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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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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…
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No heating or hot water since 11 September 25
My disabled (enhanced rate PIP recipient) pensioner (70 years old) partner has had no heating or hot water in his Housing Asosiation flat since 11 September 2025, due to a problem with the communal boiler. The association are seeking quotes for repair replacement. The costly rent at the property includes the central…
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Selling a house for the first time - struggling!
We bought our first home in 2022, at peak pandemic price, when properties were selling like hot cakes. We had been renting for 7 years before, and we bought into the idea that we needed to get on the property ladder sooner rather than later. We bought a 2-bedroom semi, new build, with a surprisingly large, SE facing…
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Section 21
Hi, My daughter has rented a student house for the last 2 years. Her current AST is due to expire on 30th June. Can the landlord issue a section 21 on the 30th April and make them leave on 30th June, or will they be protected under the new rental rights bill? Thanks
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Help with leasehold ; complicated?
The abridged story is that I purchases a SO property in 2011, and fully staircased 10 years later. The lease I signed in 2011 clearly states 99 years. So this is definitely the time to consider extending. Slightly bizarrely, my lease doesn't have a date on my hard copy. So I used an online tool called the Leasehold…
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Sheltered housing criteria
I currently own a home and would like to move to another area where my parents live. It is a more expensive area so buying is out of the question. They both live in sheltered accommodation and moved there 20 years ago. They previously owned a property, sold it and now pay rent. There is no warden. I also would not need a…
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Parking outside own home in a 6 house cul-de-sac......?
Hello, FAO: MODS If this is in the wrong place, please move it. Background information - we have moved into my girlfriends childhood home that her mum lived in until she died 2 years ago. It is a small cul-de-sac with 6 houses on it in a L shape (see Picture 1). They were Council Houses, all 3 bedroom semi's. Number 1&2…
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Proof of funds for estate agent.
Hi all, Have tried searching to no avail and asked in my first time buyer thread but easily missed in there and not had a response...so... As well as my mortgage in principle, the agent has asked for evidence of my deposit. Because I'm using a LISA this is a slightly complicated picture in that most of it is in my LISA and…
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Disrepair claim
Hello. Im hoping someone can advise me. I started a disrepair claim with a company called McDermott Smith Law Ltd around June 2024. However this company went into administration last year. I thought nothing off it and thought my claim was no longer valid. But someone called me on Saturday the 13th February, claiming to be…
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What is the advantage of a council flat over a privately rented flat?
I was homeless, I went onto this impossible system gateway, that finds you a flat but in about 4 decades time. Im still on it. Im allowed to keep searching even though I now have privately rented accommodation (which I like) But why would it be worthwhile, what are the advantages of a council flat over a privately rented…
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Would you buy a house that had previously had spray foam insulation?
I had an offer accepted recently on what I thought was my dream home. A few weeks later I've been informed by the estate agent that it has spray foam insulation in the loft, which the vendor is going to have removed prior to me arranging a survey as he knows it's not mortgageable as it is. I hadn't heard much before about…
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Last minute paperwork might delay completion
We completed on the sale of our previous property just before Christmas and the week of completion was a nightmare with the solicitor’s compliance team spotting a missing yet important piece of paperwork at the last minute. I managed to get my management company to produce the paperwork and dropped it off personally to my…
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Whopping stamp duty or wait it out?
is it normal to pay 50k stamp duty? Are people actually paying this? Seems hefty!!!! I want to buy a place to let out but 50k plus extra seems a bit much? Are people in UK actually paying this? Seems very dissuading. Or is it just me being tight!?
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SDLT
I had a house that I lived in for ten years, after which I let it out for 5. I lived elsewhere with now wife who owns a place. If I want to buy a place now, can I reclaim the high rate stamp duty as I have sold my own house less than three years ago. Or am I not eligible because I let it out towards the end of my ownership…
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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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Buildings insurance, subsidence and a withdrawn mortgage offer
We are now at the point of exchange on a property with a recent (2021) history of subsidence for which there was an insurance claim. Our mortgage lenders have withdrawn their offer based on the fact that we cannot get buildings insurance with an excess of lower than £2,500. As is standard, the mortgage offer states the…
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Land missing from title-future lending problems?
We are buying a property, using a bridging loan, as its being sold under auction conditions. The property has two separate title deeds and the current owners have lived there since the 50’s. They bought the second title in the 70’s (im mentioning this as its before it all went digital) which is ajoining and used as a…
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Additional Property SDLT
Hi, I own a flat that I’ve been trying to sell for the past 3 years, but due to cladding issues I had to rent it out instead. The cladding work has now been completed, but it caused significant leaks which are taking a long time (over a year) to fix. As a result, I can only rent one room, and the affected room remains…
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Transfer in part
I am in the long process of trying to exchange/complete on a house after completing on mine on 12 Dec. In summary, Mr & Mrs developers bought 2 cottages & transferred part of cottage 1’s garden to cottage 2. I am trying to buy cottage 2 & cottage 1 recently exchanged & completed. They have signed the transfer in part…
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Porting mortgage with recent defaults & significant debt
We are with Skipton Building society. Never missed a payment would like to move to a cheaper property (bought our current for £310k & mortgage is £263,000). We’ve seen a property for £280k but in the past 12 months I have had £60k of defaults from credit cards & loans, added to my credit file. Obviously did not have these…
