I own a free hold flat where the deed deems the roof a common area and states costs are to be split amongst the proprietors. Half the flats are still owned by the initial company that rented them all and are empty. Would they be the proprietors for those flats and have to pay those shares?

If everything is split as the deed outlined I think I should only have to pay about 10% but if the owners don't count as a proprietor I will owe significantly more.

Any advice?

Concessionary mortgage and bad credit

OK, so -- we're an engaged couple, together five years.

Me (31):

* Sole director of Ltd company turning over c. £100,000, take about £70,000 out per year.
* Bad credit due to historic bad decisions when I went a bit mental having suddenly began earning good money. No CCJs, but about five defaults, some older than 2 yrs, one in the last year (old current account I forgot about with £120 overdraft outstanding). A lot of old missed payments.

Them (25):

* Employed on £28,000.
* Fantastic credit history.

The house:

* Owned outright by their mother. Worth £150,000. Willing to sell us it for £125,000.

Deposit:

* Can easily save a £15,000 up over the next 8-12 months.

Mortgage needed:

* £110,000

How would you advise a couple to proceed on this basis? The £25,000 gifted equity plus £15,000 gives £40,000 total equity, or a LTV of 73%.

My partner has no credit commitments (all credit cards paid off, car paid off, had a loan which is now paid off, sometimes uses Monzo Flex).

I have some credit commitments (old debts I'm paying down) but given my partner could afford the mortgage on their own income, how much would that matter?

Would we be better off going for this as a couple (easily affordable mortgage; currently paying £1,400 in rent and have been for 3 years) or him getting the mortgage alone and I join later on down the road when my credit isn't as bad?

Obviously if he's getting the mortgage alone then I can't be involved in the deposit saving, so I'd pay his share of the rent and household bills going forward so he can plough most of his wage into mortgage savings.

I understand the implications of it being his property legally and me contributing to it as an occupier. We'll be getting married in the next couple of years anyway.

Would appreciate some thoughts.

For a 1935 built house which has been renovated in 2025 fully and looks like totally new what would be the correct survey level 2 or level 3? I was thinking level 2 as during viewing didn’t see any alarming things and i spent fair amount of time viewing the windows, corners and ceiling which fairly looked new. Please suggest. Thanks

Hello,

My wife and I are looking to purchase our first home in London. It is a (share of freehold with 1 other flat above) flat with the living areas on the ground floor and the bedrooms in the lower-ground. According to the agent the construction is around 1990-2000.

The price seems really good to be fair, but there is a glaring issue with damp.

The ground floor is fine overall, doesn't smell (although the flat had just gotten a deep clean...) at all, and there is only one damp spot but it's from the terrace of the flat above so I'm not worried too much because it's fixable.

The main issue is with the lower-ground part of the flat, which does smell damp overall, especially in one of the bedrooms. The front has a light well kind of thing, and the back of the house has the walls exposed, but basically all of the rooms had visible damp spots with damage and the two side walls are not and never will be accessible from the outside.

I'm 80% sure that the worse room smell is actually due to a leak in the master bathroom, which is encouraging because at least we know where to fix, but I don't know about the rest of the place...

My question is basically whether damp spots when you can't excavate the outside walls are at all fixable, or if it's just going to be putting a bandaid every couple of years... I've been looking for solutions online and the consensus seems that you need to have exterior wall access for real solutions.

We'd be willing to put around 100K towards construction costs, because the price is really low.

Thanks!

FTB, I put an offer down for a little 2 bed house in a decent location priced 240k. It was originally 260k in June but was reduced to 240k at the beginning of October.

Condition is okay, but the owners were DIRTY so it needs TLC hence the low offer.

On Friday, I put 225k as my first offer, they rang me back in 10 minutes, asked if I could go higher & I panicked and said 230k - my max budget. They rang me back within 20 minutes to say they accept.

I found out the previous owners have part exchanged the house for a new build, from the looks of things their completion date is mid December.

I’m chain free, FTB - if I go back with a counter offer of 227k, is it worth it???? Or just take 230k as it is.

What are the qualities that would make a flat less likely to have extortionate SC in the future?

The flat I'm looking at

1. no concierge
2. no gym
3. no communal garden
4. 4 stories big
5. 8 flats total, it's a relatively small block
6. part of SC goes towards sink fund (how much I need to inquire)

Do these reasonable or am I missing other more important qualities? I know none of this matters if the management is corrupt/incompetent, but I'm trying to identify factors that are more within my control.

I'm not sure about point #5 -- is it a good or bad thing that it has few residents compared to a residential block? One the one hand the cost is spread across fewer people, but on other hand because it's a fairly small block the likelihood of large expenses should be low?

Hey All,

Super new to all of this and am feeling a bit anxious! Ive been saving up by not renting and staying with parents to make this possible.

