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Rootsly methodology · v1.0.0

How Rootsly reaches a Move or Improve result

Rootsly uses a deterministic, tenant-neutral comparison of financial evidence, practical fit and readiness. It shows uncertainty, a meaningful alternative and the checks that could change the answer before any commercial choice.

The governing order

The result comes before the commercial question.

These four stages are deliberately separate. Reading a result or requesting a report is not permission for sales contact, marketing or a referral.

  1. 01

    Assess

    Collect only the property, household requirements, broad financial ranges and practical constraints needed for this decision.

  2. 02

    Calculate

    Run the deterministic comparison before any service, partner, referral, fee, campaign or contact choice is considered.

  3. 03

    Show

    Present the complete core result, meaningful alternative, evidence quality, ranges, missing information and next checks before asking for contact details.

  4. 04

    Ask separately

    Keep report delivery, callback, appointment, specifically named referral and marketing as separate later choices with their own permission.

The minimum useful inputs.

Unknown is a valid answer. It can lower confidence or name a next check, but it is never silently replaced with a convenient value.

What we deliberately leave out

  • Rootsly does not ask for income, credit history or detailed monthly expenditure for the MVP decision comparison.
  • Rootsly does not ask for children's names, dates of birth, school applications or other unnecessary child information.
  • An anonymous homeowner can explore without an account, and contact details are not required to calculate the core result.

What has changed

The primary reason for the decision, up to two secondary needs and any early requirement that neither route may compromise.

Property evidence

The selected property, available provider facts, homeowner corrections, valuation range and the working value used for this assessment.

Space and project scope

Current and required rooms, proposed project types, broad area and specification, plus the facts needed for preliminary feasibility.

Broad financial picture

Approximate mortgage balance, available-budget band, funding readiness, target-home price and relevant known quotations or fees.

Practical fit

Location, space, timing, disruption, temporary accommodation, accessibility, work and family constraints, and stated tolerance.

Financial conclusion and practical conclusion—calculated separately.

The whole cost of Move and Improve is compared without turning time, stress or disruption into invented cash. A genuine practical constraint may change the overall outcome, and the result must say why.

Move

Whole moving range

  • The target-property price gap is kept separate from the transaction costs of moving.
  • Stamp Duty uses centrally maintained, date-bound England residential rules and minimum circumstance questions.
  • Selling fees, conveyancing, searches, survey, valuation and mortgage costs remain itemised.
  • Removals, storage, immediate next-home work and a relevant contingency remain visible rather than disappearing into one total.
  • A current homeowner quotation can replace an estimate only with its source and date preserved.

Improve

Whole improvement range

  • Core construction uses published ranges for project type, broad size, specification, region and relevant complexity.
  • VAT, professional work, permissions, building control and party-wall costs are included where relevant.
  • Finishes, fittings, structural or access complexity, contingency, finance and temporary accommodation remain separate where relevant.
  • A possible value uplift is a conservative range and is never presented as cash available to fund the work.
  • Gross project cost, possible uplift, indicative net economic cost and actual funding requirement remain distinct.

Financial principles

  • Uncertain financial values use realistic lower and upper ranges with a visible central working estimate.
  • Unknown or unsupported amounts stay unavailable; they are never silently treated as zero.
  • Home equity is not affordability, and the comparison does not assess mortgage or regulated borrowing suitability.
  • The financial conclusion is calculated separately from practical fit before the overall outcome is selected.

Practical fit and preliminary feasibility

  • Location, school-area needs and attachment to the current area.
  • Required rooms, usable space, layout and future household change.
  • Timescale, moving-chain uncertainty and readiness to act.
  • Construction disruption, temporary accommodation and household tolerance.
  • Work, family, accessibility, travel and other stated non-negotiable constraints.

Appears feasible

The limited working facts do not show a current preliminary blocker, subject to the named checks and professional confirmation.

May be feasible

The concept remains possible but material property, scope or permission information is uncertain and must be checked.

Specialist review needed

A known restriction, property condition or unsupported concept needs an appropriate specialist before Improve can be relied on.

  • Rootsly does not invent a cash value for homeowner time, stress or disruption.
  • A genuine non-negotiable practical constraint can change the overall recommendation, and the result must explain why.
  • Unknown practical fit is not neutral or favourable evidence; it remains missing and can lower confidence or require review.
  • Preliminary feasibility does not predict planning permission, structural suitability, title rights or buildability.

Six complete outcomes, including moving and pausing.

