home.co.uk scraping

This commit is contained in:
Andras Schmelczer 2026-03-08 21:29:27 +00:00
parent 74d6dd7bf8
commit f3e3c1ee49
6 changed files with 538 additions and 28 deletions

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@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ TYPEAHEAD_URL = "https://los.rightmove.co.uk/typeahead"
SEARCH_URL = "https://www.rightmove.co.uk/api/property-search/listing/search"
RIGHTMOVE_BASE = "https://www.rightmove.co.uk"
# home.co.uk
HOMECOUK_BASE = "https://home.co.uk"
HOMECOUK_API_BASE = f"{HOMECOUK_BASE}/api"
HOMECOUK_PER_PAGE = 30 # max supported by the API
PROPERTY_TYPE_MAP = {
"Detached": "Detached",
"Semi-Detached": "Semi-Detached",

339
finder/homecouk.py Normal file
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@ -0,0 +1,339 @@
import logging
import os
import random
import re
import time
import httpx
from constants import (
DELAY_BETWEEN_PAGES,
HOMECOUK_API_BASE,
HOMECOUK_BASE,
HOMECOUK_PER_PAGE,
PROPERTY_TYPE_MAP,
RETRY_BASE_DELAY,
)
from metrics import (
flaresolverr_attempts_total,
homecouk_errors_total,
homecouk_properties_scraped,
homecouk_requests_total,
)
from spatial import PostcodeSpatialIndex
log = logging.getLogger("homecouk")
class CookiesExpiredError(Exception):
"""Raised when home.co.uk returns 403, indicating cookies need refresh."""
# Channel mapping: internal name → URL path segment
HOMECOUK_CHANNELS = {
"BUY": "for-sale",
"RENT": "to-rent",
}
FLARESOLVERR_URL = os.environ.get("FLARESOLVERR_URL", "http://flaresolverr:8191")
def solve_cloudflare() -> tuple[dict[str, str], str] | None:
"""Use FlareSolverr to solve the Cloudflare challenge.
Returns (cookies_dict, user_agent) or None on failure."""
log.info("Solving Cloudflare challenge via FlareSolverr at %s", FLARESOLVERR_URL)
try:
with httpx.Client(timeout=120) as client:
resp = client.post(
f"{FLARESOLVERR_URL}/v1",
json={
"cmd": "request.get",
"url": f"{HOMECOUK_BASE}/for-sale/e1/",
"maxTimeout": 60000,
},
)
if resp.status_code != 200:
log.error("FlareSolverr returned HTTP %d", resp.status_code)
return None
data = resp.json()
if data.get("status") != "ok":
log.error("FlareSolverr error: %s", data.get("message", "unknown"))
return None
solution = data["solution"]
raw_cookies = solution.get("cookies", [])
user_agent = solution.get("userAgent", "")
cookies = {}
for c in raw_cookies:
name = c.get("name", "")
if name in ("cf_clearance", "homecouk_session", "XSRF-TOKEN"):
cookies[name] = c["value"]
if "cf_clearance" not in cookies:
log.error("FlareSolverr solved but no cf_clearance cookie returned")
flaresolverr_attempts_total.labels(result="no_cf_clearance").inc()
return None
if "homecouk_session" not in cookies:
log.error("FlareSolverr solved but no homecouk_session cookie returned")
flaresolverr_attempts_total.labels(result="no_session").inc()
return None
log.info(
"Cloudflare solved — got %d cookies, UA: %s",
len(cookies), user_agent[:60],
)
flaresolverr_attempts_total.labels(result="success").inc()
return cookies, user_agent
except (httpx.ConnectError, httpx.ReadTimeout) as e:
log.warning("FlareSolverr not available: %s", e)
flaresolverr_attempts_total.labels(result="unavailable").inc()
return None
except Exception as e:
log.error("FlareSolverr error: %s", e)
flaresolverr_attempts_total.labels(result="error").inc()
return None
def load_cookies() -> tuple[dict[str, str], str] | None:
"""Get home.co.uk cookies + user-agent.
