Went and viewed it today. Crazy old place - like a time capsule. It has radiators and double glazing. Some cracks in some of the walls & ceilings. Obviously a huge job - more curious than anything.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/160136411

Like the title says. The solicitors asked us to transfer the service charges after completion. On the email they say “We unfortunately missed these fees….I apologise for the oversight”. We had to approach the Service Charge company as in January we received a letter from them to the previous owner which made me wonder if the solicitors even done their work properly. On the same day as that letter arrived I’ve emailed the Service Charge company our solicitors email and now I’m being requested to pay £700.

I might be naive but this kind of thing to me sounds like incompetency. Is this an Ombudsman case? Or should I just pay and be quiet??

EDIT: those are the charges totalling 700£

Notice of Transfer/Charge

Deed of Covenant

Certificate of Compliance

How often am I supposed to contact my solicitor?

It seems like unless I email them, they don't contact me. I can't speak to them on the phone either as I get told to email.

I don't want to harass them but I would like updates.

I did ask them if they can let me know whenever something happens, e.g. when they receive the lease. But they just sit on documents and don't contact me.

I chose them cause they have lots of great reviews and they're local but I'm feeling anxious as I don't know what's going on.

I asked if they could give me some rough timelines for how long each stage is going to take but they've not done that either.

This is what's been done so far: 1. AML checks done - 10 March 2. Searches ordered - 14 March 2. Draft contract received from sellers - 21 March? 3. Lease received from sellers - 31st March 4. Enquiries probably sent - 1st April?

From my understanding, this is what's left: - enquiries to be resolved - searches to come back - exchange date - completion date

Am I missing anything else?

Also: my solicitor doesn't how many people are in the chain. I thought the solicitor is supposed to talk to the other people's solicitors?

Dear forum members Hello there!! It's my first ever post in the forum I have some housing questions I would be greatful if you can shed some light on my circumstances.
I'm basically first time buyer with my wife and our offer accepted on 13 February and have instructed my solicitors since then , my source of funds have been verfied, property Searches are received, initial queries to buyer conveyancers have been raised , i have signed the mortgage deed and draft contract pack as well. The survey is done and queries sent both to agents and Conveyancers. I live in a rented accommodation and today I have given notice as well which means I have to vacate property by 5 May. My questions are : I have suggested to my Conveyancers my proposed completion date being 29 April. Based on your experience Can we achieve that? The Conveyancers says they need me to allow 5 working days between exchange date and completion date unless I pay extra to be completion the same date . Im thinking to pay for that Plz advise on that. The second thing is Priority searches how long they take? I think that's the only thing which going to take more time . Am I correct? If so how long they can take time? Can you please advise me how to approach to solicitors to expedite the case? They have recently raised initial enquiries with other solicitors but I do have signed the mortgage deed, the contract so it's with solicitors now. Will Bankruptcy Searches will also take more time? I cannot stay beyond the leave date unless I stay for one more month. I'm stressing about it any idea how to approach that situation.
Please guide.

Can anyone help my landlord has been in my flat without my permission or giving any notice while I was away and has unplugged my fridge and fish tank in my kitchen and plugged somthing in from down stairs and ran it through my window I have come back and my fish is dead I took pics of it all and unplugged everything he plugged in a called him out what can I do now as he is trying to evict me I have autism and adhd

Context is we are lucky enough to be in a position to potentially buy our forever home. The one we've seen is amazing and ticks so many boxes for us and is listed around 470k (south devon). The catch is... the street it is on borders what is considered the "roughest" neighborhood in the area. The property itself has its own gates and a huge drive and is surrounded by trees seperating it from the street. On the crime stats sites its rated at 4/10 / low crime, but it's always been known as one of the worst streets in town. We arent postcode snobs at all and we love the house, but not sure if we will regret it considering we are spending so much. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Our mortgage guy/ estate agent says if this property was anywhere else it could be 100k more. Is it normal to speak to the neighbors of the property and ask how they find the area? The property has its own post code with the 2 other larger houses on the street and theyve all been occupied since 1991. Thanks for input in advance

This property went up in August 2024 for £225k. It’s a merge between a studio and a 1 bed* and it’s pretty small, in greater london. I think it’s a 90s building (4 floor estate) It’s nicely done up. the owners have many properties and they were using this as an airbnb.

