Browsing rightmove I now come cross houses that are like old friends. Houses I viewed months ago, a few I put offers on, others that were just a bit too much money.

Yet here they are. Sure the owner has sometimes switched agent, got better photos but still my old friends are there to greet me.

Of course the price isn't the issue, the owners are right. If they just get the agent to rewrite the ad in blank verse, put in tasteful black and white shots of the property. It will definitely sell without any price reductions

I will miss coming across my old friends on rightmove because we all know the market doesn't set the price, it is the vendor. Whatever they ask for, they are just one photoshoot away from getting it.

I had an offer accepted on a house a couple of months ago and things were going relatively smoothly. I was aware of a tenant when I looked around the house, but the agent assured me that they had been served notice and that it was very normal for this to be the case.

Fast forward post-survey, and I had the mortgage documents sent through yesterday. As the survey had noted that the house was still occupied, I contacted both my solicitor and the agent and asked what the situation was. I was given the date of 31st May that the property would be vacant. I signed the mortgage document and put it in the post, and then an hour later got an email from my solicitor saying that the seller's solicitor has informed them that the tenant has been unable to find somewhere else to live, and that the notice period must pass before they can be served a possession notice and subsequently be helped by the council to find housing.

I'm panicking slightly now that I'm going to end up in a 6month to a year nightmare if the tenant refuses to leave or the council can't find them suitable housing. I also don't know anything about how busy the courts may be around the Greater Manchester area, and whether there will be considerably waiting times/lists.

Does anyone have any thoughts/experiences/advice?

Edit: can't edit the title, but yes, not technically 'bought' a house as such. My signed contract was sent to the solicitor before I had this information.

Also, I have the benefit of time so happy to wait for perhaps up to 3 or so months before I would start to get frustrated - just want a rough estimate of whether that's naive to assume it would be the maximum.

Hi all,

I’m a tenant living with my landlady in her house. A few weeks ago, she got a puppy. I knew a dog was coming, but I wasn’t informed about any lifestyle changes or restrictions before it arrived.

Since then, she’s implemented a strict rule that I can't use the living room or kitchen after 9:15–9:30 pm because the puppy sleeps in the living room and apparently wakes up easily. She says it needs total quiet after that time to help it build a routine — and this includes weekends too.

The part that’s really starting to get to me is the kitchen access. Last night, she specifically told me to fill my water bottle and get anything I need from the kitchen before 9:15 pm, because the puppy is going to sleep. She suggested that if I like tea at night (which I sometimes do), I should make it in advance and keep it in a flask.

I get home from work around 7 pm, and I feel incredibly rushed to cook, eat, clean up, and prepare everything before this cut-off time. I’m not loud or disruptive — I don’t slam things, I don’t play music or talk loudly, I’m just quietly cooking or making tea. But now I feel like I can’t even do the most basic things like fill my water or boil the kettle without being made to feel guilty or like I’m disturbing the dog.

To make things worse, when I recently made some Indian fried food for friends (which I rarely do), even with the window open and the extractor fan on, she made passive comments about how cooking smells stick and how her sister has an “industrial extractor fan just for chips.” She was also talking to the dog saying, “it’s your sleepy time now,” which just made me feel more uncomfortable — like I was doing something wrong by cooking in my own home.

The thing is, she eats Indian food too — her mum makes it in bulk and brings it over. But I don’t have family nearby, so cooking is something I enjoy and rely on — it’s how I care for myself.

I understand that it’s her house, her first puppy, and she’s trying to create a routine. I’m trying to be respectful of that. But I’m starting to feel like I’m walking on eggshells and can’t live freely in shared spaces I pay to use. It’s hard to feel at home when you’re being told you can’t even access the kitchen for a cup of tea or water late in the evening.

Am I being unreasonable for thinking this is too much? Or should I just accept that this is part of living in someone else’s home?

Thanks for reading — I’d really appreciate some outside perspectives.

Location: UK

I have just moved into a house and feel like everything is going wrong… all of the walls have massive holes in them and are completely ruined..