Tries FlareSolverr first, then falls back to environment variables.
Returns (cookies_dict, user_agent) or None if not configured."""
# Try FlareSolverr first
result = solve_cloudflare()
if result:
return result
# Fall back to env vars
cf_clearance = os.environ.get("HOMECOUK_CF_CLEARANCE", "")
session = os.environ.get("HOMECOUK_SESSION", "")
if not cf_clearance or not session:
return None
user_agent = os.environ.get(
"HOMECOUK_USER_AGENT",
"Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) "
"AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) "
"Chrome/145.0.0.0 Safari/537.36",
)
return {"cf_clearance": cf_clearance, "homecouk_session": session}, user_agent
def make_client(cookies: dict[str, str], user_agent: str) -> httpx.Client:
"""Create an httpx Client configured for home.co.uk API calls.
user_agent must match the one used when obtaining cf_clearance."""
return httpx.Client(
timeout=30,
cookies=cookies,
headers={
"User-Agent": user_agent,
"Accept": "application/json, text/plain, */*",
"x-requested-with": "XMLHttpRequest",
},
follow_redirects=True,
)
def _status_label(code: int) -> str:
if code >= 500:
return "5xx"
return str(code)
def fetch_page(
client: httpx.Client, url: str, params: dict, max_retries: int = 3
) -> dict | None:
"""GET JSON with retries on 429/5xx. Returns None on permanent failure.
403 means cookies expired raises CookiesExpiredError immediately."""
for attempt in range(max_retries):
try:
resp = client.get(url, params=params)
homecouk_requests_total.labels(status=_status_label(resp.status_code)).inc()
if resp.status_code == 200:
return resp.json()
if resp.status_code == 403:
raise CookiesExpiredError("HTTP 403 — cookies likely expired")
if resp.status_code in (429, 500, 502, 503, 504):
delay = RETRY_BASE_DELAY * (2**attempt) + random.uniform(0, 1)
log.warning(
"HTTP %d from %s, retry %d/%d in %.1fs",
resp.status_code, url, attempt + 1, max_retries, delay,
)
time.sleep(delay)
continue
log.error("HTTP %d from %s (non-retryable)", resp.status_code, url)
return None
except CookiesExpiredError:
raise
except (
httpx.ConnectError, httpx.ReadTimeout,
httpx.WriteTimeout, httpx.PoolTimeout,
) as e:
homecouk_errors_total.labels(type=type(e).__name__).inc()
delay = RETRY_BASE_DELAY * (2**attempt) + random.uniform(0, 1)
log.warning(
"%s from %s, retry %d/%d in %.1fs",
type(e).__name__, url, attempt + 1, max_retries, delay,
)
time.sleep(delay)
homecouk_errors_total.labels(type="retry_exhausted").inc()
log.error("All %d retries exhausted for %s", max_retries, url)
return None
def parse_floor_area(description: str | None) -> float | None:
"""Try to extract floor area from description text like '789 sq.ft.' or '73 sq.m.'."""
if not description:
return None
m = re.search(r"([\d,]+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*sq\.?\s*ft", description, re.IGNORECASE)
if m:
sqft = float(m.group(1).replace(",", ""))
return round(sqft * 0.092903, 1)
m = re.search(r"([\d,]+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*sq\.?\s*m", description, re.IGNORECASE)
if m:
return round(float(m.group(1).replace(",", "")), 1)
return None
def map_property_type(raw_type: str | None) -> str:
"""Map home.co.uk property type to canonical type."""
