeks Sole Agency contract App - manage viewings, offers & communication with buyers *Pricing: Under £175k: £799 £175k - £375k: £999 £375k - £600k: £1,299 Above £600k: £1,699	Price*£799 Inc VAT	Visit WebsiteBook Free In-Person Valuation
Yopa	Rating 4.2 TrustPilot Reviews	Duration 12 months	Includes / Notes Core package Key features Rightmove listing Zoopla listing PrimeLocation listing Photograghs Floorplan Negotiation For sale sign In-person valuation 16 weeks Sole Agency contract *Selling fee of £1,499 in a few specific London postcodes.	Price*£999 Inc VAT	Visit WebsiteBook Free In-Person Valuation

I try my best to keep the information of each agent up-to-date, but you should read the T&C’s from the agents’ website for the most up-to-date information.

2) Free Online Property Valuation Tools (The Quick/Instant method)

With the internet at our grubby little finger tips, it’s remarkably easy to get “instant” online valuations. The online valuation tools use historical and current asking price data to calculate average house price valuations.

Of course, there is an obvious trade off with instant online quotes – they’re simply not as accurate as in-person valuations offered by estate agents, like the free valuation offered by Yopa. However, they’re useful enough to give you a quick ballpark figure, which is better than nothing. At the very least, it will give you a figure to work with if you’re toying with the idea of selling your property.

Online Property Valuation Services

Provider	Notes	Link
Tool	Notes Instant online property valuation tool Zoopla bases their valuation on all 29 million UK homes, and gathers their data from multiple sources including HM Land Registry, Royal Mail, Ordnance Survey, and Registers of Scotland. The accuracy depends on location and availability of data in an area; the more data they have available, the more accurate it is. Out of all the free online valuation tools, I suspect Zoopla’s is the most advanced and accurate (relatively speaking) – they just have so much data to work with!	Online Valuation Tool
Tool	Notes Instant Valuations and Intelligence for any property in the UK “Mouseprice is the leading resource for current UK House Valuation and Historic Sales Prices. Access the full sales price history for any of the UK’s 29 million homes, and discover what our automated valuation model thinks your property is worth today.” Their words, not mine. Mouse price’s valuation tool only requests your postcode, property type and the number of bedrooms, so definitely take it with a pinch of salt and have a bit of fun with it.	Online Valuation Tool

3) Historical Sold House Prices

So while you can use Rightmove and Zoopla to find the current market price, they also provide access to historical sale prices, so you can see how much properties in your area recently sold for. I’d argue that this is much more reliable than the current asking prices, as many properties don’t actually sell for the marketed asking price.

• Rightmove get their sold house price data directly from the Land Registry and the Registers Of Scotland, so it’s accurate stuff. Here’s Rightmove Sold House Prices tool.
• Zoopla, similarly, also get their sold house price data directly from the Land Registry and the Registers Of Scotland. Here’s Zoopla’s Sold House Prices data.

4) Property Portals & Current House Prices

Rightmove and Zoopla are the biggest two UK based property portals- between them they hold the largest stock of properties currently for sale.

This is kind of a no-brainer; go onto those websites and utilise their data to find out how much similar properties in the same area are currently demanding.

While this may not be entirely accurate in all cases, especially compared to actual sold price data, and in cases where the owner has made significant improvements to their property (e.g. extensions and conversions), it will allow give you an idea of what other vendors expectations are – there’s some value in that, certainly.

I can’t stress enough though, asking prices are not always reliable indicators, especially in a declining market, because the asking price is often not achieved (which is why I think there’s often more strength in recent sold price data). However, in both cases, they’re lagging indicators, so that’s also worth bearing in mind. For example, the actual “sold price” is the price that was agreed on approximately 4-6 months prior to contracts exchanging, so it’s a reflection of the market back then, and not necessarily today. Point being, making space for wiggle room is often required to get a realistic valuation for today’s market.

5) Your Local Estate Agents

Most estate agents will value your property for free, with no obligation. That means you can have them come out, walk through the property, and check every room and nook to give you a reasonably accurate valuation, even if you’re not planning to sell or use them as your agent.

Even if you’re thinking of using an online agent, there’s nothing stopping you from getting a local estate agent to value your property.

