Needed more space for my family so upsized from 3 bed new build that was immaculate to 4 bedroom semi which is older. We understood that there may be a few things to deal with but cannot express how much this has got me down over the last few weeks.

1. Boiler was pretty much on its last legs and not even installed correctly. The flue was not angled correctly and causing issues. On top of this all radiators in the house were rusted to within an inch of their life. We’ve installed new boiler and radiators throughout at a cost of ~4k.

2. From speaking to the new neighbours the previous owner bought a lot of things second hand. Including the 5m x 4m conservatory. Whilst the big space looks nice, the bay windows are bowing outwards towards garden and the roof panels have slipped leading to water ingress. This was the first thing we seen after we obtained keys and we were devastated. Had a conservatory roof bloke out who basically said he wouldn’t sell us a new roof even if we wanted and pretty much beat off ripping it down and blocking up.

3. Main bathroom leaking onto floor and water coming through kitchen ceiling. We are getting this ripped out and repiped and tiled with new suite for ~7k.

4. Downstairs toilet cistern wasn’t attached to the wall and is leaking water. We had this turned off and isolated. Whole thing will need to be ripped out and replaced at some point. Same with the en-suite.

5. Sheer filth. Never seen anything like it in my life. Took me and my Mrs days and weeks to clean the grime away. Carpet on the landing stunk of cat urine so I ripped out but have to have floorboards for now until we get main bathroom renovated.

We had 40k to start with, which we were hoping to use some of to make the house look lovely. The majority of this money is now dedicated to getting the house habitable and safe for my family.

With all of the issues all at once, we don’t have the spare cash for a new conservatory, the cheaper option we thing is to do away with it.

If the offers over price is just a gimmick price to get eyes on the property, why can't you just transparently tell us the real amount the seller is looking for instead of making us waste time guessing?

And when we believe your messaging, why is that a problem? We saw a beautiful house which was listed for 380K. We left it alone. It was reduced to 360K. We offered 365K as FTB buyers no chain. Apparantly the owner still wants home report or close to which is 400K. Well your price is your price and it's your house I respect that, but if you failed to achieve that price from people with a 380 budget, aren't people with a 360K budget likely to offer less?

London clay has been in the news lately, and there's been a lot of posts on this sub about huge new cracks appearing in people's homes after this summer's historic drought. Tl;dr - all of London is essentially built on clay, which expands and contracts depending on rainfall. While this hasn't really been a problem for centuries, it is increasingly going to become one now. Drought conditions make London more than anywhere else in the country susceptible to subsidence risk. Subsidence can make properties un-insurable, un-mortgageable, and potentially unsafe to live in - so, essentially unsellable.

As someone who is about to buy a period property in London (Victorian) - those with the greatest risk of subsidence, given their shallow foundations - this is freaking me out. British Geological Survey released this summer indicates 54% of London properties will be at risk of subsidence by 2070 under high-emissions scenario, 26% under moderate-emissions scenario. Certain boroughs & property types are more at risk, but these numbers aren't good for anyone.

I know many people may shrug and say 'shit happens, you can't control this' - but for those of you trying to buy property in London right now, how is this information impacting your decision making, if at all?

Hi,

We’ve viewed a property that ticks most of our boxes after a really long period of not finding anything suitable however it comes with a list of covenants. The most important ones are:

13.6 Not to use the property for any purpose other than as a single private dwelling in one occupation only.

13.6.1 Not to plant any hedge or tree on any part of the property which exceeds 3.0480 metres in height and not to allow any hedge or tree on the property to grow to a height in excess of 3.048 metres.

13.6.2 Not to do or omit to do or permit or suffer to be done or omitted to be done any act matter or thing on or about the Property which causes or may be or become an annoyance nuisance damage or disturbance to the Transferor or the owner/occupier for the time being of the Retained Land.

13.6.3 Not to make any alteration or addition to the exterior or external appearance of the Property or the building on the Property except at the rear of it

13.6.4 Not to open any new windows or other opening (whether temporary or otherwise) on the south side of the property overlooking the Retained land

Long story short, the neighbour lived in this house and sold it but kept a strip of land and added these covenants. He is now 82 and they date back from 2000s.

