House buying, renting & selling

Discussion List

• Switching bank accounts

  Dealing with unhelpful customer service regarding potential fraud matter which is the latest in a series of poor experie ces with my bank. I've been contemplating a switch the past couple of months but have put it off as my boyfriend and I are saving for a deposit for our first house and I've read you shouldn't switch if…

• House renting advice - Additional person moving in

  I currently have my house rented out. I pay all the bills, insure the house, service the boiler, changed the mortgage to a consent to lease and declare the income minus mortgage tax and bills to HMRC. Shortly I will have a second tenant ( A friend of mine ) moving in, he will be claiming JSA and the form is asking a whole…

• Japanese Knotweed

  One thing after another..... Mortgage valuation has come back 10k less than agreed price as the surveyor believes there may be Japanese knotweed at the top of the garden. The mortgage company will still lend on the property as it is 20 or so metres away, however, they want a report confirming whether it is or it isn't…

• HMO or not?

  Quick question: Are the rules different for HMOs and houses where the owner is resident, please? eg. A six bedroom house; owner has one bedroom and rents out the other five to unrelated lodgers. Bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, garden and storage areas all shared. In the above instance, should the house be…

• Help please :( - Tenancy Deposit system/fines

  Hello I am a landlord and am being threatened by tenants for huge fines after a genuine mistake on this scheme. I am really worried, torn between thinking it can't be right and scared that it may be from googling … any experience / knowledge much appreciated. As briefly and honestly as I can: - I have rented out a house…

• Get AIP and/or find solicitor before finding a property??

  My husband and I are FTBs looking to purchase in a very specific area. We started looking properly about a month ago (just checking online ads before that) and there isn't too much coming up, though the properties that do come up seem to sell very fast (sometimes). We are currently renting with a fixed term until end of…

• Get AIP and/or find solicitor before finding a property??

  My husband and I are FTBs looking to purchase in a very specific area. We started looking properly about a month ago (just checking online ads before that) and there isn't too much coming up, though the properties that do come up seem to sell very fast (sometimes). We are currently renting with a fixed term until end of…

• access after exchange

  what rights does a buyer have with regards any access to the property after exchange ? Does the seller have to grant any access at all or is it only discretionary ? My buyer has been a complete pain in the negotiations and even renegotiated the price at the point of exchange. I do not want to let them in at all prior to…

• expired contract rolled to AST, still no deposit back..

  Hi everyone, I rented for 1 year and few months through a letting agency, everything was fully managed by them. At the beginning of the tenancy I signed for a 1 year contract ending on 7th February 2015 and an independent check in report was filed. I checked online today and my deposit is still protected by The Tenancy…

• Completing on a new property

  Hi, I am in a bit of an unusual situation (or so I may think) with regards to the completion of my property. Generally speaking I was wondering whether developers have any flexibility around the 10 day completion period? Here is the situation... I purchased the plot in June 2015 of off a person who originally bought it…

• Kitchen Diner?

  Hi Long time listener, first time caller Looking to stage our house for selling, which would you prefer. At the moment we have a biggish kitchen with a conservatory (through sliding doors) that we use as a dining room. if you were buying would you want a kitchen/diner and a conservatory with sofas (etc) or bigger kitchen…

• environmental search not passed

  Hi all We ftb and purchasing a 11year old house. We in final stages and property has not passed that the land is free from contamination. Sol has sent us report and there was a steel factory near house we buying. Factory held waste licence until apr 1994. Type of waste industrial liquid sludge. The distance is 11.0 m. We…

• No electricity in flat

  Hi, I had a call from my tennant last night to advise he had no electricity in the flat. There is a red light on the meter. He called EON who advised they hadn't cut him off, all other flats have power and the fuse switches were all on. I called the management company last night who sent someone out this morning, they…

• Advice on renting

  Hello, I have never rented before and I am looking for advice on the procedure? Me and my partner earn about 1900 pcm between us. Properties tend to range from 900 - 1200 pcm around my area, am I likely to run into problems such as landlords not thinking we earn enough etc? I have never had a credit card so credit history…

• Advice please on eviction on tenant

  Hi guys. My estate agent has already served a tenant with 2 months notice with a section 21 notice (deposit is protected, notice is served correct etc.) and it expires on the 13th of September 2015. the tenant has not allowed access for an inspection for 6 months now. They've stopped paying rent 3 months ago. Now as it…

• Covenant on the land being ignored

  Ok, I know I am in 'talk to a lawyer' territory with this, but I am so far out of my depth I wouldn't even know which lawyer to talk to, and I couldn't afford that conversation anyway. This is fairly complicated, but any advice would be appreciated, even if it only applies to one bit of this puzzle! Bought a flat - it has…

• Garage Still Registered To Previous Owners

  Hello :) We're purchasing a property that has a garage with a door into the garden, but is actually part of a row of ex-council garages out the back of the garden. We were 'sold' the property with the garden belonging to the house, however our solicitor has flagged up a problem that this garage is actually still registered…

• notice

  I have been living in a flat for 7 months in Edinburgh, Scotland my short assured tenancy contract expired last month, the landlord did not put my deposit in a deposit scheme, they are talking about giving me notice, i have paid all my rent. how much notice do they need to give me and what forms must i fill in if any when…

• FIrst time buyer - advice pleass

  Hi there. Been renting for a while with gf now we have deposit/mortgage put in place we are ready to bid on a house we have seen. House report £150k House price: offer in the region of £140k Simple question is we want to obviously pay less than asking price. Its a 5 bedroom house but we wantto change to 4 bedroom with…

• Purchasing a house with a tenant in an Annexe

  Looking for some advice. We are currently in the process of trying to purchase a property that has a separate Annexe in the grounds which is currently let to a tenant. Our Solicitor is insistent that we have to have vacant possession of the property before we can complete. The Estate Agent is advising that we could perform…