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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…
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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…
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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…
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Buying a house with Annexe - Council tax
I looked at a house today which has a fully configured granny annex including a kitchen. The entire property including annexe is currently (unbelievably) council tax band B. I remember from a previous house, that when the house changes ownership, this gives the local authority the right to come and re-assess the property?…
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When the Managing Agent Controls Everything and Everything Goes Wrong
This is my experience as a cautionary tale about the risks of owning a leasehold flat where lease enforcement and all communications are funnelled through the managing agent. This is a longer post because modern leasehold systems are anything but simple, and the detail matters. TL;DR The agent controlled whether lease…
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Checkmate Certificate of Structural Warranty
Anyone with a Checkmate Certificate of Structural Warranty that they could share with me? I have received something for my home that looks unprofessional. Address mistakes, title of document, grammar, format and layout. Happy for all the personal information to be redacted, I just need to know what it looks like. Thank you
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Advice on unloading Importing windows from Poland
After months of planning we decided to ahead with ordering a full set of windows from Poland. Based on quotes we got here we think we saved around 45% on what it would have cost here. Although the manufacturer is organising the shipping, it's our responsibility to unload the pallets from the wagon. Has anyone had any…
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Seller refuses Building Regs Regularisation on 2-storey extension. Solicitor says proceed, but I’m w
Hi everyone, I’m currently in the process of buying a house in South England and have hit a major wall regarding Building Regulations. I’m looking for some perspective on whether I’m being too cautious or if the seller is being misleading to avoid an inspection. The house has had several major works over the last 15 years.…
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Pull out of flat purchase because of uncertain parking?
Hey — would really appreciate some thoughts as I’m in a bit of a strange situation with a flat I’m in the process of buying in London. I viewed a flat that was marketed as having secure allocated parking. The listing heavily emphasised this (including photos of the space). When I spoke to the seller at the viewing, they…
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SDLT second home
I sold my main residence >3 years ago, and have been living in my Mum's house, half of which I inherited 20 years ago. I now want to buy a house with my girlfriend, and believe I'm liable for second home SDLT due to the inherited share and >3 years since I sold my main res. She has a small house, no mortgage, which she…
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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…
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Leasholder charged £40k for 'decorations'
I am a leaseholder and bought my house around a year ago. Mine is the only house in the complex and is next to a set of apartments which are in a Grade II listed building. My house is not listed. I and the other leaseholders in the complex have recently receievd a Section 20 notice from our freeholder housing association…
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Land Registry questions
Hi everyone The Land Registry is here on our Forum to help answer its customers' questions. If you have a question pop it on here and it will do its best to help. Related on MSE: 50+ House Buying Tips Free First Time Buyers' Mortgage Booklet 2018 Remortgage Guide 2018 Ultimate Mortgage Calculator
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Going from renting to buying, struggling to get mortgage
Just wanting some advice. We did a voluntary surrender with our property back in 2018 due to a long process of the lender not accepting any offers that we had. We ended up moving into rented accommodation with the local Housing Authority were we have been since. We enquired about the Right to Buy Scheme but found that it…
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Misinformation in Planning Application
A planning application has been submitted for a new build preschool. Old prefab preschool had capacity for 30 - new build 42. Applicant compares our village population of 750 to suburban area of up to 100,000. Applicant states they will employ 5 staff - legally a minimum of 9 are needed. At the last committee meeting the…
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Giving notice for a rental that started before the law changed
I rented a property a few years ago under an assured shorthold tenancy. It's renewed as an assured periodic tenancy from then on with a rent increase each year. I had no rent rise early 2026 but the landlord has now proposed one, with proper notice, for this summer onwards. My landlord has been fine and there's been no…
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Managing Agent not consulting or advising Leaseholders
Background I am a Leaseholder in one of two blocks of flats, the Managing Agent, who is notorious for failing to act in the best interests of the Leaseholders, or to keep Leaseholders or their Recognised Tenants Association timeously informed of management events, or their actions. The Agent is currently overseeing a…
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Renting a house to family while overseas
We are moving to Switzerland this summer and our daughter and son in law are selling their property and moving in to ours. We are not charging them rent (savings their mortgage is a gift to the newlyweds) but wondered about the best arrangements for bills etc. We are in our mid/late 50's, mortgage free and owned the place…
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CGT on family home
Hi All, About 20 years ago my mother who had split with my dad died and left half the family home to me and my sister with my dad remaining in the house. Around 10 years ago he died leaving the house to me and my sister. We decided to rent the house out to the same couple until we decided to sell the house. Sale completion…
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Redrow won’t submit a Section 38 to the council, so they can continue charging maintenance fees
I live on a Redrow development. For the past five years we’ve been paying ever‑rising maintenance fees to a company called FirstPort, who in turn hire Community Property Care to carry out the general maintenance. Overall it’s little more than a shoddy grass‑cutting service, but that’s a story for another day. We pay just…
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Can/should my estate agent give me info on the full purchase chain?
I'm currently in a chain that's 5 links long (was in a 4 link chain before but it fell through). I'm rather keen not to just know about my vendors and buyers, but my buyers' buyers and their buyers. I'm pretty sure my estate agent knows the details of this (like their estate agents and properties, at least, not sure about…
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Garages
Hi, I live in a block which has a small number of garages, so only some flats have a garage. On reading the lease it states that where a garage is demised to the flat it includes the garage door and such parts thereof as are not stuctural. Am I right in saying that the MA should not be charging all leaseholders for…
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Buyer pulls out on completion day.
We are in the process of selling a house and our agreed completion day was today Friday 8th May, our solicitor asked us to send an email to them confirming to go ahead with the sale which we did, apparently this email has to be sent on completion day. An hour later we got a call from our solicitor telling us the buyer had…
