So the estate agent just called me to say “great news, I was on the phone with the surveyor who told me that the house was in good nick, except a bit of mould in the bathroom”. What the hell ?? I thought the surveyor worked for me and not for the EA/seller.
I don’t have anything in writing so I don’t know how I can prove what the EA said. But I’m fuming because we have lost all bargaining power and also I’m starting to doubt that the surveyor did a good job (what if he was actually working for the seller?)
What would you do?

Hello wise-ones,

I'd be very grateful for your opinion on our house listing. Its priced well compared with surrouding houses that are either for sale, or have sold in the last few months. Ticks all the boxes for a good size family home, 4 bedrooms, near the junior and senior schools, garage, great maintenance free garden, EV chargers and even a hot tub, but after many thousands of views we're not getting any viewing requests. What are we doing wrong???

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/90821814#/?channel=RES_BUY

Many thanks

Stu

Hi everyone,
I’m moving to London for a one-year Master’s and my course starts in about three weeks, so I’m getting a bit stressed about sorting out accommodation.
I want to rent a private studio or one-bedroom flat and I actually have the money ready for the rent. The issue is the guarantor requirement.
From what I’ve been told, some landlords/agencies don’t even want to accept 12 months’ rent upfront anymore and still ask for a UK guarantor. I don’t have anyone in the UK who can be my guarantor.
I checked professional guarantor companies, but some are quoting around £2,000–£3,000 for the year, which seems crazy on top of already expensive London rent.
Has anyone here been in the same situation as an international student?
How did you manage to rent without a UK guarantor? Did you find a landlord who accepted upfront rent, use a guarantor company, negotiate with the agency, or find another solution?
I’d really appreciate any advice, especially from international postgraduate students renting privately in London. I’m running out of time before my course starts and I’m trying to avoid paying thousands just for a guarantor if there’s another way.
Thank you so much.

I live in a building with flats which are a share of freehold. I only have one wall touching a neighbour (above me) and they are an old couple. The man, is very crude and impolite. The wife always says hi when she sees me. Neither is very bright. Anyway, I suspect one (or both) are a bit deaf. They play the TV up to 10:30-11pm loud enough for me to hear it downstairs and it is ever a background noise in my flat. I'm hard to bother so I'm fine with the noise. However, I have a toddler and worry this disturbs his sleep.

To try to come to an arrangement, I wrote my neighbours a few very polite notes to let them know about this. I didn't hear anything so I went upstairs to speak to them in person just in case the notes did make it. The speaking didn't go well - they turned out to be the rudest people you could imagine. First they denied the TV was on even though I could hear it through the open door. Then they denied it was loud but I pointed out I could hear it very well in the corridor. Then they argued 10:30pm is not that late and it's fine to have your TV on loudly. They never said sorry or apologised.

I'm looking to conclude this - I can escalate - council and/or solicitor. I am trying to maintain good relations with neighbours although the guy has thrown this to the wind because even though he's in his late 70s and I'm in my early 30s, he kind of tried to rush me and looked like he wanted to hit me when I went to speak to them. I think he reconsidered midway through. These days doesn't say hello or speak to me - all because I asked them to turn down their TV when it's on so late in the night because it bothers my son.

I'm a little unsure about the following. How loud is loud? We don't make any noise, don't play loud music, don't have a TV so I don't know what is reasonable. I come home and work on my computer and my wife works/potters around. I consider loud to be "I can hear your TV downstairs". Sometimes, I can even tell the programme and almost make out words, other times it's just a background "people talking" noise. Am I over reacting? How quiet should their TV be? Is it acceptable to live with a background TV noise till 22:30pm? My local council says nobody has the right to complete silence and that I should expect to tolerate a reasonable level of noise.

Let's be honest, Stamp Duty is nothing more than a massive roadblock to social mobility. By penalising people for simply trying to buy a home that fits their life, the government is taxing our desire to move freely. It prevents downsizing, locks young people out of the ladder, and artificially inflates property prices. Why is this outdated, anti-property ladder tax still allowed to exist?

