HM Land Registry
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Land Registry releases its House Price Index as open data

As of the 30th May 2013, Land Registry's data tables based on over 17 million cash and mortgage sales are available as open data.

The aggregated House Price Index (HPI) tables dating back to 1995 can be downloaded in CSV and Excel formats free of charge. From July 2013, they will be available in machine-readable linked data format.

Land Registry's HPI for England and Wales is widely regarded as the most comprehensive property index available.

Andrew Trigg, Head of Data Programme, Land Registry said:

"The release of this data demonstrates our commitment to greater transparency and the open data agenda. It also supports our plan to release all our licensable data by 2018.

"Our HPI was first published online in October 2006 and since then entrepreneurs and organisations have re-used the data to support business decision making and develop innovative applications and services. By making the archive data widely available, we hope it will unlock further potential, contributing to business innovation and economic growth.

"By publishing the full dataset in a more usable format which incorporates the raw and smoothed aggregated data, we hope to encourage the development of applications and services which benefit both industry and the public."

These might include:

  • applications that analyse trends and patterns in the housing market
  • development of valuation software and price estimations
  • housing and social policy projections.

Notes to editors

  1. The tables will be published on the twentieth working day of each month as Open Data in Excel and CSV formats at http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/information/public-data/hpi-background and http://data.gov.uk/ for use under the Open Government Licence. The next set of tables will be released on Friday 28 June. They will be published in machine readable format as linked data from July 2013.
  2. Forming part of the HPI calculation, the tables contain up-to-date indices, average house prices and sales volumes dating back to 1995 for England and Wales at regional, county/unitary authority, metropolitan district and London borough level.
  3. List of the HPI background tables:
    1. Indices
    2. Indices seasonally adjusted
    3. Indices seasonally adjusted and smoothed
    4. Average prices seasonally adjusted
    5. Average prices seasonally adjusted and smoothed
    6. Monthly change
    7. Annual change
    8. Sales
  4. The HPI uses a sample size that is larger than all other statistical measures available. It is calculated using Land Registry's dataset of residential property sales completed in England and Wales since January 1995.
  5. Land Registry's dataset contains details on 17 million residential transactions. Of these, over six million are identifiable matched pairs, providing the basis for the repeat sales regression analysis used to complete the index. This technique of quality adjustment ensures an "apples to apples" comparison between properties.
  6. To find out about all the datasets we hold, download our dataset inventory.
  7. The Open Government Licence (OGL) developed by the National Archives permits the free use and re-use of public sector information.
  8. As a government department established in 1862, executive agency and trading fund responsible to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Land Registry keeps and maintains the Land Register for England and Wales. The Land Register has been an open document since 1990.
  9. With the largest transactional database of its kind detailing over 23 million titles, Land Registry underpins the economy by safeguarding ownership of many billions of pounds worth of property.
  10. For further information about Land Registry visit www.landregistry.gov.uk Follow us on Twitter @LandRegGov Find us on LinkedIn and Facebook

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