Data, measured 5 September 2026
Five out of six listings do not stack
Of 3,023 UK listings fully appraised by PropDetect, 521 (17.2 percent) earned a worth a look verdict on at least one investment strategy, 2,040 (67.5 percent) did not stack on any strategy, and 462 (15.3 percent) could not be valued at all, usually for want of comparable sold evidence or a floor area. Roughly one listing in six survives a full appraisal.
The refurbishment story is similar. The median modelled uplift between asking price and post refurbishment value is 7.5 percent, but a quarter of properties model below their asking price even after the works, and the top quarter exceed 29.9 percent. The middle of the market does not pay you to refurbish. The tails do, and finding them is the entire game.
The numbers
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Listings fully appraised | 3,023 |
| Worth a look on at least one strategy | 521 (17.2%) |
| Did not stack on any strategy | 2,040 (67.5%) |
| Could not be valued (thin evidence) | 462 (15.3%) |
| Median uplift, asking price to post refurb value | +7.5% |
| Bottom quartile uplift | -5.9% (worth less than asking, even refurbished) |
| Top quartile uplift | +29.9% and above |
What this means in practice
A sourcer or investor screening listings by hand faces a five in six failure rate before negotiation even starts. That is the arithmetic behind analysing at volume: the win is not in appraising any single deal faster, it is in cheaply discarding the 83 percent that were never going to work, including the ones that look tempting until the comparable evidence arrives. One of the public examples is exactly that: a £1.295m Clapham terrace whose modelled end value barely clears its asking price, published verdict and all.
Method and limitations
- A worth a look verdict means the best of six modelled strategies (flip, buy refurbish refinance, buy to let, HMO where applicable, serviced accommodation, rent to rent) clears defined profitability thresholds. The thresholds are documented in the methodology.
- Analysed listings are chosen by users, not sampled randomly, so these rates describe stock investors thought worth checking, which likely OVERSTATES how much of the whole market stacks.
- Uplift compares asking price to modelled post refurbishment value from comparable sales; it is not a measured completion to sale record.
- Figures as of 5 September 2026, queried from the production database, recomputed on update.
Common questions
What proportion of UK property listings make a good deal?
Of 3,023 UK listings fully appraised by PropDetect as of 5 September 2026, 521 (17.2 percent) earned a worth a look verdict on at least one investment strategy, 2,040 (67.5 percent) did not stack on any strategy, and 462 (15.3 percent) could not be valued, usually because too few comparable sales or no floor area could be found. Roughly one listing in six survives a full appraisal.
What is the typical value uplift from refurbishing a property?
Across analysed properties with both an asking price and a modelled post refurbishment valuation, the median uplift is 7.5 percent. The spread is wide: a quarter of properties model at 5.9 percent BELOW their asking price after refurbishment, and the top quarter exceed 29.9 percent. The middle of the market does not pay you to refurbish; the tails do.
Why can some properties not be valued at all?
A defensible valuation needs comparable sold evidence and a floor area. Where an area has too few recent bed and type matched sales, or no floor plan and no EPC record yields an area, PropDetect reports that it cannot value the property rather than inventing a number. That is 15.3 percent of everything analysed, and the proportion is itself useful: thin evidence is common, and tools that always produce a figure are producing some of them from nothing.
Regional refurbishment cost data from the same base is published at UK refurbishment costs by region.