Address lookup is lightweight. Property data is the product.
Ideal Postcodes charges per address lookup. Homedata's address search costs just 2 calls — then lets you enrich every address with EPC ratings, flood risk, price history, and 16 more data endpoints. One API, one key, no per-lookup address tax.
Free tier — 100 property data calls/month. Address find: 2 calls. No card required.
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 19 property data endpoints with that UPRN. One integration, one key, one invoice.
And the address lookup? It costs just 2 calls. We keep address search cheap because we don't think it should be a revenue centre — it's the front door to the data that actually matters.
How we compare
| Ideal Postcodes | Homedata | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary product | Address lookup & validation | Property data API (address lookup: 2 calls) |
| Address lookup pricing | 2p–2.5p per lookup | Free — unlimited, no key required |
| Postcode search | ✓ (per-lookup charge) | ✓ (free) |
| Address autocomplete | ✓ (per-lookup charge) | ✓ (free) |
| Returns UPRN | Available as add-on | ✓ — native on every result |
| Free tier | Free test keys (limited) | 100 property data calls/month, address search unlimited |
| Starting price | Pay-as-you-go from 2p/lookup | £49/month (2,000 calls), no commitment |
| Property data (beyond addresses) | ||
| EPC ratings | No | ✓ — current + potential rating, certificate data |
| Sold prices & transactions | No | ✓ — full Land Registry history + real-time completions |
| 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 19 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 unlock everything about it — EPC rating, flood risk, sale history, planning applications, crime stats — all through the same API key.
Low-cost address search
Autocomplete, postcode lookup, UPRN resolve — just 2 calls each, included in your plan
UPRN-based enrichment
Every address returns a UPRN — use it to query 19 property data endpoints
One API, one invoice
No stitching together address + EPC + risk + pricing APIs from 4 vendors
29M+ UK properties
England & Wales, AddressBase sourced, updated regularly
# 1. Find address (2 calls) curl "https://api.homedata.co.uk/api/address/find/?q=10+Downing+Street" # → { "suggestions": [{ "uprn": 100023336956, "address": "..." }] } # 2. Get enriched property data (API key required) curl -H "Authorization: Api-Key YOUR_KEY" \ "https://api.homedata.co.uk/api/address/retrieve/100023336956/?level=full" # → 55+ fields: type, beds, tenure, EPC, floor area, sales... # 3. Get flood risk (same key, same UPRN) curl -H "Authorization: Api-Key YOUR_KEY" \ "https://api.homedata.co.uk/api/risks/flood/?uprn=100023336956" # → rivers & sea + surface water risk levels (NAFRA2) # With Ideal Postcodes, step 1 costs 2p per lookup. # Steps 2 and 3 aren't available at all.
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 /api/address/postcode/SW1A2AA/
# No API key needed
Address autocomplete
GET /v1/autocomplete/addresses
?api_key=iddqd
&query=10 Downing
GET /api/address/find/
?q=10 Downing
# Returns UPRN with every result
Then go further — enrichment Ideal Postcodes can't do
# Use the UPRN from address search to query any endpoint GET /api/address/retrieve/100023336956/?level=property # Enriched property record GET /api/epc-checker/100023336956/ # EPC certificate GET /api/risks/flood/?uprn=100023336956 # Flood risk GET /api/comparables/100023336956/ # Price comparables GET /api/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 (2 calls per find), 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 a free tier, Homedata is the developer-friendly alternative.
Nestdata vs Homedata →Transparent address pricing. No per-lookup surprises.
100 free calls/month to get started. Address search costs just 2 calls — half the price of Ideal Postcodes. Paid plans from £49/mo — cancel any time. No sales call, no annual commitment.