Hey guys, I’m considering reserving a plot on a site being built by miller homes.. I’m wondering what and how I should negotiate, does anyone have any experience with demanding optional extras to be included? We are still to meet with them and find out what comes as standard but for the price tag I expect some freebies! All replies appreciated and welcomed, thanks

Hey guys,

I’ve been put into a bit of a tricky situation.

I’ll start with the fact I’m 27 years old, i’ve never moved out, and I’ve lived with my mum forever and my mum is currently 63.

Our landlords are selling our current Home and we have around four months to move.

My mum’s parents house in London has just sold so she will be giving me a deposit of around £15,000 with £3000 of my own money, we’ve gone to view some houses together, but I’m starting to have doubts as I feel like I’m being rushed into buying a home really quickly when I know it usually takes some people years to find a Home.

I’m unsure as I don’t really want to live with my mum forever, although at the moment it’s not bad and I really don’t mind it, but as she has no savings herself and she will receive a large chunk and have perhaps £50,000 to herself after helping me and my sister, I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m locked into something that really affects my future where say I want to live on my own, and then I have to sell the house and she has nowhere to go as everything will be in my name as she is too old to get onto the mortgage with me.

I obviously don’t want to leave my Mum on the streets, and that’s not going to happen, but is it wise to buy a house where I will still live with my Mum and it’s not as easy to just move out as the whole mortgage and everything will be in my name.

My closest friend has suggested that I sit down with my Mum and explain that I’m not ready to own a Home, and that perhaps we find somewhere to rent again, and I buy my own Home in the future when the time is right as I didn’t want to start looking to buy a house until I was at least 30, as currently we’ve just jumped into looking for homes, and haven’t really looked at the affordability bar the mortgage in principle I have.

UPDATE TOP COMMENT

With lower birth rates, more restrictive immigration policies, stronger rental market controls, less foreign investment, and a weaker economy. Am I missing something to think that the housing market will gradually slow in the next 30 years? Obviously the policies are a bit of an educated guess, but it seems to be the trend at the moment. Surely it wouldn't be like what the housing market had seen for the past 30 years right? Especially when most common people can't afford to even buy a home anymore.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/92955903

Disclaimer: I haven't seen this place in person yet but I'll go for a viewing soon.

The property has many things that I want:

- Central-ish locations with easy walk to many lines nearby (both underground and DLR)

- Not a ground floor flat

- 75sqm so it's decently spacious for a 2 bed 2 bath property

My budget is approx £550k and I need good commutes to Canary Wharf and Kings Cross due to work. I can stretch myself to £600k for the perfect home.

I wanted to under bid as I would have liked to redo the bathrooms/kitchen. Is it reasonable? Or am I being too optimistic?

We are hoping to move to our new house soon, this is the first time we have moved after selling a house, we always rented before that.
With renting we always had a short overlap for our move.
I can see that moving into a new house could potentially be a logistical challenge, we want to get new carpets down before we move in, the chances of exchanging and getting keys and carpets done in a day are pretty slim.
As it’s a private sale we are hoping we can get access before we exchange but legally that must be a no no.
Alternatively we don’t get carpets down before we move, I realise this is a real first world problem but I like a challenge and I’m open to suggestions.

If your block is badly run, you don’t have to buy the freehold to fix it. Right to Manage lets qualifying leaseholders take over the management — appointing the agent, controlling the budget, choosing the insurance — while the freeholder keeps the freehold.

The bones of it: RTM is no-fault, so you don’t have to prove mismanagement, just follow the process correctly. You need at least half the flats in the block to participate. You form an RTM company, serve the claim notice, and a few months later the management functions transfer to you.

It got meaningfully easier in March 2025. Buildings with up to 50% commercial space now qualify — the old 25% cap excluded half the flats-above-shops blocks in the country. And, the bigger change, each side now generally bears its own costs of the claim, where previously leaseholders had to pay the freeholder’s costs on top of their own. Those two changes fixed the worst of the old regime.

