House buying, renting & selling

Hoping for some advice! I bought a 2-bed Victorian house at the end of August. I paid for a Level 3 survey in May and the surveyor noted: No signs of damp Would prefer to see an Aco/French drain around the property due to the outside ground level being higher than the internal walls Evidence professional damp proofing has…

Hello. I'm hoping someone can cast their eye over my calculations and reassure me they are correct, before I finalise them on HMRC? I have got myself rather confused with the PPR portion of the declaration. MONTHS Total Length of ownership 344 Length of Tenancy 134 Ownership Minus Tenancy (Main Residency) 210 Main…

Hi everyone, I'm looking to hear from anyone who has experience of extending a shared ownership lease informally with Peabody. I'm particularly interested in people who were still a shared owner rather than owning the whole property when they applied for the extension. I'd be grateful if anyone who has been through the…

Hi there! We are first-time buyers (in our forties - no family money here!) at the stage of making offers on a couple of properties we like. We viewed 17 flats in just under three weeks and have pretty much narrowed it down to 2 or 3 of them. The two currently in contention are what we need help deciding between. I have…

Hi, FTB here. We received the draft contract pack and management pack from the seller's solicitor. My solicitor asked me: "Would you prefer me to review the pack first and then order searches? or order searches straight away now?" Reviewing the pack takes a week at the latest he said. What is the most sensible way forward?

Hello MSE forum, I am hoping to get some advice on what to do as I have just sold my flat but have not yet found a further onward property to purchase. I have to move out of the flat I have sold due to exchange and completion dates are set for next month. I have found a rental property in the mean time to bridge the gap. I…

We’re currently trying to decide on our next house purchase and would really value some advice from people who have been in a similar situation. We’re a family of 5 and are looking to upsize from our current home. Ideally, our next move will be our forever home. We're torn between: 1. An older property that may need…

My house, which I formerly let and is now empty of furniture, has been sold subject to contract. As discussed in another thread, my insurance company insists that I must seal up my letterbox. I could do this myself with duct tape and cardboard (on the inside), yet I am not sure how secure this would be: might be vulnerable…

We're a family of 5 currently living in a 3-bedroom house that's starting to feel a bit tight. The house works for us now, but we're beginning to think about the next 10+ years as the children get older. A few of the things we're struggling with are: Lack of dedicated office space for working from home We'd like a bigger…

Our family's experience of administering an estate that included a retirement property was far more difficult, costly and stressful than we could ever have anticipated. Before accepting either the inheritance of a retirement property or the role of executor, I strongly recommend obtaining independent legal advice and fully…

I decided to sell the house I was letting. The tenant moved out in August. The house is sold STC. The sale could complete in November. House currently empty, unfurnished. What do people in these circumstances normally do about home insurance? The current insurers insist that after 30 days unoccupied - they insisted that…

We divorced this year and completed our consent order which was approved in May. All amicable and seemingly straightforward. The house has been on the market for 6 months and it has only had two viewings. We're currently switching agents after reducing the asking price by £10,000 and then £20,000 without success. My ex…

Our landlord just raised our rent by 30% citing market value as the reason. We have stayed here for 8 years and initially they opened up for a counter offer from us as they value us as long standing tenants. We made a counteroffer which they now rejected. They won’t budge. I’m now wondering whether we have any chances of…

Hoping for some sage advice. This is a slightly different scenario to most rented properties. Background: We've rented our current home (3 bed detached) for more than 11 years. In that time the owner has never increased the rent. This has come about as an understanding formed between us that we'd take care of small…

I have tenants who have European passports with settlement status. With the new regulations do I need to take fresh copies and carry out an official govt check? Or is a manual check of documents sufficient?

I posted a little while ago about someone selling her flat and continuing to live in it as a paying tenant. Now I hear that she is engaging a solicitor to draft a tenancy agreement that gives her a secure tenancy - owners not able to evict her. I'm pretty sure myself that this isn't possible in the private rental sector am…

hello. I am new here - and hope I can get the correct advice as getting nowhere with the councils involved I own a place in city A together with my spouse I had to move to city B for work - I am renting we are paying council tax in city A and I am paying council tax in city B. Is this correct? Am I underpaying or…

Looked at a flat for sale and took some photos. The comparison between the estate agents website photos and mine was striking. Small print says some photos may be "staged" to show what the rooms might look like with furniture and different lighting conditions, but this was something quite different. The corner of the…

My brother and I have inherited my dad’s estate after his death last year. Probate has been granted and IHT has been paid. The net estate (after IHT and some cash legacies) consists of a house valued at £600,000 and £300,000 in cash and equivalents. The will divides the estate equally between us. There is no mortgage. My…

Hi All Looking for some advice as I am 2 years into this battle and becoming exhausted and running out of ideas I have lived in my home for 37 years and I put in the right to buy to my housing association 2 years ago. They sent an estate agent out to value my home and he went back to the housing association and told them…