Export a 24-year history of your home’s
value from the Land RegistryYo u have to pay to see detailed records of
your address in UK Census reports50 10 - 23 July 2019
Findout whenyour house
was built
The first stop in your quest to uncover
your home’s history is the decidedly
unromantic Land Registry (bit.ly/
landreg479). Enter your address, then
cough up £3 for a PDF of your home’s
title register. This legaldocument lists
all your home’s sale dates, the names of
previous owners anddetails of major
changes such as conversion froma shop
to a dwelling. The first registered date
gives you the best indication of its age.
A more creative way to date your
homeis to look up its architectural
features onwww.howoldismyhouse
.com, which offers an enjoyable
overview of British homestyles.Track the value of
your home
A property’s title register provides
details of its sale prices since April
2000, andmarket-tracking sites such
aswww.onthemarket.com/sold-prices
let you track the price of any UK
property since 1995.
There’s no data before 1995, but you
can console yourself by studying the
fascinating Land Registry ‘price paiddataset’ tool (bit.ly/land 479 ). Enter a
street nameandhouse type to compare
the value of your homewith those of
your neighbours over the past24 years,
then use the tagsunder ‘Search results’
to narrowor broaden the comparison.
You can then download the data as a
CSV spreadsheet file for free.Findout who livedin
your house
Get to knowyour home’s previous
occupants through census records and
the electoral register. Historical records
of both are availableonline, but you
have to pay to dig into the detail.
You can find names for free at
FreeCen (www.freecen.org.uk), which
covers UKCensus records from1841 to- You can also do a basic free search
of the NationalArchives’UKCensus
collection (bit.ly/census479), which
covers 1841 to 1911. The England and
Who used to live in your house? What stories could
its four walls tell?Jane Hoskynreveals the best web
tools for digging up your property’s past
Waleselectoral registers 1832-1932 are
availableatbit.ly/elecreg479, while
London’s electoral records 1832-1965
can be found atbit.ly/londonreg479.
You’ll need to stump up somecash
to viewthe digitised details, however,
including census reports of your
predecessors’occupations andscans
of household inventories. Findmypast
(www.findmypast.co.uk) hosts theFindA Grave bit.ly/grave479
Who’s buried near your home?
Find out with this free appfrom
Ancestry.co.uk.
OldMaps bit.ly/mapsdroid479,
bit.ly/mapsios479
Get a bird’s eyeview of your street
through the centuries.
Nearby Wiki bit.ly/nearby479
Discover the history and geography
of your current location.
HiddenHistory
bit.ly/hiddendroid479,
bit.ly/hiddenios479
Get a guided tour of London’s
bomb sites and plague pits as you
walk the streets.BEST FREEAPPSFOR HOUSEDETECTIVES
BluePlaques of London bit.ly/
bluedroid479, bit.ly/blueios479
A great new appfrom English
Heritage that reveals famousformer
residents as you walk.
Fossil Explorer bit.ly/fossil479
Go back even further in time and
discover the fossils that lurk beneath
your kitchen.