The 20-minute area check I do before every viewing
Estate agents show you a house. Nobody shows you the street it sits on. Here is the check I run before I bother booking a viewing.
Aasim Ghaffar3 min read
Blog
Guides & insight
How to read the data, what it means, and what changed across the UK this month.
Council tax bands, and why the number you are quoted is rarely your bill
Band D is the figure everyone quotes and almost nobody pays. Here is what the bands mean, why they are based on 1991 prices, and how to work out what you would actually pay.
Aasim Ghaffar4 min read
How to actually read an Ofsted rating (and what it misses)
Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement — the four words every parent googles. Here is what they really measure, how old they might be, and the questions they cannot answer.
Aasim Ghaffar2 min read
We mapped every GP surgery near you — here is where registering is hardest
The NHS register tells you a surgery exists. It does not tell you whether they will take you. That gap is the whole problem with moving somewhere new and needing a doctor.
Aasim Ghaffar3 min read
How to read a crime map without scaring yourself
Crime maps are the most misread data on any property site. Four things to understand before you let one talk you out of a house.
Aasim Ghaffar3 min read
What "gigabit available" actually means for the speed you get
Coverage figures describe what you could order, not what you would get. Here is the difference between availability, advertised speed and the speed that arrives at your desk.
Aasim Ghaffar3 min read
What your postcode really says about your cost of living
Two postcodes a mile apart can differ by hundreds of pounds a month once you add up rent, transport, insurance and the supermarket mix. Here's how to compare them properly.
Aasim Ghaffar2 min read
Relay vs main transmitter: why your new house might lose Film4 and Dave
Freeview is not one thing. Depending on which mast serves your address, you get the full line-up or roughly a third of it — and you usually find out after you have moved in.
Aasim Ghaffar3 min read
Why we show inspection dates, not just hygiene scores
A 5 from last month and a 5 from four years ago look identical on most websites. They should not, and on ours they do not.
Aasim Ghaffar3 min read
Moving with children: how school places actually work
Catchment areas are not boundaries, "outstanding" may be a decade old, and the address on your application matters more than most people realise.
Aasim Ghaffar4 min read
Reading crime statistics without the fear (or the spin)
Raw crime counts punish busy places and reward empty ones. A short guide to reading police data like an analyst instead of a headline writer.
Aasim Ghaffar2 min read
Flood risk: what to check before you buy, and what the maps do not say
Flood maps show the risk to an area, not to a building. Here is how to read them, what surface water flooding is, and why insurance is the question that matters.
Aasim Ghaffar3 min read