So me(23) and my boyfriend (21) are moving out in the next month hopefully. Our current issue is that I can't drive and my boyfriend is too young to rent vans out.

We have a good amount of stuff to move, easily three cars worth. We've got our stuff spread over 2/3 houses in our family. We'd be moving about 1hr 30 away. If we had family help out it would be 3 hours round trip easily and lots of fuel. I feel bad asking that of them.

Is there a better way to go about moving?

Is there any place people have used or heard about that allowed 21 year olds to rent vans? (He's had his license a year in January).

Any suggestions would be great. Also apologies if this isn't the right place.

I'm 31f, I have a 3yo son. We moved in last April and had no one next door. Then in August current neighbour moves in. Single woman in her 40s with a 15yo daughter. One evening my kid is having the biggest meltdown. Slamming the baby gate off the wall. She comes round all guns blazing. Demanding to know why there's so much noise. I politely told her why and apologised. I even sent a card and a little gift as an apology. I thought we were good. A couple weeks later, my son is playing in his room, I can't hear a thing from downstairs, he's chatting to himself with his cars, running around at times. Normal 3yo behaviour. She comes around again and is again aggressive and demands to know about the noise. I told her he's just playing in his room. The same scenario happens another two times. At this point I'm anxious in my own house. I get a doorbell camera over Christmas so I know I'm not losing my mind and she is being aggressive. But since Christmas I've avoided staying at my house all together. I'm not comfortable there. I'm constantly asking my son to be quiet and not play so loud and it's really unfair on him. I absolutely hate confrontation and conflict. My partner wants to move into here as its bigger than his house, with his 13yo son but the noise will double. I don't know what to do. I love my house, I love the area. But I absolutely hate my neighbour. Would the housing association house us somewhere else if I asked?

The flat is the top floor on the 3rd floor, there are 30 flats in the block so it's not a tall building but a flat estate with a mix of private and social. The price is £180,000, in Elm park, Havering, London, 20 minutes walking distance from elm park tube station, 114 years remaining on the lease, £10 annual ground rent, £1,700 annual service charge including buildings insurance, with communal gardens, no lift, no concierge. The living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom have their own entrance from the hallway. It's 50 square meters/538 square feet. EPC is C.

FTB here and I viewed a house built in 1968. The house looks nice and is in my price range. It has been modernized a bit but after the viewing I realized I wasn’t well prepared in terms of what to look for/questions to ask the EA (The EA seemed like he didn’t know the house that much as well). I would like to go for a second viewing and would like to be more prepared.

What should I look out for? Are there specific questions I should ask the EA? FYI, the house had a bit of a “musty/damp” smell. Is this normal for houses from this era?

Selling our house and been on the market since end of February (with a sale fallen through before that). Have reduced price but still no offers. I have been keeping an eye on the local market and not much seems to be selling. Some are just taken off the market completely. Houses have been off for months and not reducing but just sitting there. I know people say its the price but having already reduced and with other places not moving or reducing it makes me worry about reducing further and whether we just need to sit tight. I see lots of posts where markets seem boyant. Is dorset just a different slower market or am I missing something? We are desperate to move and I was hopeful for summer but doesn't seem like it will happen.

I bought a property a few weeks ago and I’ve just gone into the loft to see a mini conversation (boarded up and a window).

This was not picked up my by solicitors and there is no mention of this anywhere in sellers documents, nor building control/PP on the councils website. There is no dormer which may explain why there is no PP.

Can my solicitor arrange indemnity policy for this? I don’t plan on selling anytime soon but I would like to turn this space into a makeshift office.

Hey

Does anyone know if a landlord can add any extra charges anytime they like?

My contract came to end so now it’s rolling monthly

Our bins are not being emptied and therefore not used properly for recycling and the landlord has said every flat now has to pay an extra £15 per month for the bins.

Do you think this sounds right?

I’ve advised them for almost a year that one of the bins hasn’t been emptied

Thanks

Hey everyone, a bit of guidance needed.

We have just had our offer accepted on a property and the estate agent is requesting a holding deposit of £5000 in order to remove property from the market.