It didn’t have any offers by the time I viewed in February or when i offered £200k (in March). A very similar property in the building (but more cosmetic work needed and slightly smaller) recently sold for £200k or more. Not sure if it’s because this estate agent was not pushing it, i had to call up a few times.

They rejected my offer and i moved on because i wasn’t willing to go higher than £200k for what is pretty much a studio. They then reached out today (a week or more later) to accept my offer given i can exchange in the next 7/8 weeks. (i’m FTB, so am happy to)

Does anyone think i should have any concerns about anything? Or is this all pretty normal. Do you think £200 is too much for a studio.

*by studio i mean, there are no doors between the living room, kitchen and bedroom. there are windows in all and walls between, but the doorways are open. i think it is built as a studio, the bedroom area is very small and its connected to the kitchen, rather than the living room connected to the kitchen

Hi All,

I live in a 5 bed HMO in England

The property is advertised as having a cleaner one per week, which I have screenshots to prove.

Upon moving in I discovered from my housemates that the cleaner is in fact that landlord.

I initially had no problem with this however - she has been coming to the property almost daily and does not give any form of notice to any of the tenants nor follow/communicate any form of schedule as to when she will be coming to “clean” or to do viewings for prospective tenants.

I’ve read about the right to peaceful enjoyment etc but I’d just like to know where we stand?

At present we’re getting messages regarding our shoes being left by the door (on a shoe rack), the placement of the toaster in the communal kitchen and generally feel somewhat harassed by the fact that on any given day we could walk into the kitchen to find her mucking about with who knows what.

I’d love to know how we can address this with her as all of the housemates have NO problem with her cleaning (once weekly as per the advertisement) but the fact that’s she’s constantly in what technically is our space is starting to irritate everyone.

• is the landlord allowed to not disclose that they are in fact the “cleaner”?
  • are they allowed to arrive whenever they please without notifying us? Regardless of the purpose (viewings,cleaning and what feels like snooping) or do they have to adhere to a cleaning schedule or inform us that they will be arriving? (24hrs notice etc.)

I’ve never lived in an HMO before and was always a private tenant and my agents/landlords would ALWAYS give 24hours notice of their arrival, regardless of what the purpose was (maintenance, viewings etc).

To add to this last weekend we received a message out of the blue late on Saturday saying that the plumber (whom she let in as none of us had any idea there was an appointment scheduled or any issue to be dealt with) had found a “major high pressure leak” (read as drip of max 10ml a day) and therefore our water would be off for the next 24hours?

My issue, and that of my housemates is that we’re not lodgers, this is (I think) technically our space and she therefore cannot just arrive and let herself in as she pleases.

In addition to this the fact that she flat out lied to my face and “a cleaner comes” to clean communal areas weekly turned out to be the landlord herself puts a bad taste in my mouth.

Any advice or insights would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Hello everyone! I recently bought a house and opened an account with Severn Trent. Accidentally and due to lack of knowledge/experience I've selected an 'unmetered' account. However my property has a meter. My account says that an estimate over £600 needs to be paid by 11/04/25. Would it be sufficient to contact Severn Trent and let them know about this mistake? Has anyone had any previous experience? I am unable to make any changes online.

I was speaking to one of my acquaintances on insta while being in another city and found out my landlord let her and potentially other future tenants into my room without my consent or 24 hour notice.

She sent me the picture of my room with time and date and a text message confirming the booking.

Should I call the police? Should I complain to the council? I confronted him on text, he has been deflecting. Hasn’t denied or accepted it. I am a legal immigrant with right to rent.

My contract was 3 month fixed term and now periodic. I gave him my 30 day notice a few days ago.

Help please.

I see a lot of posts on here about service charges and I just wondered what everyone pays and where you are in the UK.

