Perhaps the best known house price surveys come from Nationwide and Halifax, the two biggest lenders in the UK. These surveys are based on the mortgage approvals granted by the lenders during the month - giving an indication of the price of houses bought.

These figures are usually released at the end of the month, and so, are usually the first indicators of how the housing market is faring in a particular month.

The Bank of England, British Bankers' Association and the Building Societies Association also releases figures based on mortgage approvals. The BBA reports on approvals from all banks, while the BSA reports on all building societies. Because these take longer to compile, they are usually released a couple of weeks after the month in question. The Bank of England's figures represent approvals for all lenders, both banks and building societies.

But it is worth remembering that the time from a mortgage approval to a completion can be a month or more, and house sales sometimes fall through in the interim.

The Department of Communities and Local Government and HMRC report on property transacions. This data therefore reflects sale prices of homes that have actaully been sold. The Council of Mortgage Lenders' Gross Mortgage survey also reports this data.

The Land Registry reports on property transactions that have been registered with it. It uses repeat sales of the same homes to compile its house price data.

Rightmove's index is a survey of asking prices for properties coming onto the market via Rightmove.co.uk’s 12,500 estate agency branches.

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) bases its house price data on a survey of its members. It expresses house price movements as an expression of how many surveyors report a rise in prices compared to those who reported a fall in the previous month.

Hometrack, the property information company, also releases a monthly survey. It's data is a sentiment survey of of estate agents across England and Wales who answer 11 questions about local market conditions as well as the average price, for example the average time to sell, achieved price as % asking price, and change in registered applicants.