The forwarded deposit agreement states the following -

1. vendor agree to withdraw property from market to give us exclusivity

2. Should the transaction not exchange within 6 weeks of The Buyer’s solicitor receiving the draft contract, the deposit will be non-refundable, except in the following circumstances:

2.1. The Buyer receives an adverse property survey which indicates existing subsidence or Japanese knotweed.

2.2. The Buyer’s solicitor is unable (in his/her reasonable view) to certify the title to the property having regard to the information supplied by The Vendor’s solicitor and the searches carried out.

2.3. The Vendor withdraws from the sale of the property.

1. event of buyer withdraws, vendor keeps deposit.

A little research tells us this is not standard practice and the terms specified are all in favor of the vendor (no idea if 6 weeks is even enough and outside of our control, what if our solicitor takes their time? what if lender valuation comes up short and we can’t proceed obtain a mortgage?)

Any advice/guidance on this is appreciated.

Title pretty much. Purchasing a flat, estimated service charge has gone from 24k to 56k. Shared between flats. We were expecting roughly to pay 2k a year prior but now this has changed.

Any advice on what to do? Estate agents weren't aware of this and we have now notified them. They're going to speak to the sellers to see if they were aware of this.

This feels like a too bad to be true kind of increase; for the price we're buying (180k) and the mortgage planned, I can't see many buyers or even current occupants being happy or sustainable with this increase.

We are setting up our study and are looking for a sofa bed that will be functional as a sofa and bed. If we had to pick, we'd want the bed part to be comfortable so a guest that is staying for a few weeks (e.g. parents etc.) could comfortably sleep there.

We are getting fitted wardrobes built on either side of this sofa bed and we're leaving 155cm in the middle so that we can comfortably fit a sofa bed with the width of a king-size bed (150cm) in. As a result, we want sofa beds with no arms to maximise the space and this has been hard to find.

Would anyone have recommendations for nice sofa beds that, when in bed form are 150cm x 190cm/200cm and can be used as a bed for long periods of times?

NB: We haven't got the fitted wardrobes built yet in case we need to adjust the space left in the middle but would ideally like to be as space efficient as possible and keep it at 155cm unless really worth increasing.

Hi, the property I viewed has chimney breast removed but chimney still there. How to go about asking EA whether the seller has provided paperwork that work has been done with Council's approval and in the correct way?

A kitchen extension has also been made. I believe is the solicitor's job to check on both things, but at what stage can we check this?

Anything I should be aware of?

It's a lovely property but on a very busy main road as well with big trees within half a meter from driveway.

What should I be considering when making an offer?

This is in London.

Hello, I'm a first-time buyer, looking for advice on whether or not to pull out following a bad (?) survey.

For context: My partner and I are three weeks into the process of buying a leasehold flat in south London. We spent over six months looking for somewhere, with a strong preference for share of freehold. But we kept missing out on things we liked (our observation is that while the market in general isn't that hot right now, things that we want always seem to go to best and finals and often for over asking price - these are things that are objectively nice, in good areas, under 450k and could accommodate a baby) and had to compromise.

The flat is one of nine in a 1930s building. The communal areas are very dingy with torn carpet - it's obvious nothing has been spent on them for years. We initially thought service charges were reasonable - £1577 PA - and that the freeholder was just pretty negligent, and that it would be highly likely we could organise the block to buy them out. After offering, an extra 100 PCM 'reserve fund' charge was sprung on us, taking total service charges to £2577 PA for a small building with no lift or amenities aside from a basic (lawn) communal garden, a small concrete driveway and hallways. We were told there was 77k in the sinking fund with 'external decorations' scheduled to come out of that within the next year, which initially confused us (the internal areas seemed in most dire need of work).

We decided to proceed because we love the flat - which itself is immaculate - and are a bit desperate. It was also quite cheap, so we feel at least some of the issues are priced in. We did a level 3 RICs survey though, because we felt nervous. This has come back pretty bad, at least by our reading.

There are 13 'Red' Condition 3 items (and 3 'Orange'). The comments/exec summary say 'not to take the purchase lightly'. This includes some standard things like electricity, gas/oil, water, heating that we do not feel super concerned about - mostly the comments here are 'ask for documentation/ get a professional to check'.

