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Stamp duty, low value property abroad
We are about to buy our first property in the UK, however my husband owns a house abroad. The house is worth very little, likely less than £20,00. Which rate of stamp duty would we pay on our UK house?
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Unattractive tenant
I currently live in a privately rented house and have been here for five years. It looks like the landlord wants to sell so i'll need to find somewhere else however, I know that on paper I'm a very unattractive tenant - bad credit rating, relatively low income (not low enough to qualify for social housing), single parent…
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Rent a room scheme Scotland
Hi all, I'm a first time buyer and I'm about to finalise the purchase of my first property. I have a spare bedroom and I'm considering taking my current flatmate as a lodger temporarily. Hopefully you can help me with my questions! - My mortgage would be a residential one. I have been advised by my mortgage broker not to…
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Renting out my spare room - first timer
Hi all, Seeking out those with experience of renting out a spare room. I am considering renting out my spare room. Before I commit to advertising it, I've been pondering some of the technicalities such as: *how does house insurance work with having a lodger? (my buildings insurance is through my factor; my content…
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How long between signing contract and completion?
We are selling a cash-bought flat (no mortgage) and buying a house using the equity as a deposit - we have responded to enquiries and our solicitor is calling us in tomorrow morning to sign the approved contract. We are about to also do the same on our purchase as all our searches and enquiries have been received too. I…
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Having issues with my letting agent
First post, need advice. I live in Wales I moved into a property 01/09/21, letting agent emails me in
January 2022, trying to get me to agree signing a new 1 year contract in September
2022, I declined explaining that I do not want another yearly contract, I have
no plans to leave, I just though it went onto a…
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10 weeks before mortgage offer expiry and still many outstanding enquiries...
Hi all, I just checked my mortgage offer expiry date and I have exactly ten weeks left. It's probably too early to start panicking but there're still so many outstanding enquiries, including: 1. Over 20 question raised by my solicitor which remain unanswered for weeks 2. One of the sellers' name doesn't match downloads…
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Negligence letter to a Solicitor 's firm
Hi, I'm new here so please go easy on me. :( I need some help to write to a Solicitor's firm for their negligence in handling my litigation case against a builder. Can you please help me :'(
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Idiots guide to London short leases?
Pretty much as the title. I see flats for sale in the best areas of London at low prices, i.e. 500k in Knightsbridge. Obviously they have very short leases. I have googled this looking for info but haven’t found anything very explanatory, or at least that I could understand. I don’t live in London so don’t know anybody…
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EA contract has 'ready, willing and able' clause - should I avoid?
I'm looking to sell my flat soon and have asked a few EAs for quotes and T&Cs. One large North London chain offers a fairly low fee, but in the T&Cs there is a condition, under the 'sole agency' part, that says I will be liable to pay remuneration to them 'if at any time contracts for the sale of the property are exchanged…
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Mystery garage found on valuation
I've just had the mortgage valuation report come through on the house I'm buying and it's listed a garage and private parking that I wasn't aware of. The estate agent's listing and the conversation I had with them at the viewing both had the property as on-street parking only. There is a garage at the end of the garden,…
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Renting and deposit criteria / fulfilment
Hi all, I would like to check your opinion on deposits and how I can make use of the flexibility available for renters. I am renting a property for the last four years with fixed rent for the first three years. During Covid, it was discussed with the property agent on the phone call that the rent would be reduced to…
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Right to buy death before 5years
Hi, My father has recently passed away and purchased his council house 3years 9 months ago. The house has been left to myself and my brother and the mortgage is fully paid. My question is do we have to give the council 40% back? We are not planning on selling the house until after the 5 years but obviously ownership will…
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Is an unmarried partner entitled?
Hi guys, just looking for a bit of advice please. Is an unmarried partner entitled to proceed from sale of a house which is solely in one of their names? I have had my house before I met my partner of 12 years, we both live there, have a child together and split the bills equally. I now want to sell the house but want to…
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Time to issue a possession order (s21)
Does anyone have knowledge/experience with how long the courts are currently taking to issue s21 possession orders? I'm trying to estimate how long I could reasonably ask the landlord to stay in the property past a s21 two month notice period. I live in south-east London.
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Redeem Help to Buy
Hello All, TL;DR - can we pay off HTB before sale? Any advice would be very gratefully received. We've had a bit of a shocker trying to sell our flat and buy a house. Bottom line is that very lengthy delays in the conveyancing process led to our buyer pulling our and seller putting house back on market. Wasted legal fees,…
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Land Registry Question
I'm doing a transfer of equity to add my wife to the title register to my old flat we rent out. We have paid off the mortgage. I intend for this to be a 99:1 ratio in order to maximise her tax allowance. In section 10 on the TR1 form I intend to write "Held as Tenants in Common - in unequal shares on a 99:1 basis in favour…
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Property Auction - sold in one auction appears again in another auction within one month
Hi, Recently a lot of decent properties are appearing on online property auctions. I have been watching a lot of auction houses since last year. Looking at the recent activities i suspect some type of fraud or accounting adjustments are going on as i see same properties sold in one auction appearing in another auction with…
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Guarantor, looking to get out
Just before we divorced I agreed to sign a deed of guarantee for a rental agreement for her. She had told me that it was only for 12 months. Four years later I am still on the hook for this. Some facts 1. I was never shown a copy of the letting agreement when signing the deed, the Letting Agent has only just sent a copy to…
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Garage conversion with no building regs certificate
The house we are buying has a garage conversion, hard flooring put down and walls painted etc, done over 12 years ago, and originally we were told the seller had lost the paperwork but after trying to get copies of the certificate from building control we found out there is no paperwork, and that building regulations were…