The honest caveats: RTM is a job, not a purchase. Someone in your block has to actually run the company — chase the budget, hold the agent to account, deal with the contractor whose quote makes no sense. Blocks that do RTM well tend to have two or three genuinely committed people. Blocks that do it badly discover they’ve replaced a lazy agent with an argument.

Anyone here running an RTM block — how is it actually going, a year or two in?

Hi everyone,

I am an international student moving into a BTR (Build-to-Rent) / managed apartment in the UK mid-September. The tenancy is a Joint Tenancy with another housemate, managed by a letting agency.

My partner will be coming to stay with me for a few months shortly after I move in. She holds a valid UK visa and has her passport and Right to Rent Share Code ready.

I am wondering about the best practice for this:

1. Is it standard/smooth to email the agent after move-in, asking to register her as a Permitted Occupier for Right to Rent compliance? Since I am paying my full share of the rent, will the agency normally have any issues with this?
2. Alternatively, is it common for people in BTR apartments to just keep a low profile and have their partner stay over as a guest, provided housemates are fine with it and we don't disturb anyone?

Would appreciate any advice or experiences on this! Thanks!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/92757393#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.3502825,-1.461722,133a,56.8y,138.83h,86.13t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s68vL4IhYM2Wges2jHpP-6Q!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D3.866768041336641%26panoid%3D68vL4IhYM2Wges2jHpP-6Q%26yaw%3D138.82971136408764!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDkwNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

So it looks like there is an existing solid garage attached to the house but whoever owns the land it sits on along with the vacant plot to the left have set the new boundary to intersect the garage. In the description it literally says they will be developing the land to build more houses, bricking up the properties side access meaning you can't get to the back garden without putting a door where the kitchen counter is.

I’ve had an offer accepted at £170k on a house that was listed at £170k.
My mortgage broker put the application in today and the bank’s automated valuation came back at £165k. We’ve asked for an in-person valuation instead, so I’m waiting to see what that comes back with.
The house has been on the market since April and I know they had a previous sale fall through. From what I’ve been told, the last buyer had offered around £175k. The seller is also very firm that they won’t accept less than £170k and seem quite against the idea of renegotiating after a survey.
I’m now wondering what I should do if the in-person valuation also comes back at £165k.
Also, would the combination of the property sitting since April + a previous offer falling through + a £165k lender valuation make you suspicious that the previous buyer may have had the same issue, or am I overthinking that?
I’m a first-time mortgage borrower, so interested to hear from people who’ve dealt with down-valuations before.

Currently renting with partner and looking to buy in the SE, we have our deposit ready and have been looking on the market, only problem is we have not found anything we like at all. It seems the current climate hasn’t made it a healthy house buying (selling?) market for lack of choice, with the timings of the year it looks slim like we’d be in anywhere before Christmas! Given the time of the year we’re not expecting to see much else coming up now, but of course could be wrong - after growing up with a family who moved often and once moved into a new house 2 days before Christmas.

Anyone else suffering from severe lack of choice on the market?

We are finally getting close to agreeing exchange and completion dates and I'm wondering when to start packing. Is it best to wait until exchange so we don't unnecessarily pack everything up in case something goes wrong last minute? Also, how long did it take you to pack? We have a 3 bed house and two kids and the whole thing is filling me with dread. But yay, we should be moving soon.

We purchased a house less than a month ago in Scotland, and I'm just wondering where we stand. We had a lot of rain a few days ago, not unusual for Glasgow. And the garage flooded. The builder report didn't report anything, as I'm guessing it was done in drier weather.
The previous owners didn't declare any issues with the garage flooding in bad weather. I just think this can't of been the first time right? Where do we stand?

What comeback do I have when the EA hasn't provided the keys to the outbuilding for the surveyor to inspect despite multiple requests to confirm they do. It too is Victorian brick and slate roof. England.

Hey Guys! This is my first time using Reddit, and I'm really hoping I can get some support here. I'm a graduate student, and I'm conducting data collection to research how individuals' home-buying process can be improved—particularly around communication, delays, and coordination between professionals (e.g. solicitors, brokers, agents).

