House buying, renting & selling

I bought some Bitcoin half way up the last price surge and sold near the top. Paid CGT. Had the funds in a deposit account for the last year or so. Now looking to buy a house, gains from the bitcoin speculation will fund a small proportion (maybe 25%) of the house price. I just found out that the conveyancer that I…

You'd think this would be easy but no. I went to the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) and used their "find an engineer" function. There is apparently no engineer firms within 100 miles of my postcode (Dorset). I called them because I didn't think this could be right and the person on the phone says it is.…

In 2011 the rules governing house sales changed to say the buyer takes all the building risk after exchange. This means the buyer still has to complete even if the house burns down between exchange and completion. Yes, I know you would buy insurance to cover the risk, but I'm not sure I would be happy having just spent all…

Background - Ive just transferred 50% equity to my partner for 50% of the original cost ( bought last year ) No mortgage. The conveyancer did the transaction as myself as vendor then myself and partner BOTH as purchasers. Stamp duty calculated on his 50% consideration = all cool. Situation related to my question … However…

Hi all, Moved into a new build last year and like a lot of people on here, I looked into professional snagging companies. Quotes were coming in between £300-£600 depending on the company, and honestly for a 3-bed it felt steep on top of everything else we'd already spent. I decided to do it myself but quickly realised the…

Hey MoneySavingExperts! Recently received a post through the door re: New Build Anti-Competition in my local areas. The content of which is a copy pasta from the website the flyer provided What Are "New Build" Claims? • Major housing developers are suspected of breaching the Competition Act by sharing information with Each…

Hi all, I have belatedly learnt about septic tank regs - I should have known about them when I bought my house in 2021, but my solicitor didn’t flag up any potentially illegal water discharge (my survey did suggest a septic tank specialist survey, which I didn’t do, silly me!). I am surprised by this, as I thought that’s…

Anyone falling into this category of having to do the quarterly tax return from next month? I understand that if your self employment and rental income together exceed 50k, you need to do the quarterly return. Anyone falling into this category and do your own tax returns?

My FIL is selling his house for 185k he has a few offers, some are from first time buyers. Most of the offers are putting down 5% deposit. This to me sounds low as I am used to people putting down the standard 10% these days. Is 5% deposit a bit too low do you think and we are better off choosing the ones that are putting…

We have to move into a single house with aged parents. We have found a house to buy and what we will realise from the sale of our home and the pareants home is way in excess of the new property purhcase. The thing is we want to do the deal now - care in our current small home is very difficult. We have pensions and…

We took out a local authority Housing Renewal Loan in 2011 which was secured against our property with a Land Registry Charge. Health reasons have led us to want to move home however the Charge on our property has become an issue. The council are claiming an amount far in excess of the amount stated on the charge and the…

We are about to buy a second home. If , after 2 years, we decide to sell it can we claim back the additional stamp duty or is that only applicable if we sell our present main residence?

I am a ftb and I have seen a 4 in a block flat near to where I'm renting. I am keen to buy but I have no clue about such things. I have a mortgage in principle and a broker and around £25-30k saved. I think i will have to offer more than the home report, currently offers over £95k but going to a closing date, and home…

I co-own a house mortgage free. We'd like to move to another council area and I've got a bank job with the NHS in that area already and work occasional shifts. We'd like a house in that area so I'm not always bunking with family, we can get our pets used to a new house plus the rental market is woeful. However, the council…

The tenants have a periodic tenancy. I (my agents) have served a section 21 which expires 5 April 2026 I am selling the property and have a buyer - he says he is happy to wait at the moment. The tenants have said that, as things stand, they can’t find anywhere else so won’t be leaving. They aren’t being obstructive just…

Hello, My mum separated from her partner 3 years ago. Could one of you helpful folk point me in the right direction regarding which form to fill in to change from joint tenants to tenants in common. Thank you

Dear all, I have a tenant living with partner and her son in my terraced house. They have been there for about 6 years. We now need to sell the house and we have send them all the right documentation to this regard, by post and email and they are not happy so they have not paid this month rent and they will probably not…

During my property buying paperwork I was asked whether I wanted certain searches, one of which was an Environmental Search. It was 195 + VAT! Isn't that extremely expensive for an Environmental Search? I read somewhere else it was 70 quid for someone. I chose not to have it because I don't see much reason to especially…

When buying a new house, how did you choose your surveyor? The RICS search shows that there are like 100 who can do one for my new property. Basically all seem to be good. Do you just assign them numbers and roll some dice?

We own a flat that is one of two in a house. The freeholder has just served the section 5B notice to as they are selling the freehold. The other flat already has an extended lease of 200 years and peppercorn ground rent. Our flat only has 86 years remaining and ground rent of £50 rising to £250. We don't know whether to…