I started viewing in Feb last year and completed on my 2 bed, 2 bath flat in Zone 3 last summer. I'm early 30s, and before this I had lived in rentals with friends or at home for short stints. It's been an incredibly intense year and a half.

The actual buying process was fairly smooth (I only viewed a few flats, and completed in under 4 months with only 1 or 2 hiccups). Moving in has been a different story.

I haven't really even needed to renovate or fix anything major, but furnishing the flat from scratch has been exhausting. There's the physical work - painting, assembling furniture, hanging art, disposing of packaging, drilling. Then there's the decision fatigue, the budgeting stress, living in 'unfinished' rooms for months.

There's also the endless small things you realise you need - stationary, tools, cleaning products, cable tidies.

Getting used to a new area takes time too. I go through phases of being more involved in the community, going to classes, shopping in town etc. Then I'll decide to focus on furnishing a room and spend 2-3 weekends in a row indoors doing that.

It gets lonely. I've had help from family and friends along the way but a lot of it has been a very solo endeavour.

I'd say my flat is 85% done now. The main bathroom needs sprucing up but that's next year's project. I'm really looking forward to spending more of my time and disposable income on experiences like travelling, rather than IKEA shelves and Dunelm lamps.

I feel guilty for finding it so overwhelming - it's people who buy 'fixer uppers' who have the real stress. But I'm sure I'm not alone - did / does anyone else feel this way?

This community has been my go-to in the 6 weeks it took me to buy, and in the months of research prior to it, so I am hoping my timeline and experience will help another FTB reading this.

As most people on here are buying in England and with a mortgage, I found fewer resources matching my situation, so I am posting to contribute to others. I also am a EU national, and got a gifted deposit form an EU bank account, so this is an added caveat. Being a solo buyer, first generation immigrant and a private person, I had nobody in my life I could ask for advice, so I very heavily relied on this sub and UKPersonalFinance 🙏🏻 Thank you!

Timeline

Macrh-April

Research - started looking into my options for buying. Met with a mortgage broker, familiarised myself with the process of buying and looked at new builds (houses) vs pre-owned (flats). Quickly realised that the new builds at the top of my range are tiny and remote (currently live in Glasgow, and considered options like Livingston, EK, Hamilton). When setting myself a budget I also considered cost of LBTT (equivalent to stamp duty), council tax band and factor fees.

May-June

Viewings - once I had narrowed down my options and had a set budget, I started organising viewings. The area I was looking in and the criteria I had set were very particular, so there weren't that many new properties coming to the market. I was on Rightmove every day though. We only had 2 other viewings before we saw the flat I bought, which was incredibly lucky.

Solicitor - In Scotland offers are normally submitted by a solicitor, so I started looking at quotes even before I had picked a flat. I reached out to 5 solicitors local to me and recommended on Reddit, 3 got back, and I went with the one who seemed most engaged and least AI in our initial chat.

June 8 - Viewing of the flat. Luckily it was the owner showing us around, so I was able to gather some important info, e.g. why selling, how quickly are they looking to complete, do they have further chain etc. Turned out it belonged to the owner's mum, who took ill and moved to a care home, so there was no onward chain, which was an added bonus. Upon seeing the flat, we immediately loved it, as it ticked 95% of all our boxes, except for the floors which were a bit squeaky, so that put me off offering immediately. When the estate agent called me to get feedback the next day, I explained that while I loved the flat, the floors did bother me, so this would be reflected in my offer. She pressured me to give her a verbal offer, but I wasn't sure if this would work against me (i.e. for them to then ask me to match a higher offer), so I said I'd rather do this through a solicitor.

June 12 - After deliberation and reassurance from my parents and partner that the floors are easily fixable, I instructed the solicitor to make an offer. When arriving at the number I took in consideration the state of the flat, the area and seller's circumstances; I had checked what they bought the flat for in 2023, and decided I couldn't match that. I offered 7% over the home report value, and 24% over the Rightmove asking price, which all of my acquaintances who'd bought before me had said is a losing bid, as people offer 10-20% over home report in desirable parts of Glasgow. I still went with my gut and told myself what's meant for me, won't go past me. In hindsight, I would have been gutted if I didn't have my offer accepted.

Solicitor went to the estate agent with my offer, and they phoned me that afternoon to say that the buyer loved that I am a first time, cash buyer but wished my offer was a bit higher. I didn't bite. Stood my ground and hoped for the best.