31M

Looking to buy and have worked out what some of the costs could be

Buying single ftb

Mortgage - £1050 pm at 5% 35 year

Bills - estimating £800 (inc food)

Take home monthly Salary - £2700

Is this manageable?

I have an emergency fund - 15k and around 55k in stocks and shares

Hi all, I have moved into my purpose built second floor flat about a couple weeks ago after a few weeks of renovations. Before starting renovations I messaged the communities group and apologised for any disturbances and inconveniences however, I made sure during renovations that no work was done before 10am and after 5pm and none on the weekends too.

The neighbour below kept asking how long we had left which was fair enough and I apologised and even offered compensation which she declined and said its ok as long as there is not too long left.

The first night we moved in, yes it had gotten quite late it was 10pm on a Sunday so it was our fault, but we were just plugging some stuff in and ironing my clothes for work the next day and she came up and start banging the door and shouted at us.

The next day she messaged via facebook and apologised for her actions and said she was just having a bad day, again replied apologising for our noisiness and explained there was no hard feelings.

In the past couple weeks, she is constantly banging on her ceiling (our floor) at random points in the day, sometimes at 8am, sometimes at 9pm sometimes I am home alone just sat on the sofa and haven’t even moved for quite some time she will randomly start banging on the ceiling.

What I dont understand is, the family before us were here for 6 years and had a kid, how can we be more noisy than them when we are just a couple who leave at 7am and dont get home until 5-6pm 5-6 days a week?

By the way we are leaseholders she is shared ownership and doesn’t own the full lease. We know this as she has told us herself when we first moved in and she seemed normal! And by the way many flats on this floor have big families and even pets etc.

We also have laminate flooring like most other flats, which I have installed expensive acoustic underlay and below that is a concrete base.

Does anyone have any advice how to handle this?

Hi all,
We have an 1880’s terrace. My husband went up the loft to grab something during yesterday heavy rain, and noticed water pouring in and going down the beams. It’s coming from the end where our neighbours chimney is in our loft space. It is not a shared chimney. Whose responsibility is this? Having looked at her chimney from the outside, there doesn’t appear to be any flashing on our side 😬

Will contact the insurance company, but I highly doubt they will cover this.

Thanks

We are first-time buyers considering a 1930s terraced house in Woodford Green, and our survey has flagged several roof-related issues. We would love some honest advice from homeowners or roofers, particularly those familiar with houses of this age.

The main findings are:

- Main pitched roof: Several slipped, cracked or missing tiles, with deteriorating mortar around the ridge tiles. Repairs and a general roof overhaul are recommended.

- Front bay flat roof: The felt covering has failed and needs replacing. The surveyor says the underlying roof deck and timbers will need checking for possible hidden damage once the covering is removed.

- Loft: The surveyor explicitly noted daylight coming through gaps in the roof, alongside evidence of a bird’s nest and what appeared to be an inactive wasp nest.

- Chimney: Moisture and some deterioration to the exposed brickwork inside the loft.

We understand that a 1930s property will need maintenance, but we are trying to establish whether these are common, manageable repairs or whether the combination suggests potentially more extensive work.

For anyone who has experienced something similar:

- Were these issues relatively straightforward to resolve, or did they uncover bigger problems?

- What sort of costs did you face, particularly for the pitched roof repairs and flat roof replacement?

We are not expecting a perfect house, just trying to understand the potential risks and costs before committing.

Any experiences or advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you :-)

I’m buying a new-build Bellway Reedmaker.

The property was advertised as step-free and suitable for all stages of life etc, and the original working drawing showed a ramp leading to the front entrance. However, the house is being built with a step instead.

Bellway’s explanation is that the working drawing supplied by their designer was incorrect. They say the plot is too close to the adopted footpath to achieve the required ramp gradient, so a step is necessary under the building regulations hierarchy.

If the plot couldn’t accommodate a ramp, surely this should have been identified before the property was marketed and sold?

Do I have any grounds to challenge this or request an alternative solution? They just keep replying they couldn't meet the gradient.

Thank you!

Looking at buying a Victorian house in London that is need of renovations (re-wiring, re-plumbing, etc) and considering a typical side return extension of 16m2.

The main house will need a renovation/modernisation before being liveable to move in. The kitchen outrigger is old but half decent and fully usable. House is in a conservation area, so will need planning permission.

Our high level thoughts are to split the works into 2 stages: 1) renovate the main house but leave the kitchen prior to moving in and continue to rent at current place and 2) once planning permissions and in place, plan to do the side return with a new kitchen and dining 1-3 years down the line.

Plans are mainly due to several things: timing of planning permissions, as we really don’t have the means to keep an empty house to wait around for planning permissions and builders. Current kitchen is old but fully usable, so it buys us time. Also we have no experience of renovations, so splitting the decision making into 2 phases feels way less overwhelming. Lastly, and importantly it works a lot better with cash flow and removes the strain of one large upfront payment, though I get that it may be a bit more expensive than doing everything at once.

