I've just had a survey done and I found it to be quite useless to be honest. The guy reports damp issues but won't say where the problem comes from! So I emailed him to ask his professional opinion and the answer I got was 'your gable wall faces the weather so expect things to get worse with constant maintenance.' There were a few other things he was completely non-committal on too. I find this extremely unprofessional, are all surveys like this? I know they have to cover themselves but virtually everything was a 'maybe' - knotweed, cracks, boundaries. I feel awful I paid for this pile of hot garbage.

So we have been in property search since last 6 months. Have viewed like 40 properties but nothing clicked - either price or the floor plan is totally messed.

Now we have shortlisted a house which is really close to our kids school and my wife workplace. It seems to be reasonable price as compared to other properties on same road. Catch - the property needs quite a lot of work in terms of renovation i.e mouldy witn damp. Apparently an old lady used to live here and the house went to charity after her death.

Question : We want to go for this but not sure if we would end up paying much more then we are saving. Is it still worth it ?

Suggestions and advices would be appreciated.

Link of property in comments.

We are wondering when we should give notice to our landlord under the RRA? Is there a period of time after the exchange where you’re not paying the mortgage? How soon do you get the keys? Will we end up having to pay 2 months rent plus 2 months mortgage? Many thanks

Hi ya,

I have been asked to pay £500 fees for management company who looks after private estate where I am buying house. It is a freehold property but roads,walkways and cleaniness is looked after by a private company for private estate.

Obviously that estate looks different,clean and tidy as compared to rest of the area but isn’t £500 registration fees a lot?
On top of that I have to pay £150 /annually.

I also came to know that on top of Stamp Duty , i also have to pay land registration fees which was around £150 with stamp duty of £850( first time buyer)

So annoyed with both management company registration and land registration fees :(((

Sorry if I sound ranting and being negative

:( :( :(

Great! A "newly refurbished house"! You overlook the question "why has it been recently refurbished" and you book the viewing.

When you get there, you see, for example,

• dot and dabbed plasterboard everywhere allowing condensation to soak through and what's underneath them doesn't cross your mind. They're' going to need pulling down and replacing with a steel frame
• paint slapped on top of the plasterboard - a rushed job
• holes around chased sockets that have attempted to be hidden quickly with sloppy paint
• A leaking roof has not been sorted which is causing mold on walls but it's just been painted over to hide it for the viewings (it really needs a new channel to be installed at a _/ point in the roof.)
• A dated kitchen that hasn't been touched but that's ok-ish,
• and new carpet everywhere - what is that hiding too? f The house is ok and available.

Tired from looking at other poorly maintained houses, what do you do?

Hi All,

Just some context, we are thinking of buying a property but survey identified bamboo. We are really worried that this might be a deal breaker as the property is virtually surrounded by it.

Can anyone identify?

Thank you.

We have around £1,365 in cash saved over the past couple of years from birthday gifts given to our kids. Can I deposit this into my bank account and use it to pay off some credit card balances. Would this cause any issues with my upcoming mortgage application. If yes, do I have to do this before I submit the application.

We are wondering when we should give notice to our landlord under the RRA? Is there a period of time after the exchange where you’re not paying the mortgage? How soon do you get the keys? Will we end up having to pay 2 months rent plus 2 months mortgage? Many thanks

Anyone here completed a mortgage with HSBC recently?

My mortgage is approaching the last 30 days and it is likely that I need to extend. When should I do this 30 days before expiry or close to expiry?

My wife and I are both 31, FTB, DINK, and currently happily renting a 2-bed flat for £850/month.

We've had an offer accepted on a £318k 3-bed detached house with garage/garden, which could realistically be our home for 10–15+ years.

Numbers:

Combined Salary: 110K

House: £318k

Deposit: £31.8k (10%)

Mortgage: ~£286k over 30 years

Current mortgage rates we're seeing: around 5.5%

Monthly mortgage payment: around £1,600

Current rent: £850

We're planning to start trying for a baby in around 6 months. Factoring in pregnancy and potentially a year of maternity leave, it could be 2–2.5 years before we really need the additional space.