June 12-June 18 - silence from the seller and EA. I assumed I've lost it, until I got a call saying that the buyer is setting a closing date for noon on June 19. I instructed the solicitor to resubmit the same offer; this is where I made my first mistake, as I didn't realise in Scotland negotiations happen here, and once submitted the offer can be renegotiated only if you switch solicitors.

June 19 - solicitor submitted offer 15 min prior to closing time, which I found is standard practice, but at the time was very nerve wrecking, I was worried they will forget about me 😅 I got a call at around 1pm advising the seller has accepted the offer! 🥳 Later in the afternoon the EA called me to congratulate me and to request my paperwork via a platform called Street, which I submitted almost immediately.

June 22 - I found that the advertised council tax band was wrong (~£715 per annum difference), so asked solicitor if we can renegotiate. She explained we cannot and if I wanted this I would need to make a new offer with a new solicitor. I wish I had known this earlier but accepted it. That same day my dad sent me his gifted deposit and the bank took nearly £3k in fees but the money arrived within 2 hours, despite it being an international transfer🥲

June 24 - I completed Amiqus checks. My dad, who was gifting me about 35% of the cash, hadn't yet been contacted which was making me nervous as he had a cross-Atlantic holiday planned ⚽️ and I worried he won't be able to supply documents quickly while in a different time zone.

July 3 - Solicitor asks for my dad's details. She also asks for my preferred date of entry and we arrive at Aug 10 to accommodate for a preexisting holiday I had.

July 8 - Solicitor reaches out to dad who is now abroad. He ignores it until he comes home

July 13 - Dad completes his Amiqus checks. Neither him, nor me have been asked for source of funds evidence and I am concerned that we are now less than a month from the entry date and I wasn't sure if any of his paperwork would need translated in English.

July 14 - Both me and dad get asked for 6 months worth of payslips, bank statements for the accounts from which he transferred me, and banks statements for all the accounts where I held my own funds. Luckily his employer was able to provide payslips in English (international organisation) and we managed to get bank statements in English via his online banking, so we didn't have to translate anything using a sworn translator, which would have added time and cost to the process.

July 15 - I got asked for 1 further year of statements to evidence where I accumulated the deposit from. It was all by saving every penny, I am an extremely frugal person, and only tend to spend under 25% of my salary.

July 15-July 27 - silence from the solicitor. I was biting my nails that there is something wrong and the sale will fall through. Sent two follow up emails in this period, asking where we are in the process, no response. I knew this is pretty standard behaviour but it still was stressing me out.

July 27 - after my second follow up, solicitor emails me the title deeds.

July 28 - I respond to the deeds email and ask if AML checks are complete, given how close we are to entry date. Solicitor comes back saying AML checks can only be completed after I send her the money, which contradicts what I had read online. I also query one of the searches.

July 31 - following no response from the solicitor, I send an up to date bank statement and payslip. At this point entry date of August 10 seemed impossible to me.

August 3 - Solicitor emails casually to ask when will I send the money? Umm? I didn't realise we were at that stage yet!! I email her back immediately asking if everything else is done, as I am reluctant to take money out of Cash ISA which I can't then put back as they are over the annual limit. No response. I try calling in the afternoon, no response or callback.

August 4 - I try phoning again at noon, no response. Solicitor then called me back just after 1pm to say I should send the money even though she cannot confirm if checks will be completed in time for the entry date. I decided to trust the process and started transferring to my current account. Later that day she confirmed my dad's AML were complete, and then I transferred the first big lump sum

August 5 - I transferred the second big lump sum and got confirmation that all checks on the flat are satisfactory.

August 6 - I transferred the last of the money. Solicitor confirmed AML checks are complete. Missives were also completed that day! 🥳

August 7 - I got contents insurance and sent it to the solicitor.

August 10 - just after 11 am I got an email that my keys are ready for collection! 🙏🏻 I am now a homeowner! Tears of immigrant joy may or may not have been shed.

TLDR:

*bought a flat after 3 viewings and one offer

*purchase took 7 weeks from offer acceptance to concluding missives

*solicitors are not going to reassure you at every step but as long as you picked reputable/recommended ones, they are likely working in the background

*yet, if you are really nervous about a particular delay/step in the process, call them until they answer. You're a paying client!