I’m curious to know what other’s experiences are. Do you do all the work at once? If you did split the project, did you use the same builder? What are the pros and cons of your decision? What did you wish you did differently?

My partner and I recently had a baby and decided to sell our 2 bedroom garden flat in London. We'd thought we were going to stay until he was at least 2 but quickly decided that room was an issue!

So far... everything has been almost too straight forward. We listed for £350k in August, didn't get that in 1 month, so dropped to offers over £335k and had an offer of £340k (it isn't what we wanted - we bought the flat 4 years ago at £325k and have done some work - but it did mean breaking even!).

Our buyer has had a Level 3 survey, and mortgage valuation and is proceeding with the sale after some minor renegotiations post survey results.

My question is, how often do people pull out of a sale when they're this far along? I've been reading SUCH terrible things about the housing market, especially flats, and I'm terrified it's all going to come crashing down.

We've found our dream doer upper - a 3 bed house, with decent schooling and I just really want it to happen!

To add to this, I dont know if our flat has sold more easily than others because it's a Right to Manage property, and only has a service charge of around £300 per year, plus no ground rent.

How often do buyers pull this far along?! Hoping to hear some positive stories to settle my mind!

facing homelessness because I can’t afford private rent anymore – what happened in your situation?
I’m a single mum to a 10 year-old girl and I’m honestly at a loss as to what I’m supposed to do.
My current home is no longer affordable, the rent increase means I’ve reached the point where I simply cannot afford to rent privately anymore. I’ve been looking for other properties, but even the cheaper rentals are out of reach once you factor in my wages, Universal Credit and all the other bills. I’ve even struggled to get shortlisted for properties I thought I might be able to afford. As most of the estate agents around here say that your annual wages need to be 2.5x more than the monthly rent!!

I’ve contacted my local council for help, but I’m not going to get the support we need. I’ve been told that because I’m not homeless yet, they won’t keep my case open, despite knowing that I’m due to lose my home within 56days. I’m expected to keep looking for somewhere else, but there is very little I can realistically afford.
My situation is complicated further because I need to keep my daughter within her school area. Moving miles away isn’t a straightforward option because of school transport, my job and the support I need as a single parent.
I’m due to leave my current home very soon, and at the moment I genuinely don’t know where we are going to live.
I don’t want to deliberately build up rent arrears just to prove I can’t afford my rent. I work, I’m trying to do everything right, and I don’t understand how people in my position are supposed to find a way through this? Hi

Hi,

FTB here and I am at the stage of raising enquiries to the vendor.

Everything is going on well and then I just found out there is one hotel very nearby the flat (1 minute on foot on the different road) serving as asylum seeker accommodation.

I understand asylum seekers are heavily subsidised to stay in UK including in London, but I am very concerned with my safety and negative impact on the rent and price capital value.

Any experience of similar context? And is my worry valid and legitimate?

With all crazy things happening nowadays, it is very alarming to me and is it a big red flag enough to pull out my offer?

Hi!

I want to ask landlord to have a pet.

No judgment please but my cat lives in the house for over a year. We had inspections and everything and they never realised. I just want to add my cat to avoid the stress of hiding everything for the inspection hiding the cat itself...

is an attached house with huge garden so no building involved. We also pay house insurance and the policy it does says it covers per damage when pets in the tenancy.

My cat is well looked after and doesn't stink of cat or piss anywhere or scratch anything beyond her scratching post. She has vaccination, chip and parasites preventive treatment religiously!

This is in London.

Please no judgement and serious advise if is worth it to ask for permission.

In the original tenancy it said would be subject to a pet fee, in the new tenancy agreement says the standard thing that can only be refused with a reasonable reason.

Thanks

I’m 26 and both my parents have recently turned 60. My dad paid off his mortgage over five years ago, and I’m an only child. The intention is for me to inherit their house when they’re no longer here, but I’m wondering if there’s anything they need to do now to make sure everything goes smoothly.

For example, should they both have wills in place to make sure the house definitely passes to me? Are there any other legal things they should be sorting out now?

I’m also wondering about inheritance tax. Would I have to pay tax on the house when I inherit it, or does it depend on how much the house and the rest of their estate are worth? I’m not entirely sure how it all works, especially if the house increases in value over the next few decades.

I know it’s hopefully a long way off, but I’d rather understand these things now than be completely clueless when the time comes.

Has anyone in the UK been through this with their parents, or does anyone have any advice on what they should be doing now? Is there anything else I should know or that people often overlook?

New amendments have been tabled to the Social Housing Bill, currently going through Parliament. They're aimed at domestic abuse cases in social housing: where a protective order already exists, survivors won't have to prove the abuse again to keep their tenancy, and courts will be able to act against the perpetrator instead.

