HOUSE PRICE GAME
Higher or lower: house prices
Two places in the UK. Tap the one where the average home costs more. After each guess the game shows both average prices and the tax a buyer would pay on each one.
UK House Price Index, July 2026
See the prices and stamp duty after each guess
Keep playing to improve your score
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This is information, not financial advice. The prices are official averages for whole areas. They do not value any single home.
What the game is
Each round puts two council areas next to each other, with the region or nation beside the name. You pick the place you think has the higher average price. The game then reveals both averages in whole pounds and marks your answer.
The daily game has five rounds. Everyone who plays on the same UK date gets the same pairs, so you can compare scores with friends. The early rounds have wide gaps between the two prices, and the gaps get narrower as the game goes on. Each daily game also mixes places from different parts of the UK.
Keep playing is the endless mode. It picks pairs at random and carries on until your first wrong answer. Your score is the number of rounds you got right.
Where the prices come from
The averages come from the UK House Price Index. HM Land Registry publishes it with the Office for National Statistics, Registers of Scotland and Land & Property Services in Northern Ireland. The index is built from the sale prices that each body records when homes change hands.
The game uses the average for each council area. The line under the game names the month the figures refer to. Sales take time to register, so the latest month in the index is usually a little behind the calendar.
What an average hides
An average price for a council area covers every kind of home sold there. A city centre with many flats can show a lower figure than a nearby rural area with mostly detached houses, even when the flats cost more for their size.
Small areas record fewer sales each month. A handful of expensive or cheap sales can move their average a lot from one month to the next. A large city has enough sales to smooth this out. If a result surprises you, the mix of homes sold is often the reason.
Why the tax differs by nation
Each nation of the UK has its own tax on buying a home. England and Northern Ireland use Stamp Duty Land Tax. Scotland uses Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, known as LBTT. Wales uses Land Transaction Tax, known as LTT. Each tax has its own bands and rates, so two homes at the same price can carry a different bill in different nations.
After each round the game shows the tax on each average price for someone moving home, using the rules for that place's nation. First-time buyers can pay less. To try other prices or buyer types, use the Stamp Duty calculator, the LBTT calculator or the LTT calculator.
How to play
- Read the two place names and tap the one you think costs more.
- Check the two averages and the tax line under each place.
- Move on to the next round.
- At the end of the daily game, copy your score to share it. The copied text holds only the date and your score.
- Press Play again to switch to Keep playing.
The game stores nothing on your device, so each visit starts fresh.