There are so many confusing, and often conflicting, news stories out there about house prices that it is difficult to know what to believe or where to go for reliable, official information. However, the designation today of the UK House Price Index (UK HPI) as a National Statistic by the Office for Statistics Regulation, offers one solution to sourcing reliable property data.

The accreditation indicates that the Index has been independently assessed and meets the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and value as defined in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

The UK HPI is a comprehensive publication covering the whole of the UK. It is produced through a dynamic partnership between Registers of Scotland, the Office for National Statistics, HM Land Registry and Land & Property Services Northern Ireland. It was first launched in June 2016, following extensive user engagement and review of accepted international standards for high-quality house price indices by the UK HPI working group.

Our monthly House Price Index (HPI) statistics, due to be published tomorrow (Wednesday 19 September) are the first that will be published under the National Statistics badge.

RoS’ Business Development and Information Director Kenny Crawford commented:

“We are incredibly proud of the recognition that our statistics have received through this accreditation. Our data already provided the principle authoritative overview of the Scottish properly market, but accreditation provides an additional seal of quality and assurance.”

This recognition of the UK HPI comes as a result of extensive work by the UK HPI working group, involving widespread user engagement, reviewing and revising the content and presentation of the UK HPI and developing a plan of ongoing engagement and review.

If you would like to share your feedback on the UK HPI, you can register to join our LinkedIn UK HPI group or contact us for more information.