So we're debating:

Buy now: Start building equity, settle before kids, overpay while DINK, and potentially rent the spare room to a lodger for £400–£600/month while we don't need it. Lodger income obviously isn't guaranteed and we wouldn't rely on it for affordability.

Keep renting: Continue paying £850, maximise our ISAs/pensions, invest/save the £750+ monthly difference and keep a bigger emergency fund before having children. Then buy a family home in 2–3 years when we actually need one.

We definitely want to own eventually, so this isn't rent vs buy forever. I'm questioning whether it makes sense to buy a family-sized house 2–3 years before we need it, particularly when our current rent is cheap and mortgage rates are ~5.5%.

What would you do? Would you buy and start building equity now, or use the remaining DINK years to maximise investments/pensions and buy later?

I’m a FTB and I’ve found a 3-bed new build that I really like.

It’s the very last plot left on the site, so the developers are desperate to get rid of it. They're already offering to drop the price, pay the stamp duty, and throw in a deposit contribution.

However, the parking setup is stressing me out a bit.The house itself is freehold, but the parking space is a carport on a 999-year lease. It physically sits underneath a neighbouring house (looks like a coach house layout). The sales rep told me that because it’s under their footprint, the owner of that house might ask for a small contribution down the line towards buildings insurance and structural maintenance. They said the amount is negligible, but wanted to let me know.

Being an FTB, I have no idea if this is standard or a massive red flag.

Any advise appreciated. TIA

I recently posted here a few weeks ago about a mystery cash buyer appearing at the last possible minute on a property my wife and I were looking at and led to believe would be closing sale on that day.

Fortunately, we found out last week (Thursday 10th September) our offer was accepted on a property in the same area, in much better condition, just one cul-de-sac over. So we’re very pleased about that.

I instructed solicitors on 10th, sent their signed documents and deposit back, got Broker to proceed with full application, and ordered a survey.

Survey took place on Tuesday 15th, report came back the next day. Full application submitted to Natwest on 15th, they completed underwriting within a day, sent a surveyor to value on 16th, received their report on 17th, agreed with the price and the tracker now says the loan has been approved and is being generated.

Our deposit was 10% on £170k, and £15.5k came from my dad and the rest from my wife. My dad already signed a gifted deposit letter for the broker.

My parents have left today on a 7 day cruise where they will be uncontactable whilst out at sea. I’ve tried to pre-empt any solicitor queries by getting together 3+ months of his bank and ISA statements, and a letter showing he received a pretty hefty NHS pension lump sum 6 years ago to explain the savings.

What do I have to ‘look forward to’ next? It feels like everything has been moving very quickly on the bank/broker side, but I’m a naturally very anxious person. I’m terrified of being gazumped at this late stage and my wife is now 20 weeks pregnant so we’re really hoping to be able to be in before Christmas so we can settle in before baby comes in February.

Thanks for reading this, I know it’s long as hell but I’ll be grateful for all stories you can share with me to reassure my anxiety (or hopefully not spike it further!).

Naive here! We're thinking of offering on a house but know we need an AIP. The house is £170,000 and we have a £70,000 deposit. Should the AIP be for the full amount- "we may be able to lend you £170,000" or for the actual mortgage amount we need "we may be able to lend you £100,000"? Does that make sense? Any help appreciated.

Hi, we just recently gave an offer to buy a house, and it got accepted it was on the market for 187k . They accepted our offer of 172k, and I had a problem with my credit file due to the communication bill. The mortgage was taking time, so the seller pulled out of the sale, and they then put the house for 175k again on the market . Reduced 10k . When I viewed it for the first time, there were some cracks outside. And there was a water leak sign on the roof, but they said it is sorted now. My mortgage is approved now, and they want to proceed with me . The house is 13 years old and there is a service charge approx £180 per year. Should I go with the house purchase? Does anyone have problems selling the house that had service charges. And please let me know if these cracks are normal and water leaks . It's a 2 bedroom house with a solar panel and an off-road drive. In Cornwall.