We don’t plan to make major alterations, plant any trees but find the point about nuisance very broad and personal. We do have a very active toddler and do like to host the odd bbq in summer. The house is detached so the main concern would be the time spent in garden.
Are these massive red flags? How would he go about challenging these?

I’m looking to purchase a maisonette which comes with an allocated parking space. I’ve been there twice and couldn’t find any bay with my house number on because all of the paint has faded away

I’ve checked the land registry and old google maps photos and can confirm that I do have a parking space. When cross checking the position, another car has been parked in that spot on both occasions that I visited

Would it be unreasonable of me to ask the seller to get that parking bay marked and numbered prior to purchase? I don’t really fancy having to fight my neighbours about parking from day 1

Based in England

Im in the process of buying a 2 bed masionette leasehold. It was advertised as having a front garden and toof terraced area. It also had the floorplan on there.

Simce the Leasehold document has come back this garden area can only be used as walk way and is not included in the lease.

My conveyancer asked for consent for me to use it as a garden and they have said no.

The estate agents have said the garden area doesnt affect the price and that the valuation stays the same but i dont believe this to be true. They have also said be reassured that the current owner and previous owner have used it as a garden so it should continue to be fine.

This feels like really fraudulant advice simce they now know there is no consent to use it as a garden.

What should i do ?

How long can a conveyancer sit on a draft contract without actioning? We accepted an offer on 30 Aug. Draft contract sent to buyer on 16 sept. We have still not had any enquiries. My solicitor chased on 1 Oct, they confirmed they had the paperwork. There are 3 properties in the chain. 2 of the properties are ready to complete. Everyone getting a little impatient 😭

bit of a rant, our property has been up for 3 months, we never really got the initial influx of viewers, we've had maybe 3-4 in the time it has been live, and multiple cancellations.

The property was supposed to be a hot opportunity for first time buyers and investors, clearly a big fan fib.

I understand we'll likely have to reduce at this stage to get a sale.

But whenever I ask for suggestions to improve visibility, or their professional opinion, all I'm getting is my own suggestions parroted back at me.

it's driving me insane at this point.

It feels like I'm just paying to edit a listing myself, and for some inexperienced botox filled agent to show someone around the house while I walk the dog...

Fyi, I'm not even bombarding them with emails, we've had maybe 2 exchanges since the beginning of September.

We’re a couple in a one bed flat on a fixed term contract from August to January. We signed hoping to renew in the new year. The property was on the market so we understood there was a risk it would sell.

The landlord has just informed us that they accepted an offer on the flat. Now that we’re here, I’ve heard that we are on an assured tenancy legally because the fixed term contracts and no fault evictions have been abolished.

Does that mean we can’t be evicted in the first 12 months of living here and only then be issued a 1A repossession order?

It will surely mean they lose the buyer for the flat but I suspect they didn’t put it on the market with a sitting tenant like they should have.

We don’t want to cause trouble but if there is a legal protection for us we’ll use it! Any knowledge to help us understand and prepare would be really valuable. Thank you!

Hi everyone, looking for some advice or to hear from anyone who has gone through a similar situation.
We found our dream house, put in a couple of bids, and finally had an offer accepted. Right after acceptance, I called the estate agent to request that the property be marked as Sold Subject to Contract (SSTC). However, the agent advised us that the seller requested it remain listed for "personal reasons." In hindsight, that red flag should have tipped me off, but we moved forward.

Fast forward three months: we were fully prepared to complete in just 5 days. I had already transferred our funds to our solicitor in anticipation of completion. Then, out of nowhere, the seller’s wife called our solicitor directly. She informed them that they are currently going through divorce proceedings, their financial settlement hasn't been resolved, the court is involved with the property, and as a result, completion cannot happen.
Looking back at all the paperwork and official documents, only the husband’s name was listed as the owner. We had no idea a wife even existed, let alone that they were going through a divorce, until her phone call to our solicitor.

We have asked our solicitors to reach out to the seller's side to ask what the official next steps are, as we are completely clueless about where this can even go from here.

My partner and I are absolutely distraught and feel like we’ll never get our dream home. We've invested so much time, emotion, and money into this process. Has anyone been through something similar? What typically happens next in this situation, and is there any chance this sale can eventually go through? Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Just after a bit of advice.