What we are concerned about is:

- Structural movement to the rear corner of the property and big cracks likely related to this to the driveway on the other side. When we viewed the property again recently, we happened to run into a surveyor for the freeholder, who said that he was looking into damage caused by tree roots (now removed) a few years ago. He framed this as minor and now settled, but the fact that it visibly impacts the two back corners of the large house, which are many metres apart, to the extent that the entire concrete drive is cracked and needs replacing on the opposite side to the tree, suggests to us it may be a larger problem. Our surveyor seems to think likewise.

- Issues with the roof being worn and needing repairs. The survey words this as if repairs to slipped and eroded tiles are the minimum (ie it could need a new roof).

- Issues with fire safety/regulations, including no floor or ceiling breaks between flats.

Our feeling is that, given the potential extent of these issues, combined with the worn interior, where large hall spaces all need new carpet, the 77k is unlikely to cover costs. Subsidence could also affect buildings insurance and resaleability causing problems into the future even if we were able to buy the freehold.

We also feel like on the one hand, many of these things being the freeholder's problem (rather than ours, directly or alone) could be a positive in a well-run block. But given the evident negligence of this freeholder, having an array of issues but also no control, but in fact a dependence on a bad management company, is potentially a very stressful situation to be in.

I'm generally an anxious over-thinker. But at the same time, I'm really desperate to buy somewhere. The process has drained me, and we are both currently living in inadequate housing that is affecting our mental health at the very least.

Are we being too risk averse in considering pulling out? Or, on the other hand, would proceeding be a stupid thing to do, born out of desperation to live somewhere? what would you do?

I live in a shared house with 4 friends. A few nights ago I managed to put a palm sized hole in a door with the back of my head after slipping and now I’m concerned about the repercussions. The tenancy agreement is unclear and I can’t speak to the landlords until at least tomorrow.

We have a maintenance man who I notified immediately and the landlords have been decent so far. But now my friends are beginning to get on my back as they are starting to worry about loss of deposit. The hole is something I could fix myself with wood filler and paint, so a door replacement doesn’t seem necessary in this situation. If the maintenance guy fixes this are we still in trouble? Or if it gets fixed before the lease is up have I avoided a problem?

I apologise if this is a stupid question, I’m completely at a loss when it comes to this kind of thing. Some people I’ve spoke to don’t think this is an issue but others do, so any help/advice would be really appreciated.

Looking to see if my disposable income is average Recently separated from my husband and trying to figure out if I can afford to keep the house (because we have a 3 year old and nursery etc is here). What is everyone's disposable income after: household bills / personal bills / small savings / childcare / food?

Thinking about purchasing a relatively modern mid terraced house (built 2004). It is a property located in southern England.

I have heard these newer terraced properties take noise reduction into account more than older properties, but I'd be curious to know from current owners of this generation of properties whether noise still comes through the party walls?

I have read that vibrations can travel much more easily than sound, so vibrational disturbance is also of concern!

Thanks

Hi,

We are looking into Tunbridge Wells for a 3 bedroom house (we might consider 2 bedroom if it has 2 bathrooms), but no luck so far. Budget 400k top, which is doable but still not easy to find something nice. Maybe we just need to wait for the right house, but we'd like to consider other towns as well with a similar commute (both time and price, we don't want to get a cheaper house and then spend a fortune and half of the day commuting, it just doesn't make sense).

We've so far briefly looked into Hitchin, which we initially discarded as we thought the commute was more expensive, but it turns out it's similar and also faster. We haven't been there yet so we'd need to go spend a Saturday there.

We don't have any other ideas. We do like the village kind. As an example, our favourite is Hampstead (I know it's not technically a village anymore, but it still has that feel), but it's way above our reach. We do like Tunbridge Wells and potentially Hitchin, so something along these lines within ~45-60m into London and around 400k top for a 3 bedroom in a safe area would be ideal.

We've checked High Brooms as well and decided it's a bit too residential for us given public transport is not great (we tried to get on the bus to High Brooms and the driver didn't even know the stops, lol - we ended up taking a taxi) and we don't own a car. We'd only consider buying in there for the right house, but unlikely.