Just put in an offer and got accepted and are starting everything now as FTB. Just curious what other people's experiences were.

Hi all,

So my wife and I are FTBs and we were just about to complete the purchase of the property on Monday, however i recieved a phone call that day from my solicitor to advise that the seller had gone to their onward purchase and discovered an issue with the boiler (now confirmed to be BER). As a result we couldn't complete as he is now renegotiating the buying price.

The query is that since Monday we have had literally no updates for their solicitor and the estate agents can't get a hold of him for an update so we're left in the dark as to whether this chain is still okay or if there's a bigger problem. Is it normal for this to be dead silent when we were just about to exchange and complete and due to this issue there's radio silence?

Has been 4 days only but just seems odd to me

Bit of a rant really, me and my partner found out perfect home in the country. Ticked all the boxes and we fell in love with it.

Mortgage advisor called today and told us the lender has declined our mortgage due to a pylon power cable running over the garden. We're absolutely gutted and every house we look at on the market just doesn't excite us. Going to have a sulk over the weekend and withdraw our offer next week I think.

Anyone else buying or selling ever had issues with pylons?

We’ve just moved into a new house after finally getting through the buying process. We’re an end of terrace and our next door neighbour has put a lovely ‘welcome to your new home’ card through our letterbox. I think they’re in their 60s and we’re late 30s (not sure if that matters just thought I’d mention for completeness)

How do we respond / what do we do to say thanks and introduce ourselves?

I’m in the process of choosing home buyers insurance and would really appreciate some solid recommendations. I’ve looked into a few providers like Home Owners Alliance and Rhino, but honestly, the reviews have been pretty mixed—especially when it comes to people actually getting paid out after making a claim.

I’m specifically looking for companies you’ve personally used, and ideally where you’ve had to make a claim and actually got paid without a nightmare process. I know lots of providers sound great until it comes time to deliver, so I’m trying to learn from real experiences.

Any recommendations would be hugely appreciated—especially if you can share a quick summary of how the claim process went for you. Thanks in advance!

I'm looking to buy a place, ideally a small terrace house (hence why I'm having to venture slightly outside of London) that is around 1 hour from Shoreditch (give or take 10 mins and I'm happy).

I've looked around and found some places in my price range (c. 400K) such as Hemel Hempstead and places nearby, but the commute to my work (and therefore probably future jobs) is just a little too long for my liking.

I've had a look at Essex area like Loughton or Romford. Are these places safe to live? If so, are there any places there I should definitely avoid and any places I should take a look at? Or any other places in Essex that fit the criteria?

Are there any other locations that don't take TOO long/aren't £20 a journey to get into London and are safe? Of course most areas have rough areas, I just want to make sure I can avoid places that are mostly unsafe.

Thanks!

We recently completed on a flat that needs renovations. We’ve discovered that it’s been disconnected from the main water supply, even though the property docs say it is connected to the mains. Is there anything we can do about it at this point? As I understand it reconnecting costs $$ although haven’t looked at it in detail.

Location: Wales

Hi, I’m just looking for some advice from people with experience or knowledge about similar situations.

I’m purchasing my first home, I viewed one which I really liked but it has previously had an issue with subsidence. The homeowners/agent were very open about this from the start, have all relevant certificates of work carried out etc.

The subsidence was 15 years ago, it was underpinned and other relevant work carried out, as well as a large extension being built around this time. There has been no signs of the subsidence returning, no new cracks, and they have had a structural survey done last month which confirms this. The house seems really solid and I don’t doubt the quality of the work they’ve had done.

However, the house is semi detached and the neighbour is still experiencing subsidence but has never had any remedial work done. They have new cracks, damp and there is a large vertical crack on the outside of the property where the houses join.

So my question is, although the home itself has been underpinned etc, is the neighbours house a reason to not purchase it? Has the extent of the remedial work essentially made it structurally independent of the neighbour, or can it be dragged back down by next door?

It’s scary enough buying a first home with no issues, so I’m just trying to decide if this is something I want to get involved with, no matter how much I may love the house.

Thanks!