However, I would recommend and bear in mind the following:

• Get multiple valuations – Compare quotes from several local agents to get the most realistic and accurate idea of your property’s value.
• Check for obligations – Make sure your free valuation comes with no strings attached before you book it.
• Be careful what you reveal – If you plan to use an online agent, it’s probably not a good idea inform your local agent you’re just getting a valuation. A better approach is to say you’re getting a few quotes, so they know you’re shopping around.
• Expect follow-ups – Estate agents are notorious for chasing potential clients, so after the valuation, don’t be surprised if they hound you for your business!

Property Valuations: Useful, But Not Perfect

As mentioned, property valuations are not perfect, they should be seen as guide prices, and nothing more. The actual sale of a house often depends on timing and market conditions, and having the right buyer in the market.

One of the biggest problems with property valuations is that they can vary wildly, whether between local agents or different online tools. Without doing your homework, it’s easy to rely on a miscalculation and potentially lose a fortune (either from over or under-valuing the property.).

For sellers: if I had to give one piece of advice, especially for anyone selling their home or just thinking about it, it’s this: don’t rely on just one method to value your property. Use as many approaches as you can to get a more accurate valuation.

For serious buyers: Commissioning a full homebuyer survey and valuation from a RICS-qualified surveyor is the best way to get a reliable figure – not the agent’s estimate, and certainly not the mortgage lender’s valuation.

Think Your Valuation Is Wrong? Here’s How to Handle It

Put the champers on hold.

Is that valuation for real? you ask.

It’s demoralising when the figure isn’t what you expected, and that disappointment is hard to ignore.

Of course, there’s a difference between misunderstanding the market and having unrealistic expectations, versus actually receiving inaccurate information. Either way, you’re going to need some clarity.

The truth is, online valuation tools aren’t always reliable, especially if they’re working with limited data that doesn’t fully reflect your property (like historical sales of similar local homes). Even local estate agents who know the area well can get it wrong, or understandably be cautious when dealing with unique properties that rarely come onto the market. Ultimately, all property valuations carry a margin of error.

Initial valuations, whether from a local agent or an online tool, can be off. But let’s be honest, plenty of people also have inflated expectations, often thanks to inspiring property TV shows.

If you’re valuing a standard property in a popular area, where homes change hands frequently, the chances of getting a wildly inaccurate figure drop significantly.

The best approach? Run a few online tools, get multiple quotes from local agents, and keep an eye on the local market. By cross-checking, you’ll get a much clearer picture, there’s no need to panic if the first valuation looks off.

The even better approach (it’s not free!)? If you’re willing to spend a little doe (anywhere between £200 – £600, depending on size, location and age of property), getting a valuation conducted by a RICs certified, independent surveyor will give you an expert, unbiased assessment of your property.

A RICS surveyor will inspect the property’s condition, size, and location, and compare it to similar homes that have recently sold locally. This detailed analysis is the most accurate means of getting a realistic asking price if you’re selling, or for understanding the true market value. Just Google “RICs home valuation” to find providers – you should get plenty of options. I always recommend going with a local service, as they’ll have the best understanding of the local market.

That said, for most standard properties in active markets, this level of detail isn’t usually necessary, there’s generally enough sales activity and data to set a reliable asking price without it. But if you’re really not convinced by the figure you’ve been given, getting a valuation from a surveyor is an option.

Average Houses Prices in England

By no means are national average house prices stats indicative of how much your property is worth. In fact, average house price data is pretty useless for valuating homes, because the data can be easily skewed. For example, let’s say that in one week that ten houses sold in London for £20m each, and five houses sold for £500k each. The average house price for London would be massively elevated because more mansions sold in that particular timeframe, even though there are more properties worth £500k across London.

That said, average house prices can provide a general (and lagging) indicator of which way house prices are swinging and a rough indication of where the wealth in the country is, which can be useful.

The GOV releases monthly house price stats covering average house prices in England, which is gathered from HM Land Registry.

In June 2023, data shows that on average, house prices have risen by 0.7% since May 2023, and the average property in the UK valued at £287,546.

Here’s a breakdown by region:

For the latest stats, you may want to hop over to the GOV website.

Landlord out xo