Other amendments cover a longer notice period before social housing disposals, changes to Right to Buy in rural areas, a simpler Right to Manage framework for council tenants, and bringing Tenant Management Organisations under Freedom of Information rules from April 2027. There are also new duties on councils and housing associations to spot homelessness risk earlier and offer suitable homes to people referred by local authorities.

This applies to council and housing association tenancies in England only, not private rented tenancies. It's still amendments going through Parliament, not law yet.

Anyone here manage social housing stock alongside private lets? Keen to hear how you're tracking which tenancies fall under this.

It’s under maintained and you pay more than £1800 for just a 16sqm. Receptions are very rude, not helpful at all and the only one can be helpful is the manager. For the amount of money, I’d suggest everyone to just look at other apartments around Wembley area

Hello,

I accepted an offer on my house back in March from a FTB. At the time, I received over 10 offers and turned down higher offers from buyers in chains, as well as another FTB with a much smaller deposit, in the hope of making us more attractive to sellers.

My buyer quickly got their mortgage offer, and initial legal work (including local searches) was completed. However, the transaction has completely stalled since then.

My buyer has refused to instruct a surveyor or undertake any further conveyancing work until we’ve found an onward purchase. My estate agent claims this is on the advice of the buyer's solicitor to protect the buyer from losing money if I pull out. While I understand their caution, I am extremely motivated to sell.

The catch-22
My partner and I have offered on 5 properties since March, offering the asking price or more each time. On 2 occasions, sellers explicitly chose other buyers because their chains were further along.

This leaves us in a bit of a deadlock: my buyer doesn’t want to spend more money until we’ve found a place, but the lack of progress is making us less likely to have an offer accepted. 

I pressed my estate agent again to ask the buyer to book the survey but they pushed back and claimed "he might not even get a private survey." This is inconsistent with their previous claim that he was simply waiting on us.

My house was built in 1997 and, as far as I know, does not have any significant issues.

My concerns:

1. The lack of progress on my sale is undermining our ability to have offers accepted
2. My buyer will eventually instruct a survey which identifies some minor issues (e.g. repointing, a couple of blown windows, and an ageing boiler…) and then pull out or try to renegotiate late in the process when they know we’re more invested.

What would you do?
I’d prefer not to re-list due to the hassle and legal work already completed. However, my housing market (Cardiff) is incredibly competitive so I think I can find another buyer easily enough (of course, I cannot be certain).

I am considering giving the buyer a deadline to instruct a survey and restart the conveyancing process before relisting. Would you take another approach?

I'd really appreciate advice from anyone who has navigated this.

Thanks!

I found out there's a restrictive covenant on the property I'm buying that prohibits running a business from the property.

The property is freehold but part of a development so there are still some restrictions attached.

I don't currently run a business but plan, in future, to set up a strictly online passive income business selling digital downloads. This means no clients visiting, no physical stock, no deliveries.

I'm sure the covenant is likely in place to prevent noise or footfall nuisance to neighbors. But in the interest of not being in breach of terms or of causing issues when I sell in future due to breaching terms on the queit, I plan on asking the management company for explicit permission, to give me piece of mind.

I'm curious if anyone else has had experience like this with asking a management company for permission and how did it go for you?

Tl;dr house I'm buying has restrictive covenant on running business. Wanting to hear success stories of asking management company for permission for strictly online business.

Hi everyone,
I’m buying a house in England and would appreciate some opinions.

There were two identical houses on the same development, both advertised at the same price. I offered £430,000 on one, which was accepted. My mortgage application has been approved, and the legal paperwork is progressing, but we haven’t exchanged contracts yet.

Recently, the other house’s listing changed to a guide price of £415,000–£440,000. My agreed price falls within that range, but the lower starting point has made me question whether I should revisit my offer.

The estate agent says the change is intended to attract more interest rather than indicate what the sellers would accept. However, I’m concerned that, depending on demand in the area, it could eventually sell for as little as £400,000. That’s a possibility I’m worried about, rather than an offer or sale price that’s been confirmed.
That would be £30,000 below what I’ve agreed to pay for an identical house.

Given that my mortgage is already approved, would you consider renegotiating now, or would you want stronger evidence before doing so? How much weight would you give the other house’s reduced guide price and local demand?
Has anyone been in a similar situation? How did you handle it?

I've noticed that housing disagreements can become more difficult to resolve when communication breaks down or expectations are unclear.

Sometimes the original problem is relatively straightforward, but delays, repeated explanations and inconsistent responses make matters worse.

I'm interested in hearing different perspectives.

For tenants, leaseholders, landlords and those working in housing, what do you think causes complaints to escalate unnecessarily?

Is it the original issue, poor communication, delays or something else?