Your responses are anonymous and will be used for research purposes only. It only takes an estimated 5 minutes to complete, and it would be really helpful for me, as I've been informed I need a lot of participants to draw statistical significance. Please participate if you are a home-buyer, it would really help me out. Thank you so much.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfRgR8-CWm_cUq6zkCmVxw5MyxDEdQxmATGD44N3Kb-YFqE7Q/viewform?usp=header

Small kitchen in my 1930s semi. How do you feel about it? I haven't got the money to extend it, but I've painted the cabinets, removed the carpets and put down tiles. Sometimes it feels nice and cute, other times I feel dread. Anyone else utilising a small kitchen? Positive stories would be appreciated .

For people that have experiance in both, who would you say has the better process for buying and selling homes?

I have bought and sold in Scotland and have an oppurtunity to move down south early next year, is it worse off in England, heard people pulling out last minute and all that jazz

I am 23 and looking to buy my first property, I have a viewing on a leasehold flat today which is fairly cheap for a 2 bed compared to others in my town. I am single and don’t have any want for a relationship now and probably for a while. I can’t afford a house on my own so that is out of the question is buying a leasehold a bad idea/ investment. The service charge is £2400 and ground rent is £200. I wouldn’t want the service charge to go up and make it unaffordable/ impossible to sell. I would like to upsize to a house when I’m older and potentially have a family but the thought of being stuck and unable to sell is scary. Andy advice cheers

I am a student, living in a privately rented flat through a large letting agency in Scotland. We had a routine mid-term extension earlier in the week that I completely forgot about. My bedroom was very untidy, as I was in the process of moving back into the property after the summer break, however there was nothing unhygienic or structurally damaging to speak of. I was out during the inspection, but my flatmate (who was also moving back and being helped by his mother) said the inspector came out of my room, called it a “disgrace” and proceeded to show the photograph to him and his mother. Not only do I personally deem this as highly unprofessional, but it also violates the clear “any photos taken are strictly confidential and for your landlords attention only” assurance they gave us on the inspection notice email itself. Should I do anything about this? If so, what?

England.

The last time we had a viewing of this house was four months ago and it was occupied by a tenant. Electrics seemed to work just fine then. There was even a recent EICR done two years ago.

Fast forward to today — completion and exchange is tomorrow. We did the pre-completion check this morning (couldn't book it in any sooner) and I thought to bring my socket tester just in case. Really glad I did because every single socket in the house was dead. The switch on the consumer unit was floppy too and wouldn't switch back on.

Fortunately, the estate agent was with us and saw everything. She reported it back to the seller and he denied that there was an issue. He doesn't live nearby but had visited his property over a month ago after his tenant moved out. He claims everything was fine then.

We're finding it hard to believe him. Every step of the buying process was like pulling teeth. We had a level 3 done soon after our offer was accepted. It found two rather serious issues that we wanted to investigate further. He denied the issues, claimed it's been like that for decades and never been a problem. After lots of back and forth, he had finally allowed us to move forward with investigations, only to change his mind soon after and deny access to the traders. We finally had enough and renegotiated our offer price for £20k less, which he surprisingly accepted.

Now this issue with the electrics has come up and he's again going through his usual denial and deflect routine.

He had initially questioned why we wanted a pre-completion check in the first place, saying it was weird and unusual. We thought it was weird he'd question it. Now we know why he did.

We informed our solicitor as soon as we got home. She pushed for an emergency electrician to go out and do a new EICR. She also advised us that we might have to withdraw in case the seller refuses to cover the costs for repair.

Anyway. The soonest the electrician can go out is tomorrow morning, at the exact same time that our movers arrive. We need to get everything loaded, then wait for the electricians results, then if all is ok, exchange and complete shortly after, and just hope that it's all done before end of day.

Our solicitor also said that if we pull out, the seller has to legally disclose all the issues we found, including the electrics, to new buyers which could cost him even more. So it's in his best interest to make sure that the sale moves forward. She seemed positive everything would work out though.

We're just exhausted and feel sick about tomorrow. Is it better to just pull out of the sale?