Address lookup is lightweight. Property data is the product.
Ideal Postcodes charges per address lookup. Homedata's address match costs 5 tokens on success, then lets you enrich addresses with EPC ratings, flood risk, price history, and 16 more data endpoints. One API, one key, no per-lookup address tax.
Pay as you go: 100 tokens = £1. Address match: 5 tokens. No subscription needed.
Address lookup is a commodity. Property data is the differentiator.
Ideal Postcodes is a solid address lookup service: autocomplete, postcode search, Royal Mail PAF data. But that's all it does. If you need to know anything about the property at that address (its EPC rating, flood risk, sale price history, nearby planning applications) you need a second API. And a third. And a fourth.
Homedata gives you address resolution and property intelligence in the same API. Find an address, get a UPRN, then query any of 40+ property data endpoints with that UPRN. One integration, one key, one invoice.
Submit both address and postcode to address match. A successful match costs 5 tokens and includes address-level retrieve fields plus address_resolution. HTTP 422 no_match or multiple_matches is never charged.
How we compare
| Ideal Postcodes | Homedata | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary product | Address lookup & validation | Property data API (address match: 5 tokens on success) |
| Address lookup pricing | 2p–2.5p per lookup | Public key, rate-limited |
| Postcode search | ✓ (per-lookup charge) | ✓ |
| Address autocomplete | ✓ (per-lookup charge) | ✓ |
| Returns UPRN | Available as add-on | ✓: native on every result |
| Entry price | Free test keys (limited) | Pay as you go: 100 tokens = £1 |
| Starting price | Pay-as-you-go from 2p/lookup | Pay as you go: 100 tokens = £1, no commitment |
| Property data (beyond addresses) | ||
| EPC ratings | No | ✓: current + potential rating, certificate data |
| Sold prices & transactions | No | ✓: full Land Registry history + transaction records |
| Flood risk | No | ✓: rivers & sea, surface water (NAFRA2) |
| Planning applications | No | ✓: national coverage |
| Council tax band | No | ✓: VOA data, UPRN-matched |
| Deprivation index | No | ✓: IMD 2019, all 10 domains |
| Solar assessment | No | ✓: PV potential, savings, payback period |
| Crime data | No | ✓: 14 categories, Police UK sourced |
| Comparables | No | ✓: similar properties by type, size, location |
| Live listings | No | ✓: currently listed properties |
| Developer experience | ||
| API style | REST + jQuery plugins | REST: consistent JSON, no plugins required |
| Interactive playground | No | ✓: in-dashboard, all 40+ endpoints |
| OpenAPI schema | No | ✓: Interactive reference at /docs/api-reference |
| Client libraries | ✓ (npm, Ruby, Python) | Python, JavaScript, PHP copy-paste wrappers |
| Total endpoints | ~8 (address-focused) | 19 (address + property data) |
Address lookup → property intelligence in one step
With Ideal Postcodes, you find an address. With Homedata, you find an address and see everything about it (EPC rating, flood risk, sale history, planning applications, crime stats) all through the same API key.
Submitted address matching
Address match: 5 tokens on success with address fields included. Postcode lookup: 2 tokens.
UPRN-based enrichment
Every address returns a UPRN: use it to query 40+ property data endpoints
One API, one invoice
No stitching together address + EPC + risk + pricing APIs from 4 vendors
29 million UK properties covered
England & Wales, AddressBase sourced, updated regularly
curl --get "https://api.homedata.co.uk/address/match/" \ --data-urlencode "address=10 Downing Street" \ --data-urlencode "postcode=SW1A 2AA" \ -H "Authorization: Api-Key YOUR_API_KEY" # 200: address-level retrieve body plus address_resolution; 5 tokens. # 422: reason no_match or multiple_matches; never charged. # Use the returned UPRN for further property data.
Migrating from ideal postcodes
If you're currently using Ideal Postcodes for address lookup, switching to Homedata takes under an hour. The main difference: Homedata returns UPRNs natively, giving you a stable identifier for every property.