if not raw_type:
return "Other"
canonical = PROPERTY_TYPE_MAP.get(raw_type)
if canonical:
return canonical
# Home.co.uk uses types like "House", "Flat", "Apartment", "Detached", etc.
# Try common patterns
lower = raw_type.lower()
if "flat" in lower or "apartment" in lower or "maisonette" in lower or "studio" in lower:
return "Flats/Maisonettes"
if "detached" in lower and "semi" not in lower:
return "Detached"
if "semi" in lower:
return "Semi-Detached"
if "terrace" in lower or "mews" in lower:
return "Terraced"
log.debug("Unknown property type: %r — mapping to Other", raw_type)
return "Other"
def transform_property(
prop: dict, channel: str, pc_index: PostcodeSpatialIndex,
) -> dict | None:
"""Transform a raw home.co.uk property dict into our output schema."""
lat = prop.get("latitude")
lng = prop.get("longitude")
if lat is None or lng is None:
return None
# Validate coordinates are in England
if not (49 <= lat <= 56 and -7 <= lng <= 2):
log.debug("Coords outside England: lat=%.4f lng=%.4f — skipping", lat, lng)
return None
price = prop.get("price") or prop.get("latest_price")
if not price:
return None
# Home.co.uk provides postcodes directly, but fall back to spatial index
postcode = prop.get("postcode")
if not postcode:
postcode = pc_index.nearest(lat, lng)
if not postcode:
log.debug("No postcode for property at %.4f, %.4f — skipping", lat, lng)
return None
bedrooms = prop.get("bedrooms", 0) or 0
bathrooms = prop.get("bathrooms", 0) or 0
listing_type = prop.get("listing_property_type") or prop.get("property_type") or ""
address = prop.get("display_address") or prop.get("address") or ""
# Derive price qualifier from reduction info
price_qualifier = ""
if prop.get("is_reduced"):
pct = prop.get("reduction_percent", 0)
if pct:
price_qualifier = f"Reduced by {pct}%"
else:
price_qualifier = "Reduced"
listing_id = prop.get("listing_id") or prop.get("property_id") or ""
return {
"id": f"hk_{listing_id}", # prefix to avoid collision with Rightmove IDs
"Bedrooms": bedrooms,
"Bathrooms": bathrooms,
"Number of bedrooms & living rooms": bedrooms + bathrooms,
"lon": lng,
"lat": lat,
"Postcode": postcode,
"Address per Property Register": address,
"Leashold/Freehold": None, # not available from home.co.uk
"Property type": map_property_type(listing_type),
"Property sub-type": listing_type or "Unknown",
"price": int(price),
"price_frequency": "" if channel == "BUY" else "monthly",
"Price qualifier": price_qualifier,
"Total floor area (sqm)": parse_floor_area(prop.get("description")),
"Listing URL": f"{HOMECOUK_BASE}/property/{listing_id}",
"Listing features": [], # not available from home.co.uk
"first_visible_date": prop.get("added_date") or "",
}
def search_outcode(
client: httpx.Client,
outcode: str,
channel: str,
pc_index: PostcodeSpatialIndex,
) -> list[dict]:
"""Paginate through search results for one outcode+channel.
channel: "BUY" or "RENT".
Returns transformed properties."""
