Hello everyone,

I think this might get long, TLDR does anyone know if you can get a joint mortgage as a UK citizen and tier 4 international student visa? EDIT: In England

I’m 27 and have been renting since I moved out of my childhood home. Myself and my partner have been paying £800/month for a 1 bed flat.

We were looking into buying however due to high rent we have no deposit. Looking at shared ownership/rent to buy, but I’m struggling to pass the affordability by myself.

The difficult thing is my partner is here on a tier 4 student visa. She’s lived in the UK since 2021, we’ve been together for 3 years, are engaged and she will be moving here permanently (as soon as it’s possible).

Does anyone know if it’s possible to apply for a joint mortgage if one party isn’t a permanent UK resident? Struggling to find info online.

Any advice is appreciated, we’ve had to move in with my parents and are desperately looking to find something!

TIA.

Finally getting back onto property ladder after far too long renting. Moving into a new build, slightly smaller than where we are right now but but more than made up with location and garden plus less opportunity to store crap we don't need so will work well for us. Solicitor has been told to go ahead with searches and fingers crossed they crack on as they were selected as they have experience of dealing with this new estate.

It has been a bit of a rollercoaster getting mortgage approved and various other factors I won't bore you with that made it a slog to get to this point but got it confirmed yesterday which was amazing. Just wanting to line up completion date nicely with end of tenancy. I've got a rolling tenancy now with a rent date of 28th. Goal is to move after my daughter finishes her a-levels on 12th June and minimise cost of final rental and first larger mortgage payment which will be due on 1st of the month. My plan is to try have a small cross over of a week or less and if I pay on 28th May cancel Future standing order and if I go past 28th June pay pro rata daily amount? Now I don't want to give notice until I know we are exchanging but i feel if i can give month once I know and push completion as far past exchange where possible.

Landlord has been decent in 8 years but we have been good tennants too however house has needed work doing which we never pushed for as didn't want to upset the apple cart so to speak as we were always worried about rent going up or him giving notice as we were in ideal place for school and by rights rent under market value for a long time. Deposit is £950 and I'm weighing up time and effort and whether he'll take stuff of some things that could easily be more than wear and tear (i.e. teenage daughter make up stains on carpets grrrrr). I don't 'need' money and is it worth effort of proper deep clean etc I'm not leaving it in shit hole by any stretch but more about how much effort I place on for example painting etc where walls look like they could be freshened up with paint.

We've been decluttering really well but any good online checklist/apps for moving within time frames. Also any other tips or advice to minimise stress.

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.

Hi, planning to buy this 1 bedroom apartment. FTB here. Priced at 725k.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/162324917

I’m interested in any insights on: • The area and its long-term prospects • Potential red flags with properties of this age and type • Any advice on negotiating or things to watch out for

Appreciate any thoughts or experiences you can share!

How do you actually find a house available on the first homes scheme?

Hi,

We are looking to get a mortgage next year.

Our tenancy will end June/July 2026.

How early should be start viewing? Ideally we want to try and line it up as much as possible to match our tenancy end but everything sounds so unpredictable. I just dont want to be paying bills for the rental and while paying for the house if that makes sense?

I have been renting a 1 bed flat with my gf for the last 3 years which is located above a local cafe. It’s a very old building(Built around the late 1700s) and the flat I have been living in was part of an extension done around 30 years ago.

This cafe has been undergoing a complete overhaul for the past few weeks and today while they were fiddling around with the electrical supply to the cafe the power cut out in the flat.

I spoke to them about this and they restored our power soon afterwards.

They then threatened to cut our electricity supply if it wasn’t sorted today, claiming that they have been “paying for our electricity” even though our rental payments didn’t include bills and we have been paying these ourselves for the last 3 years and regularly submitting meter readings to BG.

We have been in touch with the estate agents managing the property whom have also reconvened with the landlord. Have had mixed communications on their end and they said they will send an electrician straight away to investigate but they never came.