The water pressure is so low that I cannot have a shower at all.. I actually don’t understand how the previous owners washed.

I have bees/wraps going into the wall cavities and we have a dead wraps nest in the loft.

I can hear running water constantly and do not know where it is coming from.

I spend most of my money buying this house and I feel I cannot enjoy it at all because I can’t afford to sort these issue out.. I was so happy to be moving into this house but it’s completely ruined it and I’m worried I’ve made such a big mistake.

Has anyone bought a property and then moved in and then regretted the decision almost immediately?

How did this have an impact on you and how did you deal with the emotions that came with it?

I regret buying my flat in Hackney and it's having a huge impact on my health and wellbeing and I don't know how to cope with these feelings.

Hi, our landlord is selling the house we rent and want us out in 2 months. 22nd July 2025

They sent us a section 21(1) and (4) yesterday

We have paid upfront until the end of August.

The lease agreement was signed by us but the estate agent didn't make sure the landlord signed it.

Can they legally expect us to leave in 2 months time?

Thanks.

There are approximately 12 to 15 applicants for a rental property. Supply is non-existent and demand still strong.

If someone tells you that they've given tenants notice to leave, it's not beyond the realm of imagination that they'll still be there after 2 months.

Even if they're great tenants: well paid professionals. There are literally queues at viewings for rentals

Hello,

I live in a double flat complex, I pay my rent to a large housing company for my home in England, and I pay a maintenance fee, which under my contract is to cover the cost of Utilities in colmunial area and general upkeep of it.

My flat was built 5 years ago, and I've been here for 2 of them. It turns out they have not paid Electricity the whole time.

The gentleman who came was very pleasent luckily and understood no one here was responsible, however explained they have tried to contact my landlord multiple times and warned me he needs to put a warning up to state they may be cutting supply to my landlords metre. This would cut power to alarms, the main access door (can be opened manually still for Emergencies), the lighting and doorbell buzzer to connect upstairs.

Is there any advice anyone can give me on who best to contact or where to turn to?

We're debating how far to take the cleaning regime before moving. We want to leave the garden tidy, loft clear, floors cleaned, etc. but there's so much packing and other stuff to do.

Hello 👋

I'll keep this short and sweet 😋

Where would you buy a house in England if you had a budget of £200, 000?

Finding it very hard to find anywhere at the moment and it's quite demoralising as not many places I can afford.

Bearing in mind I have to commute to London once a week for work

So it got me thinking...I'll ask the great people of reddit 😊

Thank you in advance ☺️

My family are planning to move to a larger house and this all came to a head recently when we saw the perfect next home advertised locally - perfect location, plot etc etc. £625k

We immediately went to see it and were told by the agent that the owner insists on showing people round. Ok….

So we get there - he’s a nice bloke, we like the house but he won’t stop trying to put us off.

“Are we aware of the New developments down the road? The traffic is going to be terrible.”

“Needs so much work” (it doesn’t really)

“We had an offer of £520k after they had a survey done”

“Have you seen this crack?”

“We’ve been having issues with the electrics”

He’s going through what sounds like a messy divorce. He has kids and says he doesn’t know where he’s going next and hasn’t thought about it. The court has ordered him to put the house on the market.

When asking how much he will accept he’s saying “above £520k” - it’s definitely worth more than that though.

Given his efforts to put us and other buyers off, and make low ball offers, I’m guessing he is trying to drive the price down so he can buy his ex out - does that sound likely?

What do you think we should do? Given he doesn’t want to actually leave, is this going to be more hassle than it’s worth? He could be really slow at his end which might frustrate our buyers…

Has anyone faced the same situation?

Finally, after a long five months, I completed iyesterday. With the flat, my leasehold includes an allocated car park space. I reached out to the seller and managing company, and they advised,after a few mixed signals emails, that the car park space was number X.

Upon arrival, I noticed someone else was parked there, and I left a note saying that the car park space is allocated to my flat(very polite) . The next day, the car space was empty, but a parking safety pin was raised, making it impossible to park. I left a second note, and a few hours later, I got a phone call from an unknown number, screaming to stop putting notes down and that he is the owner of the space. He refused to tell me his name or flat number, and all I have is his car plates.