We are currently renting our property out as we’re travelling with our son before he starts school. We do not make a profit on this we rent just for the amount of our mortgage as we never intended to be landlords. Our fixed term is going up and our mortgage will be a few hundred more than our rental income. I do understand we are gaining from this in equity.

We come back in July and we aren’t planning on moving back to Cardiff. We have options with our tenants to extend their contract until the following dates - November 2026, may 2027 or November 2027. We would like to sell the house because we need the money to buy a different house and I have no interest in becoming a long term landlord.

Our tenants are friends of friends so rented the house knowing full well it would be either a year or two contract so there’s no hard feelings either way as we are renting below market value for them.

We will rent when we come back to the uk and we would sell with no onward chain as we want to find the right house for us and not feel pressured by a chain. Ideally I would like to downsize because being away has made me realise we don’t need a house the expense that we have.

Based on the predictions of selling, if you were in my position, when would you sell?

Thanks

I have placed and offered and the offer has been accepted by the sellers, now I am in the process of conveyancing with my solicitor.

The sellers have started advertising the property with a different agent and at a higher price because he feels that conveyancing takes too long.

I sort of have the sentiment that trust has been broken. First he's not happy with my agent and second, he's not happy with the price and if anybody offers more the sale might break for me at any stage.

Honest answers I don't seem to get. My solicitor knows about this and since he's on a no win no fee I fear that his motivation to work quicker is not there any more as the deal might fall through easily and his work will never be financially rewarded.

ORIGINAL POST: https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/comments/1wggvho/the_joys_of_selling/

Just wanted to leave an update on my previous post to let everybody know how it all turned out.

Good news! The house sale went through and we're now in our new house.

The survey went ahead, and we were told by the surveyor they haven't seen anything of major concern, just a few further investigation points. We were told the purchased would have the report by Tuesday (after the survey happened on Friday).

We heard nothing on Tuesday and so proceeded to follow up with our estate agent every day for a decision from the buyers. Friday we still heard nothing which we found strange, but all of a sudden we got a message on Saturday saying the buyers want to complete on Friday. This opened a can of worms because then our movers weren't available for that day so created a rush to find new ones, but thankfully it all worked out in the end!

For those who end up in a similar situation, hopefully this positive turn out makes you feel reassured that it's not a definite fall through or gazundering scenario!

Hello,

I have recently moved into my first home, it's a 3 bedroom detached built between 1990-1995. The front of the houses are all open plan with no fencing.

The neighbouring property next door was also for sale at the same time as the house I have purchased.

The neighbours have now moved into their home. I haven't spoken or met the neighbours yet (for some strange reason). They have done a few things that have already annoyed me though, or maybe I'm just being bitter for no reason (explained in further detail below)?

Because the front gardens are open plan, we have caught them on our doorbell camera walking straight over our grass/land (again I wouldn't do that if it was me and I have never walked across or in front of the living room windows), although they know it isn't part of their front garden. For the past 2 days, what seems to be their father has been using our side of the garden to cut down the bushes that they have on their side (again, no one has asked us if it's okay to start trampling all over our grass and making it muddy/dirty - am I overreacting here or is it common courtesy to ask if you're going to be doing some work and you need access from the neighbours side of the garden?).

Because they have limited space at the front of their property for parking, they are currently in the process of removing all the bushes at the front of their property and they will be putting a driveway in (we know this because one of our nice neighbours told me).

I noticed this when I moved in 1-2 months ago and it wasn't really a problem then because their side was just full of bushes, but now they are going to be installing a permanent drive way, I feel like I need some advice on this? My back garden fence which separates the two properties at the side leading to the front, it shows that we should actually own more land in the front of our garden and the title plan that I have doesn't really explain it properly.

Please review the picture and the title plan to see what I mean. On the picture, you can see where the bushes are positioned and have been cut down, and you can see the small stone/block divider running down the middle (I have used a red arrow to indicate this). From the back fence, I should own part of what they think is their land.

Picture/Plan

Is this small amount of land worth getting into a bit of hassle over or shall we just let them carry on with their drive way?

Thanks in advance for your help.

