I can’t believe the utter dross that’s on the market at the moment. Sellers thinking that their properties are magically worth £25k to £50k more just by virtue of them living in it for 4 years!
Prices are nowhere near the height they were immediately post-pandemic and mortgage rates are significantly higher.

I looked at 4 properties yesterday and the sellers are deluded!

One had tenants that refused to leave when we arrived for the viewing, drew all the curtains and sat in the living room. It was also so filthy that I cannot begin to tell you! I understand that they don’t want the house to be sold but blimey! Sellers asking top end of the price bracket of recently sold in the immediate area and those houses were up together. This one is bottom end, at best!

One was completely vacant, there were still poo stains in the toilet and again, so filthy. I mean, there is no one living in it, surely you would at least clean it for viewings. Again, top of price bracket for recently sold in the area.

The other two were bought in 2022, needed work and were apparently worth £27k and £48k more than they paid for them.

I am just starting to view and decided to look at the first 4 in my price bracket, in the area I am looking at, just to get an idea..

Waste of time..

Sellers, come back to me when you have reality check!

I had an electrician visit my house today, and he received a parking ticket. (He has come to my house before, and that time when he inquired I mentioned that it's normally free parking after 12; this was before 12.) It's an £80 fine. My partner agreed to appeal the ticket for him, and I was considering offering to pay half as a gesture of goodwill since parking tickets suck.

The electrician has just sent me a bill for the work and has added half the parking fine to the amount, which has me feeling a bit miffed even though I was thinking of offering to pay the same. Just seems pretty cheeky to assume I'd cover it with no discussion. Normally I would expect all tradesmen to take responsibility for checking parking arrangements; I don't have a car which is why it typically doesn't occur to me. Am I right in thinking that it's fully his responsibility? Is this something tradies often do? What is the ethical position?

More importantly: any non-passive-aggressive ways to handle this without creating bad blood? I'm not planning to refuse to pay it but perhaps I should make clear it's a one-off. Or should I just be quiet and pony up the dough?

(I should add that he's a decent electrician and I need him to come back, which may affect responses...)

My partner is selling his flat so we can move in together. It's been on the market a few months and has reduced the price as he's keen to sell. I may be biased, but I think it's in a nice area and a decent size flat for the price.

He's only had a handful of viewings when he first listed it, and nothing recently. We thought one went really well as they came back for a 2nd viewing but nothing materialised.

We're aware loads of flats have flooded the market with the landlord reform bill, but is that the only reason, or are we missing something obvious with the flat itself?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/174781511#/?channel=RES_BUY

Hi all. Is there a map of social housing anywhere please? Looking to move and had some bad experiences around social housing neighbourhoods so looking for some kind of map so we can narrow our locations down if possible. Thank you.

There are certain properties which never appear on the market and sell well below market price, only appearing on sold house price lists a year later. What is going on here? How are they selling so cheap? Are they auction properties? Are estate agents somehow peddling these off market to their friends? Is there some sort of loophole they’re exploiting?

For example look at the sold prices for this road, number 7 is a detached property (which looks lovely on Google street and always has done if you go back through the years well before the sold date):

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/nw4/cheyne-walk.html

Edit: I appreciate people saying they could have got a bargain etc. But if you look at the sold prices you’ll see that detached properties on this road are worth well above 1M. 2014 was the last time a detached property was sold for under 1M.… 450K is not a quick sale. Theres something else going on and I’m intrigued as to what it is.

I personally noticed two houses that done them near us and they sold up with 2 years which I find quite odd.

Is it one of them things that people do for the space but when it’s done it feels like it was not worth it. Maybe it became too hot or tiresome going all the way up.