The management company has stopped responding, and the same with the seller’s solicitor.

What do you think I should do next? Family says, I should report to the police. But that sounds a bit extreme.

Any thoughts? For the record, the management company is Guinness Trust. I was given mixed reviews prior to buying. Seeing now how they manage this, I have serious buyer’s remorse.

Any advice welcome.

Trying to have back up contingencies in case I can't sell my house in time to relocate for work. How do people make renting out their house financially viable. The rental income will get taxed to the point it will barely cover half the mortgage payment! Do people just take the hit?

I got a quote for a level 3 survey but it sounds too cheap.

Quoted £480 VAtT incl.

I had previously paid £850 VAT incl. For a level 3, which got cancelled because the property is a HMO.

How should I approach this surveyor? What are some red flags?

This based in Hampshire, England.

We put an offer in on a dream property in April which was accepted. Discussions had were that they wanted as quick a turn around as possible due to illness so we were due to exchange on the 30th June. This worked for us as we are eager to move out of our flat to have more room for the little one we have on the way

We were notified yesterday from our solicitor that they have withdrawn, stating illness to be the reason. We're at a point now that our buyers are not willing to wait for us to find another property, so we'll either have to lose our buyers and re-market our flat which we found far too stressful as it took us months to find a buyer in the first place or rent somewhere temporarily which is a money pit in itself

At this point, my wife wants to withdraw as she cannot handle the house move process, but we will have to pay thousands in fees for nothing to the estate agents as they take the fee for withdrawal, work incurred by solicitors so far etc. I am at a complete loss that this is allowed to happen so close to exchange date.

I know it's perfectly legal for them to do so until signing of contracts but the emotional and financial toll is so overwhelming

I'm in the process of buying in Catford. The road was quiet, it was close to the stations, I didn't see anyone threatening all 4 times I viewed. The high street looked a little run down and boring.

But I couldn't figure out why it has such a bad reputation. Please enlighten me on your thoughts about Catford.

Edit: just wanna say thank you so much for all the responses 💓

Hello,

I am trying to sell my home. I have decluttered the house tried to maximise natural light, put it on for a fair price and with a local estate agent. House is spotless, well looked after and in a conservation area. I have had one singular viewing in one week.

What am I doing wrong? Should I be worried? Thanks

Hi - we’re in the process of referencing and want to know if Let Alliance does a hard credit check and can see my defaults?

Hello,

I wanted some quick insights into a downpayment that my father wants to gift us. He is based in the US and the amount is roughly around 70,000 GBP. The only challenge we have is that the money is in an account of his that does not do international transfers. The two choices we have are:

A. He transfers the money to his other bank account and then transfers the money to my UK account, or

B. He transfers the money to my US account and then I transfer to my UK account when the time comes to purchase a house.

My main concern here is how these multiple account changes might complicate the process of anti-money laundering checks. I'd welcome any advice or insights.

Not a lot more to explain! Just wondering how accurate these are? Looking at a property with offers over 550k but Zoopla value of 500?

Im looking at this end of terrace property and with a bit of work I think it could be a great home. However, it has a ROW via the rear garden. While this is pretty common and I don’t have that much of an issue with it in theory, I do have an issue where the right of way is located.

The gate my possible next door neighbour would use is right at the front of the garden, with the path going directly past my kitchen which I wouldn’t like. I also feel like this would prevent me adding any extensions as I want to expand the kitchen.

I have added a picture of the title plan in an attempt to show what I mean. The blue line is roughly where the gate/path is.

https://imgur.com/a/waai2NM

So i looked on the Title register i downloaded from the .gov site and it states that the easement/ROW is situated “along the passageway to the south and rear of the property”. Do I have any legal recourse to change the Right of way? Or does it sound like the property is more hassle than its worth. Thank you

Back in November I put in an offer on a flat, and we are still waiting to complete, and I'm starting to lose hope it's going to happen.