Every result has one primary outcome and a different meaningful alternative. No outcome means that a service, sale or referral has been requested.

Improve now

Improving your current home is the strongest current fit, and the full project is ready for its next checks.

Improve in stages

Improving your current home is the stronger fit, but breaking the work into stages is the more practical route.

Move now

Moving is the strongest current fit, and the move plan is ready for its next checks.

Move, but prepare first

Moving is the stronger fit, but some practical preparation should happen before you act.

Move, then improve

Moving is the stronger fit, with further work likely to be needed in the next home.

Pause and plan

There is not yet enough stable evidence for a responsible Move or Improve recommendation. The named next step can help you decide later.

Confidence describes evidence quality—not the chance Rootsly is right.

Rootsly never shows a misleading confidence percentage. The label explains how much the result relies on complete evidence, ordinary estimates or material gaps.

Strong data

The material evidence is complete and reviewed enough for the result to rely on it, while the stated limits still apply.

Some estimates

The comparison is usable but relies on ordinary published assumptions or ranges that should be narrowed before commitment.

Limited data

Missing, weak, conflicting, corrected or unusual evidence materially limits certainty and creates named review actions.

Evidence keeps its source and label.

Facts, homeowner statements, quotations, published assumptions and unknowns are different evidence classes. One never silently becomes another.

  1. 01

    Provider fact

    A dated value or property fact received from an approved source, with its confidence and original snapshot retained where available.

  2. 02

    Homeowner input or correction

    A separately labelled statement from the homeowner that never silently overwrites the original provider evidence.

  3. 03

    Quotation or professional evidence

    A current source-specific amount or conclusion that retains who supplied it, what it includes and when it was checked.

  4. 04

    Published Rootsly assumption

    A centrally reviewed range tied to its region, scope, inclusions, evidence quality, effective date and version.

  5. 05

    Unknown or unresolved

    A visible gap that is not converted to zero and names the check most likely to narrow or change the comparison.

Commercial context stays outside the calculation.

  • Client or tenant preference cannot affect the outcome.
  • Service or partner availability cannot affect the outcome.
  • A referral fee or other commercial relationship cannot affect the outcome.
  • Campaign source and article attribution cannot affect the outcome.
  • Contact, marketing or referral permission cannot affect the outcome.

What independence means in practice

  • The central deterministic engine is tenant-neutral, so equivalent inputs produce the same result for Rootsly and every client brand.
  • The outcome is calculated and shown before any service or referral route is evaluated.
  • A result does not have to create a lead, project or move, and Pause and plan is a complete non-commercial outcome.
  • A partner introduction transfers minimum information only after current consent names that specific receiving company.

Important professional limits.

A transparent result names the checks it cannot replace. These limits apply even when the evidence-quality label is Strong data.

Decision support, not personal advice

Rootsly organises a comparison and responsible next checks; it does not decide what a household must do.

Not a formal valuation

Property values and possible uplift are indicative ranges and do not replace an appropriate current valuation.

Not planning or structural advice

Preliminary feasibility does not promise permission or replace planning, title, building-control or structural review.

Not mortgage or affordability advice

Broad financial ranges do not recommend a mortgage, assess credit or determine regulated borrowing suitability.

Not a guaranteed quotation

Published cost ranges and homeowner estimates do not replace current scoped quotations from appropriate professionals.

Tax must be checked again

Indicative Stamp Duty uses the selected dated rule set, while unclear or future circumstances require current official or professional confirmation.

This code-reviewed public explanation still requires the recorded legal and consumer wording review before a genuine public pilot.

Changes are published, never silently rewritten.

A completed report keeps the methodology, engine, assumptions and effective release used for that result. Corrected information creates a reassessment; human review stays separately labelled beside the automated result.

View methodology versions
  1. 01

    Draft

    A proposed engine, assumption or methodology change is recorded separately and cannot affect a live assessment.

  2. 02

    Test

    Fixed scenarios, boundary cases, fairness pairs and regressions must pass against the exact proposed versions.

  3. 03

    Review

    Evidence, expert judgement, representativeness, fairness and public explanation receive separate recorded human review.

  4. 04

    Preview

    The exact qualified candidate is inspected without publishing it or changing existing assessment history.

  5. 05

    Publish and monitor

    An approved release receives a future effective date, immutable identities and operational monitoring after publication.

  6. 06

    Retain or roll back

    Historical reports keep their original versions, and a rollback is a new recorded release rather than a silent rewrite.

Apply the method to your own situation.

Explore without an account. The complete core result comes before contact details.

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