I’m also pondering whether to do it or just move to a bigger property

For context; I am a British citizen who had a small mental breakdown a few months ago and decided to run away to live with my partner in another European country. Things with him quickly devolved to unliveable, I can’t legally work here, and I have no savings, family or friends in the UK, and have only a rudimentary understanding of the language here. I would like to rebuild my life in the UK, however would find myself homeless as soon as I get back, and am not eligible to apply for any kind of housing support or universal income whilst I’m abroad. I’m trying to find jobs with accommodation provided, but am struggling to find listings save for a few randomly placed hotel ads, so was wondering if anyone had any suggestions

Our vendors are a nice family and I'm sure will leave the property in satisfactory condition. But I am pregnant and we are due to complete less than 2 weeks before I'm due (long story but it has to be this way). Typically I would've gone in and cleaned the house then my partner would've managed moving all the furniture etc. But I doubt I'll be up for a big clean, and I can't expect him to do both as he also works 60 hour weeks and physically won't have enough time off to do both. I think it would just take a lot of stress off my shoulders if the property could be nice and clean when we move in.

I'm thinking that it would be a good idea to pay for a deep clean maybe the day before we officially move in. I think we would have a small overlap between getting the keys to the new place and having to leave our current rental so that would give us a chance to get a cleaner in.

I just don't know whether it's an irresponsible waste of money, we won't have loads left after completion. I'm already going to book a hotel for 1-2 nights around the actual move date so that I can have somewhere to rest and be out of the way whilst my partner sorts the furniture/unpacking as I won't be of any use at 9 months pregnant.

Did anyone else have a deep clean of their new property prior to moving in? Was it worth the money?

Thanks

TLDR: Buyers pulled out last minute saying my leasehold flat was unmortgageable because it has stepped ground rent, but everyone I’ve spoken to is giving different advice.

Since then I’ve spoken to the estate agent, my solicitor, the freeholder and a mortgage broker, and everyone seems to be saying something slightly different.

Leasehold flat in England. Lease is 125 years from Jan 2008, so around 106 years left.

Ground rent is £50 per year now, then goes to:

£400 after 25 years

£800 after 50 years

£1,200 after 75 years

£1,500 after 100 years

So it goes to £400 in around 2033.

Is this actually likely to make the flat hard to mortgage, or are the buyers possibly just using it as an excuse?

Freeholder has suggested looking at a lease extension/renewal to peppercorn ground rent, but I’m trying to work out if that’s genuinely needed before selling.

Has anyone dealt with anything similar recently?

Thanks for any and all help, I'm praying this dosent cost me thousands of pounds

I’ll try to make this as simple as possible.

I am a first time buyer. I saw a house in a very suburban area and made an offer about April.
The estate agent was amazing and she gave me a call to say everything had been accepted.
I got a mortgage broker and a solicitor, everything was going well and I was supposed to get the keys last week Friday.

Now here is the twist. A day before exchange m, my solicitor requested funds from the bank. The bank called the solicitor and said you’re not on the panel! She literally rings me and told me she can’t proceed with the house purchase and now everyone is pissed! The sellers whole team thinks it’s my fault and told me that they don’t want to sell the house to me. What do I do? I have appointed a new solicitor and told the estate agent to try and calm the seller down. She then informed me, they are willing to give me 2 weeks to get this right or they will move along.

I actually don’t know what to do? Alter lender is being slow.

We are on their verge of moving? Everything nearly over the line. Our buyer very eager to move in now it’s been a while wants to move in 2weeks from now. But the house we are moving in has an extension built on it and a loft conversion, no approval from the council. Our solicitor won’t move forward now unless it’s sorted there end. There’s no specific date when the council will go round.

We are thinking of accepting the move in date for our house as we don’t want to lose the seller and move in to her mum and dads.

But I feel like selling the house and moving into her mum and dads and pulling out the house buy of the other property for all the messing about and look for another property. We offered them £25k less than the asking price and they wouldn’t accept, even though the extension and loft conversion would come back to bite them. I think they was hoping our solicitor didn’t know what they was doing or something.

For those who have moved, how long did it take you to pack up all your stuff?

We are going from a 2.5 bed flat to a 4 bed house. 5 pretty much adults and a small dog.