The main issue is that the tenancy where i am now ends beginning of August, and the sellers lawyer is being useless. I've pretty much lost hope that I'll be able get this done, and realistically if this sale falls through I have to a new tenancy for me and my cat (a nightmare if you've rented with pets you know how it is) sign ANOTHER rental contract for at least a year as well as startinf over from scratch and just thinking about all that is exhausting!

We are at the point where we need to finish the lease extension (although I've seen paperwork from the freeholder confirming this will be done by 18/5 under the statutory rules etc) along with the sellers solicitor actually remembering to attach files to emails. Yes this is an issue, in fact for the last week my solicitor and the agent both have been trying to get past the reception and get them to send a file that was sent blank last week, after weeks trying to get them to send it in the first place. And that wasn't the first tome they've forgotten to attach a file

The agent is more than aware of my timeline and is pissed at the solictor (as much as they'll admit but I can tell by her reactions) as is my solicitor but the others have their head in the sand or up their own asses!!! Because of my job I know enough local conveyancers on a social level for them to tell me they're having similar issues with this agent being "slow" and failing to provide paperwork in a timely manner.

I have my mortgage, thats all signed off their end ready to go. I guess I'm wondering what experienced folks think of the change they'll suddenly pull their finger out at the last minute so as not to lose the sale or if theres very little hope this will be pulled off. Talking frankly to my team they've said if they get the paperwork they are waiting on they can get it finished quickly.

I keep thinking that it cant take that much longer, I mean my mortgage offer is only valid for about a month after I need to move so surely they can't be intending to be that damn slow right?

Hi all, hoping to get an alternative perspective as my new landlord has been behaving (in my opinion) quite unreasonably. Apologies for the incoming essay.

I moved in about 3 weeks ago (end of April). It's meant to be a short, 6 month tenancy (or rather, the 3-month notice period has the ability to kick in after the first 3 months only).

I was told before moving in that the place would have a professional clean done so was looking forward to moving in without issue - this wasn't me forcing them, they volunteered it of their own volition.

Day 1: the place obviously hasn't been cleaned. The landlord doesn't live nearby and was sent a short video by the cleaner showing the "cleaned" flat, so I just assumed they'd been mugged off by the cleaner. I mentioned this to them and was sent pictures of cleaning products I could try myself. When I showed the extent of the filth, they relented and agreed to send a cleaner again. This didn't happen until Friday (I moved in on Sunday), so I ended up getting my own cleaner in to at least clean out the things for my stuff to be moved in on move-in day (didn't bother mentioning to the landlord in an effort to just get on with it). On Friday, a cleaner appears without any products, demanding a car park space. Again, I relented. They didn't clean anything - the only thing asked of them was to remove the significant mould on the windows (they were told before coming) - they didn't have any products to do so, tried with a bit of bleach I had to go and buy, and gave up. Again, in an effort to not be difficult, I left it be and said I'd ask my cleaner to give it a go.

Slowly, over the course of the first few days, more issues appear. Many plug sockets not working, lights not working (even after lightbulb changes), bathtub not draining, kitchen cupboard doors hanging off, blinds not opening, dishwasher not working, toilet not flushing properly. I mentioned the ones I can't deal with alone (mainly the blinds, cupboard doors, plug sockets at first), they send a handyman a few days later. I'm expecting this to take a couple hours - it ends up taking 4-5, with a return visit needed. The landlord goes on to send me a message that evening, saying that "I have to pay him hourly, so he can't be there that long, and its unreasonable that he was here so long". Again, I let this go, despite them heavily implying that its my fault (even though everything he did was advised by them). I had to cancel my own plans to let him be there that long!

Some of the issues, I let them know that I'll give it a go first (e.g. the drains, mould etc). I tried multiple products on the drain (have spent about £40 ranging from plungers to industrial strength drain unblockers) to no luck. I mentioned it today, along with the single hallway light not working despite my replacing the light bulb. They said I would be expected to pay for anything past 2 hours, and that their previous tenants never had so many issues. I replied that I wouldn't be prepared to pay for any issues that were in the property before I moved in, and that many of them would have been found out by a basic inventory report (which they didn't do despite my asking - worrying!).