url_segment = HOMECOUK_CHANNELS[channel]
url = f"{HOMECOUK_API_BASE}/{url_segment}/{outcode.lower()}/"
properties = []
page = 1
while True:
params = {
"page": str(page),
"sort": "date_desc",
"per_page": str(HOMECOUK_PER_PAGE),
}
# Set referer to match the page URL pattern
client.headers["referer"] = (
f"https://home.co.uk/{url_segment}/{outcode.lower()}/"
f"?page={page}&sort=date_desc&per_page={HOMECOUK_PER_PAGE}"
)
data = fetch_page(client, url, params)
if not data:
break
raw_props = data.get("properties", [])
if not raw_props:
break
for prop in raw_props:
transformed = transform_property(prop, channel, pc_index)
if transformed:
properties.append(transformed)
homecouk_properties_scraped.labels(
channel="buy" if channel == "BUY" else "rent",
).inc()
# Check pagination
pagination = data.get("pagination", {})
last_page = pagination.get("last_page", 1)
if page >= last_page:
break
page += 1
time.sleep(DELAY_BETWEEN_PAGES)
return properties

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@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ from flask import Flask, Response, jsonify, send_from_directory
from prometheus_client import generate_latest, CONTENT_TYPE_LATEST
from constants import DATA_DIR, RUN_ON_STARTUP, SCHEDULE_HOUR
from homecouk import load_cookies as load_homecouk_cookies
from rightmove import outcode_cache
from scraper import (
_sync_gauges,
@ -122,6 +123,10 @@ def get_status():
"outcodes_total": status.outcodes_total,
"properties_buy": status.properties_buy,
"properties_rent": status.properties_rent,
"properties_by_source": {
"rightmove": status.rm_properties,
"homecouk": status.hk_properties,
},
"errors": status.errors[-20:], # last 20 errors
"elapsed_seconds": round(elapsed, 1),
}
@ -132,9 +137,11 @@ def get_status():
@app.route("/debug")
def get_debug():
hk_cookies = load_homecouk_cookies()
return jsonify({
"outcode_cache_size": len(outcode_cache),
"outcode_cache_sample": dict(list(outcode_cache.items())[:20]),
"homecouk_enabled": hk_cookies is not None,
})

View file

@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ scrape_outcodes_total = Gauge(
scrape_properties_total = Gauge(
"scrape_properties_total",
"Properties found so far",
["channel"],
["channel", "source"],
)
scrape_elapsed_seconds = Gauge(
@ -32,18 +32,18 @@ scrape_elapsed_seconds = Gauge(
)
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Counters — monotonically increasing
# Counters — Rightmove (monotonically increasing)
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
http_requests_total = Counter(
"http_requests_total",
"HTTP requests made by the scraper",
"HTTP requests made to Rightmove",
["status", "endpoint"],
)
http_errors_total = Counter(
"http_errors_total",
"HTTP connection/timeout errors",
"Rightmove HTTP connection/timeout errors",
["type"],
)
@ -56,4 +56,58 @@ ip_rotations_total = Counter(
scrape_errors_total = Counter(
"scrape_errors_total",
"Per-outcode scrape errors",
["source"],
)
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Counters — home.co.uk
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
homecouk_requests_total = Counter(
"homecouk_requests_total",
"HTTP requests made to home.co.uk API",
["status"],
)
homecouk_errors_total = Counter(
"homecouk_errors_total",
"home.co.uk HTTP connection/timeout errors",
["type"],
)
homecouk_properties_scraped = Counter(
"homecouk_properties_scraped",
"Properties scraped from home.co.uk (before dedup)",
["channel"],
)
cross_source_dedup_total = Counter(
"cross_source_dedup_total",
"home.co.uk properties skipped because same property already found on Rightmove",
["channel"],
)
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Counters — FlareSolverr / cookie management
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
flaresolverr_attempts_total = Counter(
"flaresolverr_attempts_total",
"FlareSolverr Cloudflare challenge-solving attempts",
["result"],
)
cookie_refreshes_total = Counter(
