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Areas in Surrey/Hampshire/Berkshire to buy in
My husband and I currently rent in London, but are looking to buy a house (3 bed semi or detached, not new build, price 350k to 450k) with a good commute into central London as well as into Staines area. We've looked a lot (and nearly bought a house, but sellers pulled out) in Farnborough, which seemed to have a good…
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Shared Ownership Staircasing - Stamp Duty + Positive Restriction Question?!
Hi, Some people on here helped us recently to work out the stamp duty we would be paying once we staircase to 100%. It was explained as; Work out the payments in linked transactions: £89,650 + £87,750 = £177,400. Work out SDLT at today's rates on £177,400: it comes to £1,048. The SDLT you pay is a fraction of the £1,048.…
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Homebuyers Survey - are these as bad as they sound?
Hi all, I have just received a homebuyers survey for a property I'm intending on buying, I don't have much knowledge or experience so at first glance the report seems pretty daunting however advice I've been given so far has been a lot of the points they raise might not necessarily be so bad, that being said I don't know…
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Pet deposit query
Hi, when I started my tenancy, in 2015 I had to pay a £100 per pet deposit. I can't remember if this was classed as non-refundable or not. I wondered if under the change in laws I would have any chance of getting this returned to me?
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Help with making an offer
We accepted an offer on our house yesterday and have seen something we'd like to buy. It's not perfect, but it ticks the most boxes out of everything we've viewed. It's been on the market since early June, price reduced from £375k to guide price of £365k mid August. The agents have advised that it's not had any offers yet.…
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Due Diligence
Morning. I have seen a number of posts about issues owners are having with their homes being replied with "should have carried out your due diligence". I'm a FTB and I'm doing all I can think of to make sure I don't end up buying a lemon or paying more than the house is worth. Scouting the area including walking up to the…
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No stamp duty payable in a shared ownership staircasing with a Market Value Election clause?!
Hello! Sorry if this may sound like a stupid question, but would really appreciate someone to provide an opinion. I recently completed staircasing (to 100%) for a property I purchased via a shared-ownership scheme. Before staircasing, I owned less than 80% of the property and have never paid any stamp duty before. While I…
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Misled by new house builder help needed
Hi Everyone, my daughter was close to exchanging contracts on a new build whereby access to the front door is only possible via a communal path shared with an adjoining plot. Unfortunately the builders solicitor had failed to insert a clause on the title allowing access and the adjoining plot is refusing to permit usage…
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Breaking up with partner - can I keep the house?
So we bought a house together recently. We are tenants in common on a 50/50 share basis. I put 100% of our deposit down (£40,000). We had a solicitor draw up a document to say if we ever split up I would get the first 40k and the split the rest. We have only been in the house a few months so the equity is not going to have…
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Lease advice on loft ownership
I’m considering buying a one bedroom leasehold flat in London - the top floor of a house split into two flats. An individual owns the freehold and the downstairs flat is also leasehold. The EA and owner have advertised the property as having a loft and have advised me that that loft is demised to my flat but after reading…
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Is being a FTB really that much more advantageous when buying a house?
We currently rent and have been house hunting. Whenever we tell estate agents that we're FTB they always give a big nod and reassurance that it puts us in a great position. Therefore we've been trying to hold out to buy a bigger home than one would typically buy as their first house as we try to take advantage of this…
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Asking those who have bought a new build...
If you have bought a new build, having moved from a fully furnished home, how did you begin to make your new build house become a home? Tips please!! Some larger items are likely to follow us such as beds and possibly sofas etc but im looking for advice as to personalising the rest. The new house is considerably larger…
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Buying a house - no building regs / planning permissions
Hi, I'm in the process of buying a house. It is a house that is empty as the previous occupants part-exchanged it for a new build and it is now owned by the new build company. The searches have come back and they show a rejected planning permission for the loft conversion from around 10 years ago for this. However, amongst…
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Would this create a Terrace?
Both live in semi detached houses with our garages joining each other. Next door neighbour extended above their garage 10+ years ago but left the garage as a garage. We would like to add a bedroom and utility room in our garage. Would this make our houses terraced once work is completed? Or to do that would we have to…
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helping parents buy a house
My parents are old and renting, they want to buy a small flat and have a large deposit (50/60%) however cannot get a mortgage I have a mortgage and am credit worthy for more. What are my tax implications. Can the flat be in their name with my personal guarantee and I get a normal mortgage
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Buying near a former landfill site
We've been searching for our 'forever' family home for over 5yrs now and finally found one which, on paper, ticked all the boxes (e.g. not under a flightpath, not isolated, not vastly overpriced, near to station/school, not on a floodplain or busy road etc) - It's been a real headache as very few properties that fit the…
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Stewart Title
Hi all, My solicitors office tells me I need to take out this insurance. If it’s an insurance can I refuse it? I already have landlords insurance with my Buildings cover. Also is this a one off payment for the duration of the mortgage? Thank you
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Tenants in Common to Joint Tenancy
This is not strictly House Buying etc. but couldn't see where else to post. Some years ago my wife and I changed from Joint Tenancy to Tenants in Common for trust purposes. We have now cancelled the trust and wish to revert back to Joint Tenancy. I understand that we need to submit form RX3 and a Trust Deed. I have been…
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New Build - Build refuses to fix floor
So we've just moved in to a new build, built by a local developer, and there have been a few snagging issues, which the builder has been fixing as we've discovered them (they're still on site as ours is the second completed build in a 5 house development). There is however a big issue that he's equivocating about: The…
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House Viewing -AWKWARD!!
Myself and my partner are first time buyers and have been looking for properties for the past couple of months. Budget £100K and hoping to put down between a 8-10% deposit. We had a viewing at a property last week and we really like it - great area, property needs next to no work (just personal decor changes), sellers move…