Postcode lookup
GET /v1/postcodes/SW1A2AA
?api_key=iddqd
GET /address/postcode/SW1A2AA/
# API key required
Address autocomplete
GET /v1/autocomplete/addresses
?api_key=iddqd
&query=10 Downing
curl --get "https://api.homedata.co.uk/address/match/" \ --data-urlencode "address=10 Downing Street" \ --data-urlencode "postcode=SW1A 2AA" \ -H "Authorization: Api-Key YOUR_API_KEY" # 200: address-level retrieve body plus address_resolution; 5 tokens. # 422: reason no_match or multiple_matches; never charged. # Use the returned UPRN for further property data.
Then go further: enrichment ideal postcodes can't do
# Use the UPRN from address matching to query any endpoint GET /property/100023336956/base/ # Enriched property record GET /epc-checker/100023336956/ # EPC certificate GET /risks/flood/?uprn=100023336956 # Flood risk GET /comparables/100023336956/ # Price comparables: arranged per customer GET /council_tax_band/?uprn=100023336956 # Council tax band # ... 14 more endpoints
What you can build with Homedata that you can't with ideal postcodes
Property portals
Enrich every listing with EPC rating, flood risk, nearby sold prices, and crime data. Address lookup is just the starting point.
Portfolio screening
Take a CSV of addresses, resolve each to a UPRN (5 tokens per successful match), then batch-query EPC compliance, flood exposure, and valuations.
Green energy tools
Solar assessment, EPC energy efficiency data, and property characteristics: everything an installer needs to qualify a lead.
Mortgage & lending
Property valuation via comparables, transaction history, and environmental risk: all from one API call chain.
Due diligence platforms
Planning history, flood risk, deprivation data, and council tax band: the searches conveyancers run, delivered via API.
Moving home apps
Address autocomplete for forms, then property data to power the rest of the journey: EPC, council tax, local area insights.
Other alternatives you might be considering
getAddress()
Simple postcode lookup API. Pay-per-lookup. No property data beyond addresses. If you just need addresses and nothing else, it's clean and fast.
getAddress() vs Homedata →Zoopla API
Zoopla closed their public Property API. If you need listings, sold prices, or property data that Zoopla used to provide, Homedata covers all those use cases with self-serve access.
Zoopla API alternative →Loqate (GBG)
Enterprise address validation with global coverage. No public pricing, requires a demo call. Better suited to large enterprise compliance use cases.
Loqate vs Homedata →PropertyData.co.uk
Estate agent-focused data platform: rental yield, comparable sales, area stats. Higher price point, credit-based billing, no permanent free tier. Good for valuation use cases but no address lookup, EPC integration, or planning data.
PropertyData vs Homedata →Searchland
Map-first SaaS platform for land and planning professionals. £195/seat/month with no developer API: if you want programmatic access to planning applications, title data, or flood risk, Homedata gives you a self-serve REST API instead of a per-seat web UI.
Searchland vs Homedata →Nestdata
Enterprise bulk data supplier for direct mail campaigns, no public pricing, no developer API, enterprise contracts only. If you need self-serve REST API access to property data with pay-as-you-go pricing, Homedata is the developer-friendly alternative.
Nestdata vs Homedata →Transparent address pricing. No per-lookup surprises.
Pay as you go: 100 tokens = £1, first top-up matched 100%. Address match costs 5 tokens on success. No sales call, no subscription needed, no annual commitment.
Compare Homedata with other providers
Sprift Alternative
PDF property reports vs raw API access
PropertyData Alternative
Pay-as-you-go tokens vs £1,300/mo
Homedata vs StreetData
Flat monthly pricing vs per-property charges
Homedata vs Realyse
Self-serve API vs enterprise dashboards
getAddress Alternative
Address lookup + full property data
Searchland Alternative
Property search + data enrichment API
UK Property Data API
29M properties, 15+ data categories, pay as you go