"cookie_refreshes_total",
"home.co.uk cookie refresh attempts (triggered by 403)",
["result"],
)
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Gauges — home.co.uk state
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
homecouk_enabled = Gauge(
"homecouk_enabled",
"Whether home.co.uk scraping is currently active (1=yes, 0=no)",
)

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@ -7,8 +7,15 @@ from dataclasses import dataclass, field
import polars as pl
from constants import ARCGIS_PATH, CHANNELS, DATA_DIR, DELAY_BETWEEN_OUTCODES, SEED
from homecouk import CookiesExpiredError
from homecouk import load_cookies as load_homecouk_cookies
from homecouk import make_client as make_homecouk_client
from homecouk import search_outcode as homecouk_search_outcode
from http_client import make_client
from metrics import (
cookie_refreshes_total,
cross_source_dedup_total,
homecouk_enabled,
scrape_elapsed_seconds,
scrape_errors_total,
scrape_outcodes_done,
@ -32,6 +39,9 @@ class ScrapeStatus:
outcodes_total: int = 0
properties_buy: int = 0
properties_rent: int = 0
# Per-source counts for current channel
rm_properties: int = 0
hk_properties: int = 0
errors: list[str] = field(default_factory=list)
started_at: float = 0.0
finished_at: float = 0.0
@ -47,8 +57,13 @@ def _sync_gauges() -> None:
scrape_state.labels(state=state).set(1 if status.state == state else 0)
scrape_outcodes_done.set(status.outcodes_done)
scrape_outcodes_total.set(status.outcodes_total)
scrape_properties_total.labels(channel="buy").set(status.properties_buy)
scrape_properties_total.labels(channel="rent").set(status.properties_rent)
# Total properties (both sources combined)
scrape_properties_total.labels(channel="buy", source="total").set(status.properties_buy)
scrape_properties_total.labels(channel="rent", source="total").set(status.properties_rent)
# Per-source breakdown for current channel
ch = "buy" if status.channel == "BUY" else "rent"
scrape_properties_total.labels(channel=ch, source="rightmove").set(status.rm_properties)
scrape_properties_total.labels(channel=ch, source="homecouk").set(status.hk_properties)
if status.started_at:
end = status.finished_at if status.finished_at else time.time()
scrape_elapsed_seconds.set(end - status.started_at)
@ -87,8 +102,16 @@ def build_postcode_index() -> PostcodeSpatialIndex:
)
def _dedup_key(p: dict) -> tuple:
"""Composite key for cross-source deduplication: (postcode, bedrooms, price).
Two listings on different portals for the same physical property will share
these attributes even though their IDs differ."""
return (p.get("Postcode", ""), p.get("Bedrooms", 0), p.get("price", 0))
def run_scrape(outcodes: list[str], pc_index: PostcodeSpatialIndex) -> None:
"""Main scrape loop — runs in background thread."""
"""Main scrape loop — runs in background thread.
Scrapes Rightmove and (if configured) home.co.uk, merging into one dataset."""
global status
with status_lock:
status.state = "running"
@ -105,16 +128,33 @@ def run_scrape(outcodes: list[str], pc_index: PostcodeSpatialIndex) -> None:
client = make_client()
# home.co.uk: optional, enabled when cookies are available (via FlareSolverr or env vars)
hk_result = load_homecouk_cookies()
hk_client = make_homecouk_client(*hk_result) if hk_result else None
if hk_client:
log.info("home.co.uk scraping ENABLED")
homecouk_enabled.set(1)
else:
log.info("home.co.uk scraping DISABLED (need FlareSolverr or HOMECOUK_CF_CLEARANCE + HOMECOUK_SESSION)")
homecouk_enabled.set(0)
hk_failed = False # set to True on 403 to skip remaining outcodes
try:
for channel_cfg in CHANNELS:
channel_name = channel_cfg["channel"]
file_suffix = "buy" if channel_name == "BUY" else "rent"
all_properties: dict[int, dict] = {} # dedup by id
all_properties: dict[str, dict] = {} # dedup by id
seen_dedup_keys: set[tuple] = set() # cross-source dedup by (postcode, beds, price)
rm_count = 0 # Rightmove properties this channel
