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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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Letting agents issues
Let me start by saying I don't have all the facts which I know is a problem for correct advice to be given. I'm neither tenant nor LL, just a bystander. Tenancy started back in 2018. Via a lettings agent. ( Who for the record have been useless the whole time) Landlord died a few years ago and property taken over by a…
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Son wants to buy a flat/small house
Hi, I need a bit of advice. I have sold my house and am about to move to a different part of the country (buying mortgage-free). My son is going to buy a flat to keep a base in the area we are leaving, so he is looking at buying his first home here. However, as his job is freelance, he envisages renting it out part of the…
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Selling first home where to start?!
I have read all the MSE articles (this site helped me save and move out of childhood home on my own) but it seems to be about first time buyers or once you have found a house. The guides state sell you house first which is fine I live in a really east to sell first time buyers home is a gem really. What on earth happens…
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Shared Ownership, Staircasing to 100% & Using my boyfriends LISA
I bought my 35% share in my property in 2023. The value of the property now is valued at 270k, My boyfriend and I would like to move in together. We decided in the local area we cant find anything as nice as my house for the same value. I have a mortgage on the 35%. To staircase to 100%, we would need to get another…
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DoV to Remove S121 - Laws Changing?
Hi all, We bought a freehold house nearly 4 months ago and towards the end of the process the S121 regarding estate rent charge came up Our bank reviewed this and proceeded with giving us a mortgage which is fixed until Sept 27 We were happy with this as it gives us until then to sort a Deed of Variation removing the S121…
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Impasse with Housing Association.
Hi guys, I'm at my wits end with this situation and could do with some advice. I've been renting a flat from a housing association for just over a year. In all that time, I've had no hot water from my kitchen sink. I'm having to boil multiple kettles in order to wash up. I'm in this incredibly frustrating and expensive…
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Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) taxes based on main residence status
I have a couple of questions around the Additional Dwelling
Supplement (ADS) taxes in Scotland, specifically regarding my situation with a
co-owned property in England with my ex-partner and a rented flat in Scotland. Main Residence: I’ve been living in a rented flat in Scotland for the last 2 years, but I occasionally…
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Still struggling with buyers remorse – 7 weeks on. Did I make the right decision?
As a family of 5 we decided to move as we only had one bathroom, one of the bedrooms was downstairs, we needed an office and a proper garage, we didn't like the street the previous property was on and it had no kerb appeal (you can see how the agent expertly put the front house pictures at the end) However I loved the…
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FirstPort Property Management
I’m interested to hear if others have had issues with FirstPort, particularly owners of Freehold Homes on new-ish housing estates. We have had numerous issues with this company who now charge nearly £6000 a year to “manage” a small patch of grass in our cul-de-sac. They also added unauthorised charges to our account for…
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Moving abroad: What to do with my house?
I am planning to move abroad so that I can be closer my dad. I am in a bit of a situation with the house that I live in. Currently it is mortgaged with a decent equity and I do wish to return to it in nearer future as I love the place and the area. I was thinking of renting it out but had a horror experience before on a…
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Selling a property with a tenant in the property
Recently I have been chatting to my partner about selling my rental property. As expected I have suddenly been bombarded with adverts on Facebook for companies that buy and then sell properties with tenants in situ! I am considering this as an option but looking for opinions and maybe experience of doing so. The tenant I…
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Stamp duty question when staircasing, Shared Ownership
Hi, Any help would be much appreciated as I do not understand exactly how to work out the stamp duty now that I am attempting to staircase to 100%. 2016 - 50% share of £276,500 (£553K property valuation), paid stamp duty £3,825 + NPV of £921. 2018 - 20% share of £103,000 (£515K property valuation), no SDLT paid as only…
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Inspection of Rented Homes
Hi, I’ve a friend who’s living in a rented semi with her two young daughters, I had my doubts about the safety of the property when she moved in, some dodgy wiring, and other faults, but she wouldn’t do anything about it as she was scared she’d loose her home, since then she’s had several electrical problems that seem to…
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Estate agent never got back
So I posted I seen a house and they wanted a first time buyer. Latest update is the agent got back and asked if my buyer was still around from last time? I did reply and I made contact with the estate agent I used another one to the house I was buying. Anyway my agent never got back by text message I assume as it never…
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Is the landlord legally correct
Hi all My son had a debt with his landlord. Following advice from this great forum, my son made an offer of a monthly repayment to the Landlord via the Estate Agent at the end of November 2025. This was agreed, and my son, as agreed paid the first payment 5th December, then a second payment on the 5th January. Yesterday he…
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Conservation area - new roof
The house in question is in a conservation area but is not a listed building. Some buildings in the road are but not this one. When it was bought it needed a new roof and the council's building inspectors visited whilst under construction to ensure that everything was constructed correctly and provided a certificate once…
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Home exchange offer reduced with gifted contribution added
Hi, we live in South West England and are looking at reserving a new build property. As part of the deal, the developer has agreed to buy our current property as a home exchange scheme. They have called today to say it’ll look better on the deal sheet if they can knock £20,000 off their original home exchange offer, then…
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Licence for alterations
I’m currently in the process of a buying a flat that has had the boiler repositioned, two partition walls and the chimney breast removed. All of the works were signed off by building control however the seller did not obtain a license for alterations prior to making the changes. The seller applied for the license in…
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Renters' Rights Bill - Will it screw me over?
Hi there, I'm a student who will need to start looking for a room in London in a few months. Unfortunately, I don't have any recent landlord references, nor do I have anyone who I can really ask to act as a guarantor. I currently live off a mixture of my own savings (around £40k) and student loans. I always assumed I'd be…
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AML Check Fee
Hi, Our estate agents have just sent my wife and I a link each for some software called https://iamproperty.com/product-updates/unlock-additional-revenue-with-compliance/ It required us to fill out our details and then upload a passport picture. My wife completed this and then paid £36 which I was confused about as I have…