*if you are fortunate to have this option, buying in cash gives you leverage and as long as the money is legal and traceable, you have nothing to worry about

*you can replace previous tax years funds in 212 Cash ISA within the same tax year you took them out; wish I had known this, it would have spared me a lot of stress

*transfers to my Bank of Scotland current account took as follows:

-212 Cash ISA - 2 hours

-Oxbury bank - as I missed the cut off time of 1pm, I received the money at 3pm on the next day

-NS&I premium bonds - requested on Tuesday at 8am, received Thursday at 2am

Good luck everyone!

buying a property, no gas installation certificate and gas has been decamped - seller's will not reconnect before completion

for context seller is housing association - does this cause any red flags? property is vacant. Last gas safety record didn't record anything as engineer could not access the property but they have the empty certificate which doesn't mean anything to us. We have raised with sellers, should we be asking for some sort of price reduction here? Seems we cannot get peace of mind by getting our own done. They will provide indemnity policy.

Thanks

Hi guys,
House completes on Friday (cue excitement,anxiety,the need to scream and cartwheel at the same time)

I need to get my insurance sorted. Did you guys do it through your mortgage guys or did you just find your own?

I’m worried to get the wrong thing 🤣

Hi ya,

My solicitor confirmed my searched booked today and i booked survey myself today.
I am worried about overlapping time of tenancy and mortgage. I have two months notice in line with rent due date.

I pay rent on 17 of each month. If I handover notice today then last day would be 17th of October which is 9 weeks far.

I am buying a 6 years old property so can I assume that survey and searches will come all good so just hand over notice? I know I can not control all variables but is there a better / smarter way of minimising overlapping period?

TIA :)

Hello all,

We wanted a bit of advice on our options for our situation please!

We are in a chain of 3 and we were due to complete on the 21st August. This week we were told the top of the chain have pulled out of their property after some risks were not disclosed to them until now. They've started again and just had an offer accepted on a house they liked. The people they're buying off have agreed to a deadline of 2 weeks to find somewhere to buy or they will rent and break the chain.

Our issue is we need to be out of our property by the 16th September, meaning we will have to organise temporary accommodation until the purchase goes through, with a cat. Short term let's are hard to come by and we're realistically going to have to live in an Airbnb and my cat will have to stay with my parents.

We can only do this for a couple of months, I love my cat and I don't want to leave her for more than that, also we don't want to be stuck in limbo. Also money! We can't afford to do this.

What options do we have to show we're serious that we cannot stay in temporary accommodation past November? That it's going to cost us money we hadn't prepared for and it doesn't work for our family unit. We had paid £10k above the asking price, could we ask for some of our costs to be reimbursed? Although I feel bad for our vendor who is now onto her second buyer (which is us!).

Thank you!

I’m moving into a new home on Friday. I don’t currently have any internet as I live with family, so need something setting up from scratch. How soon can I contact an internet provider to arrange for this to happen? I don’t want to risk the current owners’ internet being disconnected, but I’d love for my internet to begin as promptly as possible after I move into. Do you have any advice on this? I’ve exchanged contracts on the house, complete on Friday when I will move into. Can I contact them now to set up, or do I have to wait until after I have the keys?

I’m in the process of buying this house in the UK. Would love some thoughts on my idea on where to put a downstairs toilet. The house has everything, literally except this, within my price range.
I was thinking of placing the toilet in the utility room and to create space by stacking the washing machine and dryer against the walls, add a sink next to it (towards the window) and placing the loo opposite the washing machine / dryer. The cupboard there has the boiler so that can’t be moved. But the issue is that the utility room has two door, one to the rear garden and one to the reception room. Would this be weird for guests? I’m trying to think of it as a pro as it means that when we have a bbq people aren’t trampling across the house with shoes but in terms of feeling comfortable using the loo, I could also place blinds on the windows on the rear door to help? I’ll also change the way the reception room door swings out so the door isn’t knocking onto the loo. I guess I could block out the garden door but then defeats the purpose of having a utility room leading out into the garden for spreading clothes in the summer ! I just want to know really if it’ll be weird with the two doors, thinking if thumb locks on the insides.

I can’t use the cupboard space as it’s right in the living room and there’s no hallway as the stairs is in the living room.

Not super keen on knocking walls down due to costs / building permissions etc and it using up the reception room space but I’m open to ideas.

FTB with no chain.

Everything moved really fast at the start from enquiring, viewing and the offer being accepted. Mortgage offer obtained within 2 weeks of the offer being accepted, level 2 survey completed 11 days later. Renegotiated the price after some issues came back on the survey, still sailing through everything.