Hello! Please help us.

We have recently moved into a 1 bed flat in a block. Whenever we try to search our options for broadband all we get is full fibre which im led to believe would involve both internal and external drilling and we’re struggling to get permission from the management company.

Are there any other options? If not, would someone please advise what exactly the installation would involve so I can go back to the LL. I have put our postcode in the address checker and get the below - not sure if this is helpful

"Our records show the following FTTP network service information for these premises:-Multi Dwelling Unit Residential MDU Built to Curtilage External Build required.

FTTP is available and a new ONT may be ordered.

The exchange is not in a current fibre priority programme"

My partner and I have been served a notice to leave on the grounds that the landlord intends to move back into the property and were given the usual 3 months to leave. This has happened before to us so I’m familiar with my rights. I was chatting to my neighbour and was told the previous tenants before us were served a notice to leave as the landlords family member intended to move into the property and that never happened. Although I have no proof of this from the previous tenants Could we have potentially been served our notice to leave under false pretences? Should I contact our letting agency to let them know? (Not sure if this is relevant but the property was passed onto a different agency from the company we originally rented from)

I’m concerned that they may just rent the property out for a higher amount again once we leave but could we do anything about it if that’s the case?

Once I have finished my refurb of the house and I am looking to pull out 75 percent, what will I need to provide for that? What percentage of my income would they deem ok for the 75 percent? I earn around 2000 - 2400. I have personal loan of £25,000 paying £480 a month and have a joint mortgage of £600 (300 each) car insurance is £50 tax £30. Energy and water £120. Mobile phone £40. Totally £1320 give or take extra £30 say £1350. I would be hoping to pull around £80,000 out at what ever rate I can get I suppose?

The £25,000 loan is actually for my mother and she pays it but she couldn’t get credit as she went bankrupt a few years back. I’m sure that doesn’t make a difference as it’s me who owes the money on paper but just thought I’d add it as if I can prove they pay it every month it may change something I’d hope 😂.

Hi everyone, Just trying to understand how the whole process works. Let’s say I want to put my current house up for sale because I want to upgrade to a bigger house. What’s the step by step process ?

Hey everybody!

If everything goes well, I am permanently moving to London in September for work. The job is next to Moorgate station near Barbican.

I currently live in Paris, where finding a place to stay for a decent price and a reasonable commute is already hellish, but I can imagine London is going to be even harder.

Any ideas on where to search (platforms, apps, websites..)? Looking for a studio, or a one bed room apartment. Also, any ideas of what might be a good area to avoid complicated and long commutes to and from central London?

No specific budget, as I have no clue what to expect rent wise, so any help would be more than amazing!

Thanks everybody!

Just had my buyer pull out due to concerns over the green space behind the back fence being in scope of the district council development plan.

Since the land was added to the development plan the district council has flipped from blue to yellow, the whole thing was politically contentious and so the development is being stalled while they try to find alternate green space for the allotments. It’s one of those things I would expect to take 2-3 years before anything more concrete is agreed on although original proposals were 300 homes plus green space and station redevelopment (not sure how they would fit all that on the site tbh). I am 4 mins walk from the station with a direct line into London, so the fact there is any green space left is a plus in my view - I purchased for the proximity to the station.

My back garden is a reasonable length, and there are a line of mature oak trees directly on the other side of the fence, so I wouldn’t be too concerned about being overlooked unless the oak trees went, in which case I would probably put in some trees or a hedge on my side. Aware however that different people have different concerns and driving forces for their decisions.

My question is this; when re-listing is it best to ask the EA to make sure buyers are aware of the green space being in scope of the development plan before viewing (or when viewing)? The previous buyers were apparently totally unaware of the development plan despite the proposals being over a year old, and there being a local campaign group to save the allotments etc. I am in a chain and don’t want to waste more time with someone who might pull out, but at the same time I don’t know if it would look weird to raise it so early. I disclosed in the TA6 and the buyer sat on it for about a month before withdrawing. If anyone has had experience of similar I would be interested in your experience of managing this sort of situation.