hk_count = 0 # home.co.uk properties this channel
hk_dedup_count = 0 # home.co.uk skipped as cross-source duplicates
with status_lock:
status.channel = channel_name
status.outcodes_done = 0
status.outcodes_total = len(shuffled)
status.rm_properties = 0
status.hk_properties = 0
log.info("=== Starting %s channel (%d outcodes) ===", channel_name, len(shuffled))
@ -126,34 +166,81 @@ def run_scrape(outcodes: list[str], pc_index: PostcodeSpatialIndex) -> None:
log.debug("Outcode %s (%d/%d) — %d properties so far",
outcode, i + 1, len(shuffled), len(all_properties))
# --- Rightmove ---
try:
outcode_id = resolve_outcode_id(client, outcode)
if not outcode_id:
log.debug("No Rightmove ID for outcode %s, skipping", outcode)
continue
props = search_outcode(client, outcode_id, outcode, channel_cfg, pc_index)
for p in props:
pid = p["id"]
if pid not in all_properties:
all_properties[pid] = p
with status_lock:
if channel_name == "BUY":
status.properties_buy = len(all_properties)
else:
status.properties_rent = len(all_properties)
_sync_gauges()
log.info("Outcode %s: got %d properties (total: %d)", outcode, len(props), len(all_properties))
else:
props = search_outcode(client, outcode_id, outcode, channel_cfg, pc_index)
for p in props:
pid = p["id"]
if pid not in all_properties:
all_properties[pid] = p
seen_dedup_keys.add(_dedup_key(p))
rm_count += 1
except Exception as e:
msg = f"Error scraping {outcode}/{channel_name}: {e}"
msg = f"Error scraping Rightmove {outcode}/{channel_name}: {e}"
log.error(msg)
scrape_errors_total.inc()
scrape_errors_total.labels(source="rightmove").inc()
with status_lock:
status.errors.append(msg)
# --- home.co.uk ---
if hk_client and not hk_failed:
try:
hk_props = homecouk_search_outcode(
hk_client, outcode, channel_name, pc_index,
)
for p in hk_props:
pid = p["id"]
key = _dedup_key(p)
if pid in all_properties or key in seen_dedup_keys:
hk_dedup_count += 1
cross_source_dedup_total.labels(
channel="buy" if channel_name == "BUY" else "rent",
).inc()
continue
all_properties[pid] = p
seen_dedup_keys.add(key)
hk_count += 1
if hk_props:
log.info("home.co.uk %s: +%d properties", outcode, len(hk_props))
except CookiesExpiredError:
log.warning("home.co.uk cookies expired — attempting refresh via FlareSolverr")
hk_client.close()
hk_result = load_homecouk_cookies()
if hk_result:
hk_client = make_homecouk_client(*hk_result)
log.info("home.co.uk cookies refreshed, continuing")
cookie_refreshes_total.labels(result="success").inc()
else:
log.warning("Cookie refresh failed, disabling home.co.uk for rest of scrape")
hk_client = None
hk_failed = True
homecouk_enabled.set(0)
cookie_refreshes_total.labels(result="failure").inc()
with status_lock:
status.errors.append("home.co.uk cookies expired and refresh failed")
except Exception as e:
msg = f"Error scraping home.co.uk {outcode}/{channel_name}: {e}"
log.error(msg)
scrape_errors_total.labels(source="homecouk").inc()
with status_lock:
status.errors.append(msg)
with status_lock:
if channel_name == "BUY":
status.properties_buy = len(all_properties)
else:
status.properties_rent = len(all_properties)
status.rm_properties = rm_count
status.hk_properties = hk_count
_sync_gauges()
log.info("Outcode %s: total %d (rm: %d, hk: %d)",
outcode, len(all_properties), rm_count, hk_count)
if i < len(shuffled) - 1:
time.sleep(DELAY_BETWEEN_OUTCODES)
@ -170,7 +257,8 @@ def run_scrape(outcodes: list[str], pc_index: PostcodeSpatialIndex) -> None:
status.outcodes_done = len(shuffled)
_sync_gauges()
log.info("=== %s channel complete: %d unique properties ===", channel_name, len(deduped))
log.info("=== %s channel complete: %d unique (rm: %d, hk: %d, cross-dedup: %d) ===",
channel_name, len(deduped), rm_count, hk_count, hk_dedup_count)
with status_lock:
status.state = "done"
@ -189,3 +277,5 @@ def run_scrape(outcodes: list[str], pc_index: PostcodeSpatialIndex) -> None:
_sync_gauges()
finally:
client.close()
if hk_client:
hk_client.close()