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Martin Lewis Blog: 'House offer accepted, now they want £20,000 more! What should I do?'
A passer-by stopped Martin in the street recently to ask his opinion on her house buying dilemma. You can check out his view in a video he posted: Martin Lewis: 'House offer accepted, now they want £20,000 more! What should I do?' What would you do? Stand your ground? Walk away? Pay the extra? Negotiate? Tell us your…
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New to the House Buying, Selling & Renting board? Start here
✅ This board is for... * Questions about buying or selling a home * Questions about renting a home * Questions about being a landlord 🚫 This board is not for.. * Debating the state of the economy * Debating house prices in general * Political debates Note: In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place…
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Tenancies in Eng/Wales: Guides for landlords and tenants
post 1 This thread is intended to provide information to both landlords and tenants relating to Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) in England and Wales. Updated April 2020 to include the Coronavirus Act 2020 and July 2020 to include the Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020. Topics covered: Post 2: Repairing…
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Land missing from title-future lending problems?
We are buying a property, using a bridging loan, as its being sold under auction conditions. The property has two separate title deeds and the current owners have lived there since the 50’s. They bought the second title in the 70’s (im mentioning this as its before it all went digital) which is ajoining and used as a…
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Selling part of flat to my mum without conveyancer.
My husband bought a flat for my mum so she could move nearer us before she sold her own flat which was difficult to sell. My mum has been living in the flat near us for a year and now she has sold her flat she is keen to buy 50% from my husband which has been the plan from the start. In hindsight we should have asked the…
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Buyers is delaying / refusing to exchange
We have agreed the sale of our property (leasehold flat) and all outstanding items have been resolved. The buyer (cash buyer) is moving back from the States and is apparently 'desperate' to move yet she keeps delaying exchange and completion. She has recently had surgery in the states and has refused to complete until she…
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'Instant' property buying companies - has anyone had a good experience?
I have had a nightmare of an 18 months of legal difficulties that my late parent left behind. The final thing that will need sorting is the disposal of a rental property, which has not been looked after, and when the tenants finally go, it will probably be down to bailiffs and it's likely they'll leave it in even more of a…
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New "Have a Look at This" thread
The other one has disappeared and any posts I have made are not listed in either my posts or thanks. This thread is for things like: . Spotting pets in properties . Anything awful - decor, extensions etc . Quirky properties . Timewarp properties . Properties in serious repair and anything which is different and of interest…
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Thinking of doing holiday lets
I am in the process of buying a property which I intend to live in for the time being , but I am considering renting it out for holiday lets in the future. From what I have read on these forums and elsewhere, there are lots of rules and regulations, financial and otherwise, that I should think about before I go down that…
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Second home council tax – part-year UK use while living abroad?
Hi, I have a property in the Sefton Council area which is currently classed as a second home, so I’m paying the council tax premium. I spend part of the year there (around 10–12 weeks at present), while also living abroad, but I’m now retired and gradually planning to base myself more in the UK. The house isn’t empty—I use…
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Adding Wife To Title Deeds
Hi, what would be the process for adding my wife to the title deeds of my house? Can I DIY using forms from Land Registry or would it be better to pay a conveyancing solicitor? We would be tenants in common and it may not be a 50/50 split.
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Service charge falsely advertised
I had an offer accepted on a flat in November 2025, with an advertised service charge of £1400/year. Today I have received the documentation from my solicitor including details of the service charge, which is shown as £1800/year. This is the first time I have seen this figure and this has not been mentioned to me at any…
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Sold Primary Residence after a period of absence - CGT help please
Hi, We bought our home in 2004 but moved house in 2022 (I needed to get a more suitable property due to my disability). Our old house was in need of some repair, so there was a year or so where work was ongoing, followed by another 2 1/2 years where it was on the market and just not selling (due to the downturn in local…
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Gas leak and Housing association issue.
Was not sure where to put this post so hope i have put it in the right place. We live in a Housing association flat and on Friday they came to do the yearly Gas safety check and during that check they found we had a gas leak in one of the wall cavity so they capped the gas so we have not had any gas since friday for our…
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Land Transaction Tax (second property)
Hi, I have a slightly more complicated situation and hope someone may have some insight as I can't find the answers online. I currently own a property with a family member that we lived in for 3 years after buying the property. I then purchased my family home and paid stamp duty land tax on the new property. The family…
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Redrow won’t submit a Section 38 to the council, so they can continue charging maintenance fees
I live on a Redrow development in Cwmbran, south‑east Wales. For the past five years we’ve been paying ever‑rising maintenance fees to a company called FirstPort, who in turn hire Community Property Care to carry out the general maintenance. Overall it’s little more than a shoddy grass‑cutting service, but that’s a story…
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Possible purchase of garage should I add to deeds
In looking at buying a garage very close, within view of my property. I was trying to work out how much it will be including any insurance etc. My insurer has started it could be included in my home insurance if I added it to my deeds. My home is mortgaged (15 years remaining) and I'm looking at possibly buying the garage…
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renting furnished or unfurnished for 6 months or so
Hi looking for a nice flat for around 6 months possibly a slightly longer makes sense to me to go furnished, due to time frame. however, does anyone think i'm limiting the market unnecesarily? i mean could i just buy a roll up mattress on the floor and a cheap chair table/desk which i wouldnt even take with me at the end?…
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Rent to buy.
hello. Im looking at doing a rent to buy. But i really havnt a clue what im doing. I understand the basics - pay rent - save deposit - buy home at end of term. But is there more to it? what questions should i be asking? It feels odd as im committing to a house that i wont have a survey or reports done on. i feel like im…
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Shared ownership & staircasing assistance!
Good morning all, new here and have read a fair few posts in regard to staircasing stamp duty! I think I may have got my maths correct but not 100% and its driving me round the bend so a little confirmation would be massively helpful! I bought my property at a 50% share for £112475 in 2021 during the covid Stamp duty…
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Change of address when between homes for months or years?
Hi, I have sold my house, and I have a temporary address (friends). However, changing my address has got complicated. DVLA - they say you don't need to if you are temporarily away eg Uni, but not about being between homes. If I change DVLA, then I will need to change vehicle insurance - and vice versa. I am currently…
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Removing Charge from deeds
I am looking for some help as to removing a Charge from Land Registry records. Several years ago, we loaned our daughter some money and on legal advice, placed a Charge on her property. We would now like to write off the loan and have the Charge removed. Is there a simple way to do this ourselves or would it need a…
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Aggressive buyer Exchange issue
Please advise. My first sale fell through 2 months ago, was for the full asking price and no post survey quibbles. Then down the chain collapsed. New buyer immediately offered a big whack under asking. EA pointed out unreasonable in the circumstances and so raised it a bit. This 2nd survey said roof old but not leaking.…