My wife and I are both NHS workers looking to buy our first home. We have two young children and a maximum budget of £400k, ideally for a three-bedroom house.

As we both work in healthcare, working from home isn't an option, so a reliable and manageable commute into London is important to us.

We're looking for a safe, family-friendly area with good schools, local amenities and easy access to a train station.

We're open to areas outside London, ideally within an hour's commute.

We'd really appreciate recommendations from anyone living in areas that fit our budget and requirements.

So we put in an offer an about 2 weeks ago it got accepted. Was told they will stop any further viewing. Brilliant so we started our searches , got survey done then I look online as you do at the house several time over to find it’s now marked as available!!! With no communication and my anxiety through the roof. I can’t believe how much money you put in for solicitors, surveys and broker and it can’t go tits up so easily !! I’ve emailed the estate agent but obviously it’s evening I hope it’s a genuine mistake and the fix it: but it doesn’t fill me with confidence.

When selling a house to buy a house, at what stage of the process should you start getting a solicitor on board? Conscious of spending money on a solicitor to potentially end up not making a sale ?

England, and I’m autistic

When viewing it seems I’m expected to ask questions and make noises like a real human, the only thing I really want to ask is what the price expectation is ie. is the guide price realistic, will there be a bidding war or are you chancing it?

Astonishingly, if I ask that directly, hoping for a direct answer back, they blink at me like I’ve grown three heads.

So….. are there any tips to reading where the price sits? Do the agents give anything away? Any buzz words I should watch out for?

Partner and I are FTB in South UK. Our offer was accepted and we got a lvl2 survey done on the 3b end of terrace, which has shown a few "urgent" actions needed. Our questions are mainly, how serious are these things, and who might be liable for the costs? I'm unsure what is the standard for whether or not the seller "needs" (I know this is also down to the seller, I'm mainly unsure how much leeway we have to negotiate) to make the repairs, or if it's more normal to just get them to get the further investigations or none of that and it would be all on us! I've done so much research my head hurts but I can't seem to get a solid idea on these specific faults found...

• Rear chimney has been partially removed from ground floor and first floor, but the loft chunk is still there and held by "a single timber member loosely embedded into the adjoining brickwork" (I can't add a picture but imagine a chimney stack of bricks sitting one one diagonal 2x4) Survey suggests investigation should be done before exchange of contracts, so does this indicate it would be down to the seller to do and remediate?
• "Positive moisture meter readings (reading was 41) were recorded to the party wall within the bathroom. This suggests that moisture penetration may be occurring due to ineffective weatherproofing to the projecting party wall arrangement above roof level. We recommend that the arrangement is inspected and overhauled as necessary, including the provision or renewal of suitable lead flashings and associated seals to ensure a weathertight finish." They said in a different bit that it looks like there is visible evidence of the damp in the paint.
• Outer wall shows evidence of damp (the 4 readings they pictured were all above 20 with one of them at 26.6) that is likely rising damp, they point to a couple different possibilities but they couldn't see the damp proof course due to rendering so not sure how much above the ground it is, and also the rendering could be bridging it (they recommend chipping away the rendering below and installing a bellcast). There's also a downspout on one corner that just dumps onto the ground and from the pic looks like it pools there, they said this probably contributes but not the main cause of the damp
• Cavity wall ties... There's horizontal cracks in the render that may indicate the cavity wall ties being corroded, the build is 1890ish and others around also show evidence of cavity wall tie corrosion/failure. This one seems to be the most pressing? But would the wall tie survey cost be down to us or the seller? Or how much bargaining power do we have to ask for the seller to cover it?
• This was not listed as urgent but the rendering is cracked/damaged, and they say it "may" need replacing. They said there's hollow sounds when knocking in some places as well. There's already some repaired patches too. How concerned should we be about this?
• A few other less urgent things- The mastic sealing around all the windows and doors needs redoing, damp readings in the loft with accompanying notes that "existing tile and cement listing arrangements to the projecting party walls appear ineffective", gable end of the rear roof does not incorporate a wet verge, resulting in exposed and inadequately sealed tile edges (no defects associated with that detected), "the tile roof covering has not been properly cut back adjoining the sloping valley which conceals the true state of the valley lining material and is also likely to encourage a build-up of debris. This could, in turn, result in damp penetration issues. The tiles adjoining the valley should be trimmed back and pointed up as necessary. The condition of the lining material should also be checked at the same time, no eaves (/loft) ventilation, current loft insulation is thinner than the recommended standard by 40mm, roof underlay is open in spots but they say to just do it when roof covering is next redone, plaster in one area seems to be de laminating due to the previously mentioned damp, and they couldn't find an internal stopcock for the water (I know it's not necessary but it is pretty helpful when you need one)

