-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Buying a house (with bigger mortgage) in your fifties
I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this please? DH and I are both in our early fifties with teenagers at home. We have outgrown our current house and there is no way to extend unfortunately. We probably could tolerate some of the issues but we would love to move house. We're planning on buying a bigger house…
-
Tenancy change following bereavement
Sadly my wife died recently. I notified the estate agent as we had a joint tenancy and that has to be changed to me being sole tenant. I expected it to be quite simple. My wife's name being removed, mine staying on and otherwise carry on as before. Instead today I've received a totally new contract due to start in the…
-
Changing Solicitor
Has anyone any experience of changing their conveyancing solicitor part way? What was the process and was it a good decision? Long story but, we got to the point of discussing exchange last August only for our buyers to drop out last minute. We now have new buyers (ftb) and have completed the chain with the same purchase…
-
Structural survey
Hi- my daughter is buying her first house- a lovely 1960’s semi. Should she go for the level 3/full structural survey or risk level 2? Where’s the best place to source surveyors and how much is she looking at on average. Thanks 😊
-
My flat requires an HMO certificate.
I live on the ground floor of an Edwardian house in the LB Haringey which has been converted into 2 flats. Both flats are leasehold and were converted pre 1991. I am being told by the freeholder that both flats require HMO licences and have invoiced us £800 for each flat with a deadline to pay. Can someone please confirm…
-
House wont sell other options
So i have been trying to sell my home for a few months. Valued by 3 agents between £220k and £230k. I would accept £220k but it is just not selling. No interest despite changing the photos to clear and uncluttered pictures. I desperately need to move areas. Should i just keep reducing the property to below market value and…
-
Moving and trying to avoid a chain
We're thinking about moving later this year (daughter will start school in 2027, so would be good to do this by end of 2026, as would be a different catchment area). We have a decent chunk left on our mortgage, but due to savings and inheritance have about enough to pay it off. Alternatively, we could use this cash as the…
-
Selling House in Spain with squatters
looking for advice on behalf of my parents in their 60’s who have a house in Tortosa Delta de Ebro region of Spain in a rural area which is now in a sorry state after Squatters have taken residence. They have been there a while and the house is now a shell of what it once was. Wondering if there are any companies who…
-
Auction Purchase Compliance question
So we purchased a property through an auction site in July 2025. The sale contract was extremely vague and obviously we were liable for extremely high additional costs. Which we did factor into our decision, however…… After extensive refurbishment, we are looking to sell the property through the same auction house.…
-
Tenants in common Unequal Variable shares?
When buying a property can you do tenants in common with unequal shares which vary according to contributions or do you have to list the unequal %? Im assuming you get a deed of trust drawn up which states share of ownership will vary according to contributions from both parties? This could be for a property which needs…
-
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…
-
Questions about The New Homes Group.
I have a few questions about a company called The New Homes Group [TNHG] and I want to see if any of you have come across them and if you have what you have to say. My situation is as follows - My partner has viewed a house and wants to purchase it. The house is in Witham, Essex. It is marketed by a local estate agent but…
-
Splitting CGT on property in sole maiden name
We are planning to sell the flat I bought pre marriage and have rented since marriage . We have always split the rental gain on our self assessments and wonder if we actually need to do a deed of assignment in order to split CGT liability on selling, given that HMRC have always allowed us to split the rental tax liability.…
-
Options for insurance for probate house.
Hi. A relative has been granted probate for a late friend's estate which includes a house - the house was left to the executor, my relative. Up until now - whilst probate was being sought, and since being granted - the house was insured using an Unoccupied House policy. She now wishes to tidy the place up for ultimate…
-
New boiler - no gas certificate
I had a new gas boiler fitted last year and the fitter made a really good job of it. I never did receive a (gas safe) certificate for it. He now seems to have vanished into thin air. I'm a little concerned about when we finally come to sell our property in a few years time. I'm not sure where to go from here and would like…
-
Concluding missives in Scotland - how late is normal?
Although I've bought properties before, this is the first time I'm buying as part of the dreaded chain. Our solicitor encouraged us to agree a moving date with the other parties prior to conclusion of the missives, which wasn't the way round I would choose, but of course went with the expert's advice. Moving date is set…
-
What tools did you use to track and manage your house or flat hunt?
I'm not great with organisation, especially with things I'm not particularly excited about. I'm currently looking for a new home and finding the whole process surprisingly hard to manage. When I start searching I end up with tabs open on Rightmove and Zoopla and can never remember which ones I've already looked at, or…
-
Purchasing freehold
Hi, does anyone have any experience of purchasing the freehold of their home? Our lease has 940 years left and we only pay £15 per annum for the lease, but we want to do work to the house (garage conversation, knocking down walls etc) and so would need to get permission from the freeholder to do this work. With our…
-
Kitchen sink has detached. Should the surveyor have noticed issue?
Hi, For the house I recently bought, I had a Level 2 survey done, and this is their quote for the kitchen: "Fitments consist of kitchen and utility fittings to a modern good standard, the usual blemishes noted, although much storage noted also. However, no serious issues were noted and the usual maintenance is advised.…
-
Overpriced house, offer rejected, what now?
Husband and I went to view a property on Sunday and we both really liked it however we think it is overpriced. It was put on the market in June 2025 for 850k, reduced 3 months later to 800k then taken off the market. It has recently been put back on at 775k and I still think it is really overpriced. The house has been…