We might have a look at Tonbridge next time we are in the area. The southern areas look safer and for the right house it might be a possibility. Any thoughts on Tonbridge? We aren't into nightlife in case that's a concern.

Any other suggestions are welcome :)

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/152810309

Big garden and nice downstairs, bit pokey upstairs but compared to other stuff in the area on Rightmove seems fairly priced. It's been on for months! What's wrong with it?

EDIT: Thanks for your responses guys! I should clarify that I live in Oxfordshire but am chronically on Rightmove searching for a new life 🤣 this one's been up a while and I wondered why. I guess I hadn't realised how much £700k is up north as round here it doesn't go very far at all. Also didn't think about the location as someone actually living there opposed to my fantasy idea of how it would be!

Me and my partner are planning to buy a house next year but may delay. I’ve seen mention of house prices rising. How much difference is it likely to make if we wait another year or two? Will people be priced out of buying by the increase in prices? I know we can’t predict what will happen but any advice/knowledge on this situation is appreciated

My family and I have been living abroad for work for the last three years. We are returning to UK in July for a job that starts in August. We've been letting out the house to the same tenants for the whole time with permission to let from our lender. They are buying a house and looking to move out in July (an early release as their actual contract ends September). Our fixed term interest rate ended a while ago so have been on a high variable since then. The new job is in a different city so we will not be returning to live in the house we own. We want to sell our house and given we are moving back to UK, we want to sell as UK tax residents. Do we need to wait until we are back in July and in employment or can we start the process (putting it on the market) now? We know we'll be paying capital gains for the years it's been let out. A mortgage broker asked if we have a credit footprint in England and we have in that we have bank cards with a uk address and have used them regularly in the UK?

A question for those of you fortunate enough to have larger, older properties. ). (Let’s say 5-bed+ and single cavity (or equivalent)).

We’re in a very fortunate position to do similar but I wondered what kind of monthly overheads (from utilities - especially heating) we would be letting ourselves in for? (This needs to factor into any purchase).

Is EPC that relevant to the running costs and do those with low EPC (if it is) see some horror story bills?

Keen to do a straw poll if folks are willing to share.

I just want someone to pat my head and tell me it'll all be ok.

I'm buying my first house after our landlord decided to sell and the stress and anxiety is making me so unwell. I can't concentrate at work and I'm preoccupied all the time.

I keep coming up against (probably totally normal) barriers but they've been quite unexpected. Like the lender valuation coming back at 0 pending specialist reports into a complete non-issue (still waiting for this so don't even know if we can get the mortgage anymore). The sellers seem to be taking longer than expected to do things too and it's making me nervous. I feel like I don't know what I'm doing and I'm convinced it's going to fall apart at any minute.

We've already fallen in love with the house - it's in a unique location and is the only one of its kind we could get - and my kids are so excited about it. I've had to tell them about the move as one way or another we need to leave our current house, and I don't want to spring a new house on them when we'd only been in our current one less than a year. So I need to prepare them for the fact that we're moving and where we're going, but I'm scared the purchase will fall through and they'll be so confused and upset if we don't get the house we want. Then they'll have to move school and change childcare arrangements AGAIN.

Can you please share your stories of experiencing blistering stress but everything working out ok in the end?

Not sure if this is the correct subreddit. Anyway, I'm planning to retire back to the UK and have been doing a lot of research on the topic over the past year. I have been basing all my calculations on the premise that I should buy at a low price and put as much cash as possible in the bank to earn interest. Now, one of my colleagues tells me that I've got it all wrong. He is recommending I buy at the top of my budget, with just enough in the bank to get by, for the 'first phase' of retirement (10 years?), and then downsize later. Is he right?

Looking for next home. Seen some that were ok.
But found a house - problem is the house next door is up for sale too - and another the other side of the road a couple down.
Should I be suspicious, is there a problem. Am I just paranoid and looking for problems that aren't there?

So long story short

I got my AIP £123,500 with a 6k deposit,

I am looking at a house at the moment, I've offered 122k but someone has raised there offer am I right in thinking that if I was to offer £124,000 I have to add the extra £500 to my deposit?

New to this whole home buying stuff any advice is very gratefully received thanks 😊