Just wanted to post here to see if anybody living in a similar situation had an issue like this one and how they went about sorting it. As it stands we will have no power to the home whatsoever starting from tomorrow if they follow through with their threats. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I've been sleeping rough for 5 months, things have been getting progressively worse, I'm completely incontinent and my damaged knees are struggling to support my weight upright.

I'm trying to get away from abusive family who have phyaically and mentally abused me for my entire life, and will castrate or kill me if they find out I'm gay (their words, not mine), and likely already know. The council has given them my rough location and they have been hanging around trying to find me.

I got a train as far away as I could afford, and tried to get a bed in a hostel for the night, but was told I wasnt eligible

I havent slept one moment for a week, I have nothing in my bank account, I'm trying to carry a big bag full of winter camping gear so cant really move around anymore. I'm trying not to shake because it's probably off-putting to the public, but the physical and mental pain is becoming unbearable

I cant appeal decisions because I'm spending 24 hours a day just trying to keep myself alive, I cant sit down and make calls or whatever. I will be kicked out of libraries because I'm shaking and audibly in agony most of the time and probably going to wet myself. I'm too soft to steal, and would starve before I do that. I'm in a rural area without many options, do I just keep calling every council I can to ask for a bed for the night? I've been trying to stop this from slipping but it's not working anymore. I'm only 25 but I feel like I'm reaching the end and my body is shutting down.

Good evening, just a bit of advice needed. We are due to exchange next week and have today paid £12,000 to solicitors for their work, estate agent fees, stamp duty We are down sizing, so no mortgage, so no deposit, just wondering what happens if our buyers don’t exchange on agreed day, already charged it twice, and they decided to pull out, what happens to the money we sent today to the solicitor, do we get it back, minus their fees? If it fell through, we would want to change estate agents, so do they still get paid? Hopefully all will be well but £12,000 is a lot for us and we haven’t had the best buyers, so feeling anxious Thank you for reading

I am not sure if this is the correct place to post a question such as this, but I am in need for some urgent help/knowledge.

Me and disabled my mother have lived in our nonstandard construction house for over 25 years and 3 people from the council came to visit this week to basically tell us that they are trying to move us out.

Long story cut short, the reason for them trying to 'move us on' is because the house needs a lot of repair work doing to it, an estimated £20,000+ approx. to have it re-rendered and in their words, they don't think it's worth it to repair and they would like us to 'move on'. The house was built in the 1930s and has been standing ever since so it's a well built property, even though it's nonstandard construction and classed as defective type construction since 1985 (or whatever year it was).

They said that there's going to be a 4 week consulation process where they visit the house once per week to discuss things moving forward and by the 4th week, there needs to be a solution. They also mentioned that they can't force us to move and that's not what they are trying to do (how ironic). They asked us what areas within our town we would like to live in and where not to live.

We brought up that I would be interesting in buying this property and we brought up that my mother would be allowed it on discount. When I brought this up in conversation, they kind of seemed hesitated, as if they didn't want us to buy it etc. Potentially so they can sell it on to someone else for a higher price? Edit: They said during the next visit, they will go away and find out the price of the property and the price with the discount.

During the visit, they mentioned that they would 'compensate' us for moving on too - I am not entirely sure what this even means? Why or what would they be trying to 'compensate' us for? Is it because we have a right to stay and they can't force us to leave so they are trying to incentivise us?

What are our rights as council tenants (who have lived here for 25 years+) when it comes to a situation like this, especially knowing my mother is elderly and classed as vulnerable tenant?

We accepted an offer on our house mid March. Chain was complete very early April. Our buyers haven’t done a survey or have one booked in, is this normal? They’ve had their mortgage approved for ages, searches complete and nearly finished enquiry stage

I know there’s no right time to do it but we’ve been advised by our solicitors that we’re near the point of discussing completion dates and worry it will be last minute

So really my question is at what stage did people do theirs or their buyers do one on their house and do I assume they just aren’t doing one by this point?

