Property Price Search MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows users to search for property prices by postcode using the HM Land Registry's SPARQL endpoint.

Features

- Search property prices by postcode or street/city combination
- Filter results by price range, property type, and date range
- Connect to HM Land Registry's public SPARQL endpoint
- Implements MCP stdio transport for IDE integration
- TypeScript implementation with full type safety
- Comprehensive test suite
- Local postcode lookup & nearest-neighbour tool using Ordnance Survey Code-Point Open (downloaded separately)
- CLI interface for direct usage

Prerequisites

- Node.js >= 20
- npm >= 7

Installation

Global Installation

npm install -g property-prices-mcp

Local Installation

npm install property-prices-mcp

Usage

As an MCP Server

This server is designed to be used with MCP clients (like Claude Desktop, IDEs with MCP support, etc.). Configure your MCP client to use this server via stdio transport:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "property-prices": {
      "command": "property-prices-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Once connected, you can use the search-property-prices tool with the following parameters:

{
  "postcode": "SW1A 1AA",
  "minPrice": 1000000,
  "propertyType": "flat",
  "limit": 5
}

You can also use the lookup-postcodes tool (built on Ordnance Survey Code-Point Open) to resolve postcodes and find nearby postcodes:

{
  "postcode": "SW1A 1AA",
  "radiusMeters": 2000,
  "limit": 5
}

> Note: The Code-Point Open CSVs are not bundled. Download them once, then build the local postcode database:
> - npm run setup:postcodes (downloads + builds), or
> - npm run fetch:codepo then npm run build:postcodes
>
> Manual download: https://api.os.uk/downloads/v1/products/CodePointOpen/downloads?area=GB&format=CSV&redirect
> Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right, Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right, and National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right.

Command Line Interface

For testing or direct usage:

property-prices-mcp

Usage Notes

Case Sensitivity

The UK Land Registry data is case-sensitive for street names and city names. However, this MCP automatically converts these parameters to uppercase before sending to the Land Registry API, so you can use any case in your searches.

Example:

"Cherry Drive" and "CHERRY DRIVE" will both work correctly.

Search Parameters

The server accepts the following search parameters:

| Parameter | Type | Description | Default |
| ------------ | ------ | ------------------------------------------------------ | ------- |
| postcode | string | UK postcode to search | - |
| street | string | Street name | - |
| city | string | City name | - |
| minPrice | number | Minimum property price | - |
| maxPrice | number | Maximum property price | - |
| propertyType | string | One of: detached, semi-detached, terraced, flat, other | - |
| fromDate | string | Start date (YYYY-MM-DD) | - |
| toDate | string | End date (YYYY-MM-DD) | - |
| limit | number | Maximum number of results | 10 |
| offset | number | Number of results to skip | 0 |
| sortBy | string | Sort by 'date' or 'price' | 'date' |
| sortOrder | string | Sort order 'asc' or 'desc' | 'desc' |

Response Format

The API returns results in the following format:

interface PropertyPrice {
  price: number;
  date: string;
  postcode: string;
  propertyType: 'detached' | 'semi-detached' | 'terraced' | 'flat' | 'other';
  street: string;
  city: string;
  paon?: string;
  saon?: string;
}
interface SearchResponse {

  properties: PropertyPrice[];

  total: number;

  offset: number;

  limit: number;

}

Error Handling

The server returns standard HTTP status codes:

- 200: Successful request
- 400: Invalid parameters
- 404: No results found
- 500: Server error

Error responses include a message explaining the error:

{
  "error": "Invalid postcode format"
}

Development

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/joemclo/property-prices-mcp.git
   cd property-prices-mcp
   

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   

3. Build the project:

   npm run build
   

4. Run tests:

   npm test                  # Run unit tests (fast, mocked)
   npm run test:unit        # Run unit tests only
   npm run test:e2e         # Run e2e tests (requires internet, hits real API)
   npm run test:all         # Run all tests including e2e
   

Note: E2E tests make real API calls to the HM Land Registry SPARQL endpoint and are skipped by default. They require internet connectivity and may fail in sandboxed environments.

5. Start in development mode:

   npm run dev

   

Testing

This project uses a three-tier testing approach:

Test Structure

src/__tests__/
├── unit/              # Unit tests (fast, all mocked)
│   ├── queries.test.ts
│   ├── sparqlService.test.ts
│   └── mcpTool.test.ts
└── e2e/               # End-to-end tests (slow, real API calls)
    └── propertySearch.e2e.test.ts

Running Tests

- Unit tests (default): Fast tests with mocked dependencies

  npm test           # or npm run test:unit

  

- E2E tests: Real API calls to HM Land Registry

  npm run test:e2e

  

Note: E2E tests are skipped by default and require:
- Internet connectivity
- Access to https://landregistry.data.gov.uk
- Setting RUN_E2E_TESTS=true environment variable

- All tests: Run both unit and e2e tests

  npm run test:all

  

Manual Testing

For ad-hoc testing with real data:

npm run test-mcp

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. SPARQL Endpoint Connection Issues

- Check your internet connection
- Verify the HM Land Registry endpoint is available
- Ensure your IP is not being rate limited

2. Invalid Postcode Format

- Ensure postcodes are in the correct UK format
- Remove any extra spaces
- Use uppercase letters

3. No Results Found
- Try broadening your search criteria
- Check if the date range is too narrow
- Verify the postcode exists

Contributing

Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for details on our code of conduct and the process for submitting pull requests.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for a list of changes and version history.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.