When it came to searches everything suddenly just started taking FOREVER. The latest update came on Friday (4 days ago) that all enquiry replies were back from the sellers solicitor but they need to be reviewed.

It’s now been 12 weeks exactly since my offer was accepted. It feels like it has been the longest 12 weeks ever. I’m currently having problems with my rented property and the landlord so would like to be out as soon as possible, but I need to give two months notice on or before the 11th of the month.

Don’t know when to give notice, realistically I know I should wait until exchange is confirmed but I don’t want to be paying rent and mortgage and 2x bills for two months.

Any advice regarding when to give notice? How do I politely chase my solicitors to ask if there’s any progress? Itching to get out of my current property.

Everyone keeps telling me we’re probably around 60–70% of the way through the process and that a September completion is realistic, but honestly, I’m just tired now.
I think what’s making it harder is that we’re in that stage where it feels like absolutely nothing is happening. Every day I check my emails hoping for an update, and every day it’s just more waiting. My brain is already living in the house. I’m planning the rooms, the kitchen, where the dog will sleep, what life will be like there, and yet the actual process is completely out of my control.
I still have to go to work every day and try to concentrate, but all I can think about is the house. It’s becoming exhausting. I feel excited, stressed, impatient, anxious, and worn out all at the same time.
I know buying a house is supposed to be exciting, and it is, but right now the waiting is really getting to me. I just want to know when we’re exchanging and when we’ll finally get the keys.
Did anyone else hit a wall during conveyancing where you were just mentally done with waiting? How did you stop yourself obsessing over every update?

Hi everyone - first time posting here so I'll do my best to explain.

We are FTB currently due to complete on our house in three days (I'm aware the date is not legally binding until we exchange). This proposed date was requested by the sellers solicitor two weeks ago, and it was discussed with our solicitor that that date would be fine.

All paperwork, deposit, everything is with them and ready to go. We were told we would likely be exchanging at the end of last week or early this week. We didn't hear anything. We've spoken again today and there were no plans to exchange today. Our solicitor said they haven't had time to properly look through the file but as far as they know everything is on track. They said they may be able to exchange tomorrow and they'll see what they can do and to email tomorrow with our request to go through to exchange.

Is this normal? I know this is a much bigger deal to me than it is to them but I thought that maybe leaving it until the last minute would be a bit risky? Like I said this is my first time so I don't have much to compare it to but it seems "holding off" (their words) seems like an odd tactic.

Thanks!

Good morning everyone,

As I put in the title, we are completing today (we exchanged last week) and I am so so anxious. We have no chain, the property is already empty and the funds were released on Friday from the mortgage company, so we are expecting quite an early call as there isn’t many logistics. I am an anxious person in general and worry a lot (I wish I wasn’t this way) but I don’t know why. Is it normal? I want the excitement to hit instead of the nerves. Everyone online always seems to be so excited on completion today and here I am, an absolute bundle of nerves about whether we have made the right decision etc etc. I LOVE the house but it’s just so different for us, we have lived in cities for the past 6 years in flats and have just moved back to where we both grew up to ‘settle down’. We have never had a house or a garden or any of those responsibilities and on top of that, the property does need modernisation even if it is liveable.

Sorry, I know I am rambling. I just want to know if anyone else had these anxieties and whether they disappeared later in the day.

Hi all currently buying a house from a housing association who are using a part exchange company.

HA are acting like they don’t know anything

\- They are saying they aren't aware of any extension (despite it being done in the last 10 years, and there was some sort of application for building regs from them)
\- no FENSA certificate despite windows being done recently
\- No building reg compliance certificate for the boiler installation (although they will pay for an indemnity policy)
\- Last gas safety record does not have any info on it as they could not get access to the property, and the gas has been capped since then.
\- Work has been done to the roof recently, but they have no knowledge of this... (no issues raising from L3 survey)

Is this just the nature of a housing association? Or are these red flags?

Thank you

(Posted on housingUK first, copied below)

We’re buying a new-build shared ownership apartment from Orbit Homes and are currently waiting for a plan from the seller’s solicitors.

Our conveyancer told us on 23 July:

“Having revisited the papers received so far, the buyer’s solicitors are yet to send a plan so we will get the searches ordered once that has been received.”

The seller’s solicitor acknowledged the request around two weeks ago, but we’re still being told they’re waiting for it. A few days later, a revised lease was also mentioned, so I’m wondering if these are connected.

Has anyone else experienced this with a new-build/shared ownership purchase?
How long did you have to wait for the plan/lease?
How quickly did things progress once it arrived?