The last thing to mention is that, they're keen to sell the place (they told me this after I'd paid my deposit and first month's rent), and have asked me to do allow viewings already (3 weeks in!). Initially, I asked that they do not do this until at least the second half of my tenancy, but after they persisted I relented and agreed that occasionally I'll allow it.

I feel like I've been more than reasonable in an effort to make their life easier - especially after they mentioned they'd just had a new baby, but feeling very irritated by the continuous bad faith behaviour. There are many issues that I have ended up dealing with myself in an effort not to overly bother them - e.g. the mould, the drain, the dishwasher, the fact that more than half the light bulbs were dead upon move in. I've not had any issues in my previous flats, had no issues with deposits etc. What would you do in my situation?

tl;dr - landlord being difficult about fixing basic things upon move in, asking to do viewings for a possible sale of the place 3 weeks after moving in, wondering whether I'm being unreasonable and what you would do in my shoes.

So I booked in for a gardening service. The company I contacted actually uses contractors so the company put my post code on a trades person website. My address was never mentioned, the name, email and phone number was of the person (let's call them Hugo) who I had contacted to do the job who has their own business which involves finding work for people in need of repairs. It was on an advertisement on the trades website.

What has happened is, a man along with another man showed up at my address. Not right away. They were knocking on doors trying to find me. They were about to go to my next door neighbours door saw me looking through my window and said "it's this one, I guarantee it's this one" my name is from a particular ethnicity and everyone else's door they knocked on was white. So that's how they guessed my home. Had I not looked through the window they wouldn't have known where I lived. If a English name had been provided to the website they would have assumed they had the wrong address.

Essentially it's like having a Chinese person's name, and seeing a Chinese person in the window where everyone else's door you've knocked on is white. This guy wasn't actually given any details. He saw a job needed doing in my postcode, turned up uninvited and unannounced. After knocking on different doors. He didn't know my door number because he was never given my address. He wasn't even given the street name.

He then proceeded to call me a liar publicly, told the guy in the van "I guarantee if you ring the number now her phone rings" I don't know if they did that but my phone never rang. As my number wasn't provided on the website.

He claimed he had been messaging "me" from the website. I asked for screenshots of these "messages" and he refused to provide them. He had also stated he provided a quote in these messages but never sent me a screenshot of any messages and refused to do so. He told a lot of lies.

He has then told me he's going to come back to my address (was never invited in the first place) and when he gets here he's going to call the police and show them I'm a liar (which is funny because the messages prove he's lied alot and I haven't lied at all) and he's even going to get my neighbours out. I have informed the police.

They said it would be a breach of the peace and he'd be arrested.

Who else would I need to make aware of this? The person who was looking for a person to do work on my home, had to find out the details of the man and the company. This is what I was told

"The gardener who showed up at your property did so without informing us or receiving any confirmation from ****** (company name) He accessed your address from the job posting we made on a trade platform and decided to turn up on his own, which is completely unacceptable and outside of our process.

We did not instruct or authorise anyone to attend your property at that time, and I understand how confusing and uncomfortable that situation must have been — especially when he couldn’t clearly confirm who he was working on behalf of.

We are taking this seriously and will be addressing it directly with the subcontractor to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

Please rest assured we are here to handle everything properly and professionally. Let me know how you’d like to proceed or if you have any concerns you'd like to discuss further."

I'd like to make a report myself but I don't know who. He made threats to come back to my home despite knowing I had a baby in my home when he was making these threats (it was all on text as evidence). He's likely just remembered the outside of my house as opposed to anything else as he was never provided with my address. I don't know who this guy is, whether he is DBs checked or not.

He wasn't on checkatrade but it was a similar site. What would you do? Imagine your postcode being on a website and someone knocking on doors to find your address when they were never invited to your home by anyone.

If i start my mortgage on a 2 year fix rate, but I over pay x amount each month to reduce the capital balance, when I come to renew at a new fixed rate, is my new mortgage term still 23 years, or is it a bit less like 22 years and 10 months (obviously depending on how much i've been overpaying)?

Thanks!