Ive been so busy trying to renovate the new place that we haven't actually packed our flat up yet. How long did it take you to pack and move all your stuff? We move a week today but can still access our flat until the 31st July.

Hi,

FTB here, had a offer accepted but is been a long while and my mortgage offer is coming to an end. We haven't had a completion/exchange date yet.

I have signed the contract and sent off to my solicitor but it hasn't been exchanged with seller yet. I believe my solicitor has these on file so when is time to exchange they can do so.

My question is that if I were to pull out or my mortgage offer expires, can i just walk out without any consequence? Will have pay any fees to my solicitor for work they have done so far?

We're in the process of buying a house in England for £415k and have just had our Level 3 survey back. I'm trying to work out whether we're being overly cautious or whether this is something you'd renegotiate over.

The property had historic subsidence around 30 years ago which was reportedly corrected by underpinning.

The surveyor found cracking to the front, rear and side render, an internal window reveal and the kitchen threshold. He said each crack individually could be explained by normal movement, but taken together with the history of underpinning, he wasn't prepared to dismiss it based on a visual inspection alone. He's recommended obtaining all structural engineer reports, Building Control approvals, guarantees and insurance documentation relating to the underpinning before proceeding.

Separately, there are alterations including a two storey extension, roof alterations, integral garage conversion, downstairs WC and altered first floor landing. The surveyor has concerns that some of these works may not actually comply with Building Regulations, particularly the reduced headroom to the landing, the downstairs WC and the apparent lack of ventilation. He specifically advised that an indemnity policy is not the right solution if the works themselves aren't compliant, as it only covers missing paperwork, not defective works.

We're now asking the seller for all of the relevant documentation before deciding what to do next.

My questions are:

* If the seller can't produce the Building Regulations documentation or structural paperwork, would that be enough for you to renegotiate? We were thinking to drop to 380k?
* Would you proceed if they only offered indemnity insurance?
* Has anyone been in a similar position where documentation couldn't be produced? What happened?
* Does this sound like a situation where you'd continue, renegotiate, or walk away?

For context, the seller had their own RICS survey carried out before putting the property on the market, so they may already be aware of some of these issues.

Interested to hear what others would do.

Update:
Thanks for all the advice so far, it's been really helpful.
I've gone back through the TA6 and realised the sellers did disclose the underpinning. It was in the additional comments at the end rather than the main section.
They've said:
It was underpinned by the previous owner in 1991 due to historic mining related movement.

It only affected the garage side of the property.

They've lived there for 22 years with no further movement or insurance claims.

They also say they have the original underpinning plans and completion certificate.

I then spoke to the surveyor again, and interestingly he said the underpinning itself isn't really his main concern.
His bigger concern is the 2005 to 2006 extension. He believes parts of it may not comply with Building Regulations (reduced headroom and the downstairs WC), so he doesn't think an indemnity policy is the right solution. He wants to see the Building Regulations documentation before advising us to proceed.
We're now waiting to see what documents the sellers can actually produce.
Does this change anyone's opinion? Would you still proceed if the underpinning documentation exists, but the Building Regulations paperwork for the extension doesn't?

Hi, we're currently in the process of doing a right to manage but have been informed by RMG ( property management company) that our block of flats needs a roof repair which could cost over 100 grand. They have said the work wouldn't be started until summer 2027. Do we have to wait for that work to be done before beginning the RTM or can we go ahead and get RMG to pay for it since this work is required under them and is most likely due to many years of neglect of their part.

Hi all - FTB buying a flat (70's maisonette) where the current owner had a rewire done when they moved in (2018), which was carried out by a qualified electrician but a family member/friend and so there's no paper work. There'll be an indemnity policy in place, but I think for peace of mind I'd like to get an EICR done (given how expensive and inconvenient major works could be).