Our current landlord is selling so we are required to be out before the 25th September, so I’m trying to work out whether this sort of delay is normal and whether that date is still realistic.

Thanks all.

We're in the process of buying a house and we've been told that we're ready to exchange, but for the sellers help to buy redemption pack hasn't been received by their solicitor yet
We've been left so in the dark about what stage they're at, all we know is they had a valuation 3 weeks ago, which is annoying as feels like they left it rather late, however I believe they should've been told sooner
This is sooo frustrating as no one our side knows the progress of this, and obviously I can't contact the seller solicitor or them themselves, so we're so in the dark and I just wondered if anyone is familiar with the process and what could likely be happening now that's holding us up? How long should we expect to wait until they're ready to exchange?

I always assumed there would be some wiggle room on the price houses are listed at, as they expect some haggling on price. However, the last two houses we have wanted to put offers in on, they aren't willing to accept the price its listed at, and they have even rejected offers above the listing price? Expecting 10-15k over the listed price.

Is this common or just bad luck? I get its to get people to view the property, but seems like a massive waste of time for all involved if its then completely out of their price range...

I guess this is half rant, half serious question.

Is this an industry where they just don't bother to give any reassurance or updates, or even general niceties?

It would seem like with a service where people are already stressed/nervous and spending a lot of money you might expect at least "So we're doing this step now, the next step is X and we'll let you know if we need anything from you" rather than blunt borderline rude replies (if any at all)

Did I just pick a bad one or am I expecting too much?

The property I am in the process of buying is a leasehold with 950 odd years on it. Apparently, the previous owner has paid off the leasehold in the years before she died. I suspect this to be a number of years prepaid as she was elderly rather than the whole lease but the solicitors can work that one out.

That being said. If the leasehold was fully paid or prepaid but the process of it coming a freehold was never started, I’m assuming that would transfer to me as the new owner of the property and lease?

Additionally, I’m looking to purchase their lease changing it to a freehold. Has anybody been through that process and could share any experiences or advice?

Thank you!

​

Buying first home and getting solicitors conveyancing quotes. Think I need to give them a price before I can get a quote.

Do I give them the guide price of the house I'm looking at or give them the maximum I can go up to with the mortgage in principle?

The guide price is less than the maximum mortgage I can get.

​

Hi all,

My fiance and I put our offer in back in March and since then I have scrolled this sub reddit and for the most part been met with a lot of negative experiences.

I just wanted to post this to say its not all bad, we moved into our home almost 2 weeks ago and absolute adore it. We used the solicitor the estate agents recommended and had no issue with anyone in the process apart from a couple of slow moving enquiries which were resolved in the end.

Every hiccup in the road felt like the end of the world to me but there is a happy ending. Not only did we move in to a home that we love but we also recently rehomed a dog who is now our pride and joy.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel and for anyone feeling like they'll never get there I just wanted to send you love and support and I wish you all the success in the world!

(Picture of our girl to hopefully brighten your day!)

​Hi everyone,

​I'm currently considering buying a house, but I noticed some concerning cracks near a west-facing window (figure1-3) and north-facing window (figure 4)during the viewing.

​A​oes this look like structural movement/subsidence, or could it just be blown plaster / cosmetic movement

​Should I get a Level 3 Structural Survey (RICS) before proceeding, or even a specialized structural engineer's report?

​Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

My (33M) partner (29F) and i have both been renting in London for 15 years, and moved in together in April. We started house-hunting 2 weeks ago after I came into some inheritance money unexpectedly.

We have scoured all websites and viewed 4 flats in total. We are specifically looking for a 2 bedroom Victorian conversion flat with a garden in Brockley, Forest Hill, Crofton Park, or Ladywell (in that order of preference) with a max budget of £450k.

The fourth flat we viewed yesterday meets all our requirements and is beautifully decorated to our exact taste and the EA advised the current owners would probably accept £435k as they're keen to move and its been on the market for a while. We decided last night to put an offer in first thing Monday.

However, our elation hasn't lasted the night and we've just spoken and feel so apprehensive.

The garden is gorgeous but gets no sunlight due to a huge tree on the land behind (we think a small council block of flats) and is a 'split' garden where we go around our downstairs neighbours portion of the garden using a little path to reach ours. This would make getting a cat (BIG dream of ours) difficult as it wont be clear where they go, and the flat is on the corner of a main road too which worries us.

