How to find comparable properties for your band challenge

A comparable is a home near yours of the same type, built around the same time and about the same size. GOV.UK asks for the addresses of up to five of them in a lower band. Choose them because they match your home, not because their band is low: the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) can see every band on the street.

What makes a good comparable

Same type. Detached with detached, semi with semi, terrace with terrace, flat with flat. A flat isn't a comparable for a house.
Similar age. Built in the same era, ideally by the same builder or on the same estate.
Similar size. The same number of floors and a similar number of rooms. Where you can find the floor area, the VOA says it can usually vary by about 10%, and that it goes by floor area rather than bedrooms.
Close by. In a town, the same street or estate. In the countryside, the same village or area; the VOA mentions up to 10 miles, or further for unusual homes.
No big difference since. An extension, a conversion or a garage turned into a room changes the comparison.

These points come from GOV.UK and the VOA's own guidance. They're a guide to what similar means, not pass-or-fail rules.

Step 1: list the bands around you

Look up your street and the streets nearby on GOV.UK's band checker. Note every home that looks similar to yours, whatever its band. A list of only the lower-banded ones won't show you the real pattern.

Step 2: note each home's floors, rooms and age

For each home on your list, note:

Floors. Two storeys, three, a bungalow, or a flat on one floor.
Rooms. Bedrooms and reception rooms.
When it was built. The decade is enough: 1930s, 1960s, 2000s.
Its band, from step 1.

Walking the street, or Street View, shows the type and the number of floors. Old sale listings on property websites usually give the bedrooms and photos, and often a floor plan with the size. Where you can't find something, mark it unknown rather than guessing.

Step 3: check for changes

Your council's online planning search shows extensions and conversions, with dates. A home that was extended after 1991 was banded as the smaller home it was then.

Step 4: sort the list

Put each home into one of three groups: a strong match, a possible match that needs more information, or not comparable. Then look at the bands of the strong matches only. A consistent pattern tells you more than a single low-banded home.

Step 5: pick up to five

Use the best matches, not the longest list. A band lower across several close matches is easier to accept than one home three bands lower, which usually means something about that home is different.

A worked table

Address	Band	Type and age	Floors and rooms	Changes	Include?
12 Park Road (yours)	D	Semi, 1930s	2 floors, 3 bed, 2 reception	None	—
14 Park Road	C	Semi, 1930s	2 floors, 3 bed, 2 reception	None known	Yes: the other half of the pair
3 Elm Close	C	Semi, 1930s	2 floors, 3 bed, 2 reception	None known	Yes: same estate and layout
20 Park Road	C	Terrace, 1930s	2 floors, 2 bed, 1 reception	None	No: different type, and smaller
9 Park Road	C	Semi, 1930s	3 floors, 4 bed, 2 reception	Loft conversion, 2004	Possible: find out what it was like before 2004

(The addresses are illustrative.)

Free · no sign-upOr let the free check find them

Everything above, done for your postcode:

Pulls the bands of the homes at your postcode and the postcodes around it
Compares each one with yours on type, age, rooms and size
Picks out the closest matches in a lower band

The free check shows how each match compares with your home. The £39 challenge names them and writes them into your email to the Valuation Office.