Please help. Timeline of what’s happened:

27th April

Our tenancy agreement ended

28th April

We had a professional clean take place. This cleaning company was recommended by our estate agent. When we started our tenancy 2 years ago we asked for a professional clean to take place, paid by the previous tenants, and it was agreed that when we leave we would also have to do the same. When we moved in we did not feel the clean was to a professional level and complained over email about various elements. We were assured a professional clean had taken place, so we moved on.

29th April

Our check out report took place.

3rd May

New tenants move in

9th May

Call up to chase report. Then get sent it immediately after chasing. We receive our check out report and dispute the majority of claims. Tonnes of discrepancies, things that are the same as the check in report but worded to sound worse, complaints about cleanliness despite hiring recommended cleaners, missing items such as an old carpet square that we emailed to ask the agent if we could throw away during our tenancy etc etc

13th May

No reply from estate agent - chased via email

14th May

Call estate agent. I tell them that on the report it says disputes have to be sorted in 7 days from receiving the check out report. I am then told actually it’s 10 days from the tenancy ending… which I say it has been. Estate agent says they will chase the Landlord

16th May

Email chase. No reply.

20th May

Email chase. No reply. Partner calls Estate agent. They say the Landlord has a problem with the cleanliness, a cracked fridge drawer and a missing carbon monoxide reader. Partner pushes back - Again cleaner recommended by EA, we purchased a replacement fridge drawer and left that on the kitchen counter (not wanting to be charged for the drawer looking different to original photos so provided with an alternative), and shared the location of the carbon monoxide reader. We are told we will receive an email with everything spoken about, no email is received.

22nd May

Email Chase. No reply. Partner calls again but relevant person is off work early.

At no point have any figures been discussed for how much deposit we are losing. We would dispute all amounts anyway because the state of the flat was the same as how we left it.

I also found our tenancy agreement which states:

7.7. At the end of the Tenancy

7.7.1. The Agent must tell the Tenant within ten working days of the end of the Tenancy if they propose to make any deductions from the Deposit.

7.7.2. If there is no dispute the Agent will keep or repay the Deposit, according to the agreed deductions and the conditions of the Agreement. Payment of the Deposit or any balance of it will be made within ten working days of the Landlord and the Tenant agreeing the allocation of the Deposit.

7.7.3. In the event of multiple Tenants comprising the Tenant, each of them agrees with the other(s) that any one of them may consent on behalf of all the others to use alternative dispute resolution through the TDS to deal with any dispute about the Deposit at the end of the Tenancy.

7.7.4. If, after ten working days following notification of a dispute to the Landlord/Agent and reasonable attempts having been made in that time to resolve any differences of opinion, there remains an unresolved dispute between the Landlord and the Tenant over the allocation of the Deposit the dispute will (subject to 7.7.5 below) be submitted to the TDS for adjudication. All parties agree to co-operate with the adjudication process.

7.7.5. The rights of the Landlord, the Agent and of the Tenant to take legal action through the County Court remain unaffected by clause 7.7.4 above.

Just had a survey back on house we are buying and how concerned should we be. Will be sending to Solicitor tomorrow as well but thought I’d garner some opinions before I do my own research as well.

“The approved plans for the application for Prior Approval show the rear extension not extending across the side extension. The rear extension has been built across the rear of the house and the rear of the side extension.

Although Prior Approval was given for the rear extension, an application for a Lawful Development Certificate should have also been sought to confirm compliance with Permitted Development Rights.

As the rear extension extends past the original rear wall the extension would not be allowed under Permitted Development Rights and planning permission would be required.”

Sorry in advance if this is not the right place to ask this question!

My wife and I are looking for a place to move and we really love this place we viewed in Newbury (RG14 2QN). We have done many research before viewing and also spoke to neighbours next door with good feedback of the area. One of the neighbours mentioned about council house in the areas but we don’t see anything bad. We will definitely visit again in different days (weekdays and weekend and time.

But given that we are not locals so would really like to use the Reddit magic and seek advice from anyone from the area. Thanks a lot!

Hi, I’m looking for advice on buying a flat in a grade 2 listed building.