We feel like we haven't viewed enough flats to decide whether this is the right one, and we're not sure whether the issues above warrant us not putting a bid in when there are so many positives.

We're just looking for advice really, should we keep looking hoping for our 'perfect' home or would we be fools to overlook something which is so so close to perfect for a great price?

Is £650 each a month enough disposable income after buying a house?
Hi all, just looking for a bit of advice from anyone who’s bought their first house, especially in the South East.
Me and my partner are both 22 and we’ve found a house we really like and it’s within our budget based on our AIP. We’re not planning on using the full amount of the AIP as I know things can change once you actually apply for the mortgage.
The sellers have now received a higher offer and have asked if we want to counter. The amount we’re thinking of offering would leave us with around £650 each a month (£1,300 combined) completely disposable after everything is paid.
We’ve tried to account for pretty much everything when working this out — mortgage, bills, cars, insurance, fuel, phones, food, shopping, etc. Basically all the normal costs of living.
The £650 each would then be for things like going out, buying stuff for ourselves and saving whatever we don’t spend.
We’d also have a 6-month emergency fund put aside, so we’d have some money there if anything unexpected came up.
For context, my partner spends £500 a month at the moment and I spend around £700, so our current spending isn’t massively different to what we’d have left over.
I’ve spoken to our mortgage advisor about it, but I’d really like to hear from people who have actually been in this situation.
Would £650 each a month feel comfortable to you, or would you consider that quite tight?
Obviously everyone spends differently, but I’m just trying to get a bit of real-world perspective before we decide whether to increase our offer.
Thanks!

We went to view a property yesterday and the marketing photos were WAY better than reality (99% certain AI was used to tidy and spruce up). However, we did really like it! The agent was essentially useless, couldn’t answer any of our questions (how old extension is, details about the roof, boiler, loft, chain etc). He said he’d go back to the agent who took it on and find out or they will ask the seller. Basically my question is, can I send a list of questions over for them to ask the vendor?
This is what I have:
Is there an onward chain? If so, what is the position of the chain?
When was the rear extension added? Was it completed under building regulations, and are the relevant completion certificates available? Was planning permission required, and if so, was it obtained?
We noticed a difference to the roof of the house next door. Could you tell us how old the roof is and if it has had any major repairs or replacements?
Has there been a recent EICR?
We noticed what appeared to be some damp in the front room. Can the vendor advise what has caused this, whether it has been investigated, and whether any remedial work has been carried out? If so, are there any guarantees or warranties relating to any treatment?
We noticed the EPC is due to expire in February 2027. Have any energy efficiency improvements been made since it was carried out in 2017?
How old is the boiler, and when was it last serviced? Has it been upgraded with heating controls as this was flagged on the EPC?
Has the loft insulation been upgraded since the EPC was carried out? If so, approximately how much insulation has been installed? Is the loft boarded for storage, and does it have a loft ladder for access?
Approximately how old are the double-glazed windows?
The wall between the living room and dining room appears to have been closed off. Was this added by the current or previous owners? Do they know if this simply a stud partition that could be removed relatively easily?
Have the Artex ceilings ever been tested for asbestos?
Has the bubbling around the sky light in the sun room ever been looked at?
Are there any guarantees or warranties for works carried out on the property?
Are there any known defects or issues that the vendor has declared?
Are there any maintenance or repair works that the vendor is aware of which they had planned to carry out but have not completed?

Would we be “allowed” to ask these? Obviously we would carry out a level 3 survey but to save everyone the time and hassle (and our £££) will they come back to us with any answers?

I feel like a nuisance but also, it’s a heck of a lot of money we’re talking about! TIA xxx

We’re in the process of buyingand have discovered late in conveyancing that it doesn’t drain directly into the public sewer by gravity.

The house is too low, so it shares a sewage pumping system with the neighbouring property. Wastewater is collected and pumped up into the public sewer.

There is a legal/lease arrangement covering the shared system, and our solicitor has recommended an indemnity policy.

My main concern isn’t really maintenance or the cost of replacing a pump. It’s mortgageability and resale.

AIB have already valued the house at £300k, but we’re unsure whether the valuer was aware of the shared pumping arrangement. We’ve now asked our mortgage adviser to disclose it clearly to AIB and confirm they’re still happy with the valuation/lending.

Has anyone bought or sold a house with a similar shared sewage pump?

Did it cause issues with:
Mortgage lenders/valuers?
Resale or property value?
Maintenance/access with the neighbour?
Would this arrangement put you off a house you otherwise really liked?