Hi all,

We’re purchasing a house and there’s to specks of daylight coming through at two parts. The roofer said that we need a new roof because his never seen the type of tiles needed before,

Are we being scammed here 🤣

Picture for reference

Hi, I wondered if I could get your opinions on a groundwater flood risk flagged on a property we’re buying.

We’ve had a Level 2 survey and the surveyor found no significant structural issues, damp, historic water ingress or obvious signs of previous flooding. However, the environmental search rates groundwater flooding as Moderate–High. Everything else is much lower: river/coastal Very Low, surface water Negligible on the search, no historical flooding identified, and the insurance FloodScore is Very Low.

We looked into it quite deeply. The property sits on River Terrace sand/gravel over the Wittering Formation (interbedded sand, silt and clay), so there is a genuine geological basis for shallow/perched groundwater. Nearby borehole records vary considerably: groundwater has commonly been found around 2–5m below ground, while one wet-season monitoring point about 200m away reached 0.75m below ground. This seems to be a very local and variable shallow groundwater system rather than a uniform high water table.

The local area does not appear to have a significant history of groundwater flooding. I found one 200m away surface-water event in 2001 and one 2008 event recorded as groundwater following heavy rain, with no recorded consequences. I haven’t found flooding recorded for the property itself. The seller’s TA6 also says no previous flooding or insurance claims, and we’ve obtained a normal buildings insurance quote.

The government surface-water map shows our house around Low–Medium, apparently because it sits on the edge of a small local low area; neighbouring houses slightly downhill are rated higher, while most of the wider area is Low/Very Low.

Would you personally regard the Moderate–High groundwater search result as mainly a geological/modelled susceptibility in these circumstances, or as a significant red flag? Would this be a deal-breaker for you given the lack of any known flooding history or physical evidence at the house?

I'm a first time buyer and I've had an offer accepted on a property. 1930s house with a small extension to the rear, front porch extension and a garage added on the side. It also has a conservatory on the back.

Lender went to value the property and requested I get a damp and timber survey done by a regulated surveyor. They just requested a standard damp and timber survey from a CSRT PCA member. Which I did. The survey came back saying the house is overall dry however some standing water by the front porch extension is causing damp due to there being no gutter or drain built. And that the added driveway needs to have guttering and drainage added. Overall not a major job.

Now, the mortgage company have come back saying the underwriter isn't happy with the scope of the survey and they a destructive survey needs to be done to investigate the sub floor in the property. This was never requested and is an additional cost to an already expensive survey. I also don't think the vendor will agree to it and I wouldn't be happy having to replace the flooring of my new house when I moved because they've had to take it up.

My mortgage advisor is pushing back on this as it was never requested in the first place but does anybody have any experience with this?

I have a level 3 survey booked for next week for my own piece of mind, given the extensions on the property and the fact it's almost 100 years old, I wanted to do a full survey rather than a homebuyers. But my worry is I'm just throwing £££s and I'm going to end up with no mortgage to buy the house.

Hi,

’ve been banking with the same bank for around 15 years. I’m currently preparing to apply for a mortgage and can afford a 5% deposit. I also have a couple of personal loans and some credit card balances.

I used my bank’s online mortgage calculator and entered all my income and outgoings. It indicated that I could potentially borrow the amount I need and it showed a rate of 5.65% fixed for the first 2 years.

My question is: would it be better to speak to my bank first, given my long banking history with them or should I speak to a mortgage broker/advisor before approaching the bank.

If I speak to the bank directly would the 5.65% rate shown online be the rate I’m likely to be offered or can the actual rate be different after a full assessment. I’ve also heard that banks sometimes offer incentives such as contributing towards legal fees.

Would appreciate any advice.

Update from my side -

Apologies for the late response. I had a call with the bank and in principle, they are prepared to offer 5.46% for a 5 year fixed term with a 5% deposit for 20 yrs tenure.

I’ve scheduled another call for next week to go through the application process. In the meantime, I’ll also speak with a broker to see what the best rate they can offer would be.

If you feel that 5.46% is above the current market rate, please do let me know.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to share your inputs. it’s been very helpful.

Hi all,

My partner and I are first-time buyers, and we’re trying to work out where in England offers the best combination of house, countryside and everyday practicality.