Is this reasonable? How do I ask, through the estate agent or solicitor? Do I word it that I ask for them to provide one, or do I ask if I can get one done? Top of the chain is a bit behind (I'm at the bottom), so even though I'm close to being ready I don't think this should put too much of a delay on things, should it? Any advice or tips would be appreciated!

Just wondered if I can have thoughts on plot 186? I really liked 172 but it is reserved and 186 is the only other same type of house. It is £30k cheaper however I assume due to smaller garden and single garage only. Is there anything I should consider when looking for plots? First time buying new build. Will enter image into comments of estate

Following on from my previous thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/s/uHUfuhEntx

I am weighing up doing a loft conversion on my current house, turning it from a 3 bed 1 bathroom to a 4 bed 2 bathroom.

Estimated spend is in the £50k range but I am aware this could creep up.

Meanwhile, a house has come up for sale that appears to be all the house we'll ever need for the future. However, to acquire it we would need to throw everything we have at it and add a fair chunk to our mortgage. We'd be stretched to our absolute limit.

In our current house we'd be mortgage-free in 10 years. However, if the improvements went over budget, we might need to add on another 5 years to that if we borrowed more.

With the new house we'd be adding about £130k to the mortgage and to make the monthlies affordable it'd probably need to run for 20 years. I am hoping we could port our current fix over to the new house.

Moving house holds greater appeal to me even though we'd have to live as frugally as possible for several years after getting it. We are full to the brim in our current house and even after the conversion is done I am concerned it wouldn't liberate enough space.

Is it worth stretching to get the 'forever' home?

Hi all.

Got an email this morning from East Herts council claiming I owe them council tax. Email address is legit and other than a sloppy bit of grammar in one spot, it seems to be real. Use my full name and the phone number for payment is legit and confirmed from me going to the website.

I have never and currently do not, live in East Herts. Not even close. And have always paid my council tax to my actual correct council in full.

Confused about the email, why they think I owe them and how they have got my details? Do councils share contact details and therefore it could be a mistake when emailing someone that shares my name, or could this be more someone using my details somewhere else?

Edit: Update.

Actually not a scam email just amateur level communication from East Herts (note, when I mentioned email and phone number being correct this is as I had reference it from the actual website and confirmed they were correct).

Contacted the council directly through the actual website phone number. Turns out the agency I rent via registered my name against the completely wrong address. Including all utility bills which makes sense as to why I have been having issues that end also.

Solid work from the rental agency that 🤦🏼‍♂️

Hi all,

Apologies in advance, I haven't slept for 3 days and am really struggling with various issues. If this is the wrong sub for this, please gently direct me to the correct one

There are several unresolved leaks from the flat above me, which started on Saturday as far as I know. I currently only have some electricity but, importantly, no lighting at all. I have called out and paid for emergency plumbers and electricians but they haven't been able to diagnose the issue. The water absolutely stinks so it may be coming from a shower (?). The electrician said that my fusebox isn't responding, which indicates something within my ceiling. They would ideally need to access via the flat upstairs.

One problem is I am struggling to get a response out of upstairs. I have knocked many times but they don't answer, even when I can clearly hear that they are in. They did open once but they didn't seem concerned about the situation. I asked when they would be free for a plumber to visit to diagnose the issue and they said they will get back to me and see if they can take time off work. I am not a confrontational person and it took me a lot of courage to speak to them. It took me about 20 minutes stood in the corridor to muster the courage to knock on the door the very first time. Their nonchalance is very disappointing but the electrician did confirm that they're not adversely affected by the leaks as the water going through their waste pipe and into my property isn't costing them any more money than if it went where it should be going. After I had the conversation with them, I could hear them using the shower/bath and this considerably worsened the leak.

I have spoken to the housing association but, as upstairs and I are both homeowners and owner occupiers, they cannot assist. I confirmed that the leak has not yet gone into any communal areas so, as far as they are concerned, it is not their issue at the moment. Building insurance (Zurich Municipal) said that they can send someone out but it would be at my expense under the 24 hour emergency repair service. I have checked the insurance policy and it doesn't look like I can claim on this.

