Project Overview
A UK property search startup building a competing search platform to Rightmove and Zoopla needed to build a co...
Technology Stack
Compliance & Standards
The Challenge
A UK property search startup building a competing search platform to Rightmove and Zoopla needed to build a consumer-grade property search experience — with HMLR data integration, agent onboarding, and a distinctive first-time buyer feature set. HMLR Digital Street APIs, TPO (The Property Ombudsman) agent verification, ICO AADC (some first-time buyer users are under 18), UK GDPR, PCI-DSS SAQ-A (premium subscription), PECR, and WCAG 2.1 AA were mandatory. Budget: £130,000.
Our Approach
Property search core
- 1listing database (PostgreSQL with PostGIS — geospatial search by radius from postcode),
- 2HMLR Price Paid Data integration (30M+ historical UK property transactions — "sold price" feature, updated monthly),
- 3HMLR INSPIRE Polygons (property boundary polygons — displayed on map overlay),
- 4EPC Register integration (energy rating displayed on every listing — automated lookup by UPRN),
- 5flood risk overlay (Environment Agency API — flood zone 1/2/3 displayed on map for each property).
Search ranking
- Elasticsearch (full-text search — property description, location name, postcode area).
- UPRN as primary property identifier throughout — cross-references HMLR, EPC, VOA, flood risk data for each property.
Estate agent onboarding
- 16,000 estate agency branches in the UK — all must verify TPO membership before listing.
- TPO (The Property Ombudsman) verification: (1) TPO firm ID lookup (TPO public register API — verify firm is TPO member), (2) HMRC VAT number verification (VAT validation API — confirm estate agency is registered business), (3) AML verification (MLRs 2017 — estate agents are Supervised Persons — identity verification for onboarding agent staff), (4) Propertymark membership check (NAEA Propertymark — additional quality signal).
Agent portal
estate agent onboards (submits TPO ID), ClickMasters verifies, agent gains access to listing API.
Integration
- Rightmove RTDF and Zoopla ZPF export — agent can list on ClickMasters platform simultaneously with Rightmove/Zoopla.
- First-
Time Buyer Feature Set
First-time buyer differentiation: (1) Stamp Duty Land Tax calculator (SDLT — first-time buyer relief up to £425,000 — automated SDLT calculation at search price), (2) Help to Buy calculator (historical scheme — equity loan calculator for eligible properties), (3) mortgage affordability estimate (income × 4.5 = indicative mortgage, displayed on every property), (4) school checker (Ofsted school ratings by postcode — Good/Outstanding schools within 1 mile), (5) commute calculator (Google Maps Distance Matrix API — commute time from property to user's workplace), (6) first-time buyer guide (educational content — stamp duty, conveyancing, surveys, mortgages).
AADC
under-18 users who may be researching family home purchases — AADC data minimisation applied.
Property search LCP optimisation
users expect Rightmove-level performance.
Architecture
- 1Elasticsearch (sub-100ms search response for any UK postcode),
- 2Redis (hot property listings — recently viewed, recently listed — sub-5ms),
- 3CloudFront (property photos served from S3 via CDN — global edge),
- 4Next.js ISR (Incremental Static Regeneration — property listing pages statically generated, invalidated on price change or status change),
- 5WebSocket (real-time new listing alerts — user receives notification within 60 seconds of new property matching their search).
Core Web Vitals
- LCP <
- 1.5s on property search results (
Rightmove
- 2.8s — significant competitive advantage).
- Mobile-first: 72% of UK property search is mobile.
The Results
Platform live at 22 weeks, £122,000 — under budget. 420,000 property listings from 1,800 agent branches.
HMLR Price Paid: 30M transactions integrated.
EPC display: 100% of listings.
LCP: 1.3s (Rightmove: 2.8s).
Core Web Vitals: all green.
WCAG 2.1 AA: zero non-compliances.
TPO verification: 100% of agents.
SDLT calculator: 42% of users use on every property (most-used feature).
Commute calculator: 38% of users.
School checker: 34% of users.
ICO AADC: confirmed compliant.
First-time buyer conversion: 28% higher than competitor average (product research).
“420,000 listings, 1,800 agent branches. LCP 1.3 versus Rightmove 2.8. SDLT calculator 42% of users every visit. Commute calculator 38%. First-time buyer conversion 28% above average. WCAG zero. HMLR 30M transactions. TPO verified 100%. The SDLT calculator was the feature we almost did not build — it was in scope but always near the bottom of the priority list. Then we saw the usage data. 42% of users interact with it on every search session. First-time buyers are calculating affordability in real time as they search. That is the product insight that changes the roadmap." — CEO, UK Property Search Startup (name withheld)”
Project Details
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