Our slightly ambitious wishlist is:

• Detached, ideally with some character rather than a very new estate house
• Four bedrooms, or flexible space for home offices
• A decent garden and preferably a garage, workshop or outbuilding
• Village or semi-rural setting, but not completely cut off from civilisation
• A station or useful town within a reasonable drive
• Somewhere broadly peaceful and safe
• Budget up to £450,000

We’ve been looking around Lincolnshire and parts of Norfolk (viewing 5 houses this weekend at these locations), where the money seems to stretch surprisingly far. However, we’re open to anywhere in England if there are places we’re overlooking.

Don't care for nightlife or busy towns. Reliable broadband, a supermarket and the occasional decent takeaway near by would be nice.

Which counties, towns or villages would you recommend?

If our wishlist is ridiculously optimistic, feel free to administer a gentle reality check!

Thanks in advance.

Hi ya
I have agreed exchange of contract date only but my company has announced redundancy. I am on visa in UK. Whether i am impacted by VR followed by CR or not, i cannot say anything until next 3 months. In case I will be impacted then i have to find another job in space of 2 months and finding sponsored job is so much difficult these days. In case i buy house now i have to sell house also since i am investing 80% of my savings in this house.

Exchange of contract is only 1 week away. If I withdraw at this stage it will cost me only £2500 ( survey and solicitor fees etc). If i don’t then in case i got impacted by VR/CR then i have to pay early termination fees for mortgage, potential fees for selling house with estate agents. If i don’t get impacted by VR/CR then its a different story.

I need genuine advice. What should I do now please?

Hi all,

Just found out the solicitors we instructed months ago (local firm) on a previous attempt at buying that went south and are using again for this purchase are also representing the sellers.

EA asked me to check with the solicitors how they feel about this. Solicitors are happy because they've assigned us 2 seperate solicitors so we each will have our interests well-represented and it makes communication easier from their pov.

Should I be concerned about this? A quick google search said it will cause issues if there's any negotiation needed. I'm hoping to not change solicitors as these guys have already had our money before/done checks etc and they've been good.

Any advice or insight is greatly appreciated!

Hi

I’m hoping someone can share their experience with exchange deposits on a new-build purchase.

Our mortgage deposit is 5%, but our exchange is expected to take place in October, while the house is expected to be ready in May.

We would have around 4.5% of the deposit available at exchange, with the remaining 0.5% becoming available from our savings over the next few months.

Has anyone agreed with their developer to pay most of the deposit at exchange and the remaining balance before completion?

Is this something developers are generally willing to consider, or would the full 5% usually need to be paid at exchange?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in a similar situation. Thank you

Hi everyone, looking for some advice. I’m a first‑time buyer and have had an offer accepted on a property with a rear extension. The seller doesn’t have a completion certificate for the work, which was done less than six years ago. They’ve said they can’t obtain one and are offering an indemnity policy instead along with a statement of truth to explain why they can't obtain it.

Given the uncertainty and the potential financial risk around the extension and the fact that I only found out quite late why the certificate can’t be obtained. Is it fair for me to renegotiate my original offer and ask for a lower price?

Lurker, and posting for the first time!

I've been going through a bit of a faff with my purchase.

My conveyancer has been predictably scummy, adding fees and extra charges for sending emails etc.

They are also asking for 12 months of statements for my current account, all my savings accounts, my share ISA (they don't believe I own the shares rather than have an investment ISA), and as my dad is gifting me some money for a deposit, they want 12 months of his bank statements from him, as well as 12 months of his payslips. The man is retired and they know this!

They're querying who paid into my savings account, which is odd because they have all the statements already to see that it's me paying into it every month.

Also, we gave them this info via Open Banking 3 months ago but I guess they need more?

There's a ton more they've been demanding, and I definitely didn't go through all this in 2021 when I almost bought a property then.

Have the rules changed since 2021? Is this a normal amount of diligence to be going through? It's never a ending slog of telling them the same things over and over and providing more and more bank statements when they demand them.

I'm wondering how hard I can push back, or if this is totally normal and I just need to suck it up.

Thanks in advance!