Thank you so much for reading and I can follow up with any other details, my partner and I are both autistic so the whole 'negotiation' thing is really unnatural and difficult for us so we're trying to gauge what we can do with this survey information! Should we also send the survey to our solicitor to get their advice? Cheers and have a good one :)

I am trying to sell my 3-bed bungalow which is of Hawksley BL8 non-standard construction with an external brick skin, but I keep hitting a wall with £0 valuations from lenders and surveyors, while standard mortgage and bridging attempts have failed. Has anyone successfully sold a Hawksley BL8 near market value recently, and are there specific specialist lenders, brokers, or regional investor networks in the East Midlands that actually accept this build with brick skin? I had no problem having a mortgage for past 6 years with Nationwide and Barclays but potential buyers are being rejected for the mortgage on my property.

Thank you

My downstairs bathroom has this intermittent damp smell that’s making me feel a bit nuts. I have no idea why it’s happening, and I swear it always disappears when other people come to check it out.

I bought the place six months ago and it’s always been like this.

No pattern as to when it starts or stops. No wet walls or external signs of a leak, though the paint under the sink looks like water has run down it before.

Pretty sure it’s not the drains or because of pests.

I barely ever use this bathroom, it’s basically only for guests, and I try to keep the window open.

Anyone else deal with this, and any advice on what to do?

Why do people actually choose to make their entire house grey? You see these houses on Rightmove they it genuinely look like doctors surgeries.

People will call it 'classy' but where's the personality? Colourful walls, weird wallpaper, bold choices? Why are people decorating their homes for imaginary buyers on Rightmove instead of themselves?

Genuine question: do people actually love grey or are we all just terrified of having a personality?

Context. My house at the back sticks out about 50cm further from the adjoining neighbours' house so there is a short side wall of my house visible from their garden. That section within their garden is where my roof guttering and their roof guttering down pipe goes too. There is a 6 ft fence running along the boundary.

They have been given consent for an extension/conservatory upto 3.5 meters high, 20 cm from my boundary.

How can I maintain/paint etc my side house wall in future or solve any problems with the drain? It feels like it has opened up future maintenance nightmares?

Im suprised the council allow an extension that limits someone elses ability to maintain a wall or drains?

(Note in England)

So as the title says - it’s exactly that. We have no current loans or debt etc, but a group of smaller silly historical debts such as store cards etc.

We have always previously rented - did everything back to front, had the kids before stability but anyhow! We moved out of our rental last Feb 2025 and into father in laws house, long story short we covered his rent so he could pay his arrears off.. we had planned to stay there and look after him in his old age, but he didn’t pay his arrears and so now they are proceeding for possession, unbeknownst to us at the time.

That’s obviously fast tracked us over a 5 month period, whereby we realised rental prices are on a par with mortgages in our area. So we’ve gone down the new build home route as it’s favourable to our circumstances and time is not on our side. We have a 5% deposit but would struggle saving up more in the timeframe we have, although the developer is putting in 5% too. Bare in mind, prior to this I had not a single clue about mortgages etc.

So we pass affordability etc, but due to our adverse credit the lender has lay down some stipulations such as, clearing the debts before completion and a hefty product fee. We haven’t fully submitted the application yet, but this whole process in 3 months has made me physically ill. I am so anxious over the whole thing, it feels like we are being pecked at left right and centre.

I know we aren’t the easiest, most eligible customers due to a combination of adverse credit and our limited time saving funds, but we’ve learnt a lot and got on board in a short space of time.

I am just wondering if this feeling of exhaustion and depletion is normal? It almost feels like we aren’t worthy of a new home. It is beating me down!! I just know if we go back into a rental we’ll get stuck.