The final issue is that it's possible that I might not be able to afford the repairs. Both the electrician and plumber have not been able to quote the repairs at this stage. I am aware that the plumbing needs sorting first but the electricals will then need restoring once the floor is completely dry, and the electrician said it may cost several thousand pounds. I am not currently working and not claiming benefits, as I resigned from my old role two months ago. It is possible that the quote may be in excess of what I have and this is stressing me out.

Moving forward, please can I have any advice or anyone that can point me in the right direction?

* Do I have any way of enforcing that upstairs cover any of the costs involved?

* Is there any financial assistance available in these circumstances if neither of us can afford the essential repairs?

* If upstairs continue to not answer the door, which means I can't arrange access to fix the leak, do I have any way of escalating this?

My possible next steps:

* I'm going to leave a note outside their door pleading with them to not use any more water. If they choose to ignore this and carrying on showering and flushing their toilet as normal, do I have anything that I can do to stop them?

* Speak to Citizens Advice Bureau

Trying to get a sense if this is achievable today? I wfh most days and live quite cheaply.

Additional context:

1. Have enough in savings to pay the full year (hypothetically)
2. Salary isn't great but receive a ~£4k annual bonus which improves things somewhat

Not sure if the EA will refuse to consider if they see my income.

Edit: thanks for all the responses, much appreciated

We have a hefty combi boiler in our loft (currently 3 bedroom semi detached house). There is potential for a loft conversion but I wouldn't know what to expect with the boiler in there, I don't necessarily mind losing the space to the boiler but, I feel like it could be noisy and disruptive leaving it where it is? Has anyone done a loft conversion with the boiler originally in there?

We are FTB and It is a probate property and was initially on sale with a guide price between £525K to £500K. It has been reduced today to £500K. I like the space within the property but there is obviously a lot of work that needs to be done as it looks like no one has lived in it for years.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/89016189

We have found a similar 4 bedroom property nearby but it is at £475K and has an outbuilding with a total of 3 toilets in the building. Also, it is more modern than the one above and very little work is needed.

Which one would you consider?

So I recently purchased a flat for £88k, and has just under 86 years left on the lease. I had done some research online using calculators etc and have got figures in the region of £2700 best case worst case £4-5k, ground rent is currently £100 and is reviewed every 21 years with next one being in 2029, it states within the lease “the rent payable in respect of the period of twenty -one following each such determination shall be a one thousandth (1/1000) part of the capital value”, I have started the process through a lease extension solicitor and they have come back with highest premium to expect £9950 and the lowest £7400 they have provided me with a breakdown of there calculations but have noticed in there calculations they have put the ground rent as £200, I have queried it straight away but not had a response. I have budgeted £10k to cover the premium and my fees and the freeholders fees and thought this would be enough and now could have to fork out that for the premium alone am I right to query the figures they have provided?

I’m a leaseholder living in a first floor flat of a converted terrace in London. There are 3 flats in the building. The freeholder, who owns and rents out the ground floor flat, has put in a planning application for a one-storey extension to the ground floor flat. This will be out the back of the building, and will be just under some of my windows.

I have not yet received any notice of this from the council or the property management company, but found out completely accidentally due to a letter from a local property agent enquiring about it. We’re about halfway through the consultation period from a check of the website.

I have no issues with this in principle, and have a cordial relationship with the freeholder. However, this isn’t something that I’ve ever had to worry about before, so I’m getting a little paranoid that I’m missing something.

Is there anything that I should be concerned about here, either legally or physically? Any potential issues when I come to sell my leasehold, or any possibility for damage to my own property? I see no reason to object or comment on the planning application if there is no reason to do so, but I obviously don’t want this to detriment me. If, on the contrary, this could be a good thing for me, then that would be nice to know too!

If anyone has any advice or cautionary tales here, that would be much appreciated.