The routes of ScottishHousePrices.com go back for more than 32 years, when the Land Value Information Unit (LVIU) was established in 1977 as the Resources Laboratory of the Department of Land Economics at the University of Paisley (now known as the University of the West of Scotland), with the remit to compile a database of property prices for use, primarily, in the teaching of Valuation. Over the years, however, it evolved into the most comprehensive and unique source of data on all property transactions throughout Scotland, with a pioneering combination of an industry service and a research role within the University.

Although it was restricted initially to West Central Scotland, the database grew steadily over the years and as from January 1989 a 100% coverage of the country was achieved. The basic information on each property transaction was extracted from the Register of Sasines and the Land Register as provided by the Registers of Scotland and after thorough quality checks and augmentation of additional information, the fully computerised output was, and still is, provided as a regular information service to clients in the property professions and in the public sector. End-users include firms of chartered surveyors, estate agents, solicitors, banks and building societies, developers and property-related departments of local authorities and development agencies.

In January 2001, the LVIU launched its web-based service, aptly named i-SPOLIS (interactive Scottish Property On-Line System), bringing the (then) latest web technologies at the fingertips of its users. Powerful searches could now be conducted on-line and users were no longer tied to their desktop computer(s) for accessing their data store. The i-SPOLIS service had at its launch many of the features now found at ScottishHousePrices.com, since it readily provided to the general public basic statistical analyses of the housing market in Scotland.

Datasets have been provided over the years in a variety of formats and media: in basic hard copy on every conceivable paper medium, and in digital format by means of the HowSold © suites of software (a software package specifically developed by the LVIU since 1986 for its users). Under the latter format, datasets are delivered to the desktop either by means of a disk or downloaded via the world wide web.

ScottishHousePrices.com launched in 2004 represented the next logical step of our revolutionary services, as we brought a unique expertise of over quarter of a century to the fingertips of the general public.