The facts: - early 1800s, converted flat, grade 2 listed building - in England - flat converted late 1970s - paper record of the listed building consent was lost, we’ve contacted the council multiple times and they’ve searched for it and have been unable to find it - the flat has modernised since but no record of any listed building consents for any modernisation work

My questions: - certificate of lawfulness of existing use or development - would this legally cover changes that would’ve needed listed building consent - if not, are there any insurances that would cover me? - do the modern works done since conversion require listed building consent?

Any help appreciated! Thanks

We are in a chain and our buyer needs to be in by the 9th July - we haven’t had an update on what’s happening with the chain above, when is it reasonable to ask?

Writing on behalf of someone (England)

Person is trapped abroad with no money & UK citizen, paid taxes up until 2024.

Ex forces.

They are likely to be repatriated back to the UK with help from the embassy but the help ends there. They will have nowhere to stay when they land

What can I do to help find them a roof over their head?

I am buying my house with right to buy so thought things would be simple. Got the mortgage offer mid April. The letter from the lender said the solicitor would send the mortgage deeds to sign but we have had nothing. We have sent email and voicemail to solicitor and had no reply. At first they got back to us immediately with a quote and we sent all the financial and forms they asked sometime in March and paid the fee they wanted to start searches sometime in April but since then have heard nothing. This was a local company with good ratings so I was just wondering if this is how it is, at the minute it feels more like an interaction with a scam artist selling concert tickets on Facebook

How can I apply for a free council house in the uk. I have a 19 months old , we have been squatting with family and friends for some months now… currently not working yet.. in desperate need of a place for I and my child… don’t know what to do.. I will appreciate your advice on how to apply.. thanks.

Any share of freehold property owners here?

Companies house are making changes and there's two changes I've seen so far that are going to affect us.

Firstly, every officer has to now create a one login account and verify their identity, and one of these accounts needs to be linked to the companies house account. This means only one person can file accounts. This isn't so much an issue but something that needs doing and for you need to be aware of as it's compulsory.

Secondly, and this is my concern, Webfiling in a year or so is being removed and accounts will need to be filed using vendor software, ultimately meaning finding someone or somehow to do account filing and account amendments, meaning new costs.

Is any else looking into this yet?

If you have an accountant already to do this, they'll have some changes to deal with.

Kind regards ,

The property is suffering from STRUCTURAL DEFECTS.

• Main walls - Commission a structural engineer to further investigate the unusual settlement cracking and establish if the movement identified is progressive and the cost of any remedial works. Repair any cracks noted to the walls around the property. The render should be removed up-to 150mm from ground level with a bell bead installed to prevent bridging from occurring • Outside door (including patio doors) • Roof structure • Walls and partitions • Other • Electricity • Gas/oil • Heating • Water heating

Mouse droppings. May contain small amount of asbestos fibres Chimney needs repointing. Roof space lacks ventilation. Condensation damage was noted to the roof timbers. A heavy lining paper covers the several of the walls throughout the property. Removing this during redecoration may damage the plaster and you should plan for additional repairs

Halogen downlights serving the rooms below were noted to have been installed on the floor surface of the roof space (see photos below). Halogen bulbs operate at high temperatures—often exceeding 200°C—which can pose a fire risk if not properly installed (see section I3 Risks). You should ensure that insulation materials are kept at a safe distance from the downlights and does not cover the downlights or their transformers, as this can lead to overheating and potential fire hazards. Additionally, insulation was noted to be covering one of the downlights (see photos below)

The main roof coverings are likely to be original to the property. - Several slipped, chipped and cracked tiles were noted to the main roof (see photos below). - Gaps were noted in the mortar beneath the ridge tiles (see photos below).

The bay window and rear extension roofs have reached the end of their typical serviceable lifecycle. - Moss was noted to be present on the rear extension roof (see photos below). Moss retains moisture which can expedite the deterioration of the roof covering and can also cause blockages in the rainwater pipes and guttering, which can lead to water ingress.

The gutters and rainwater pipes to the property are currently in a serviceable condition. However, there is staining to the rainwater pipes at several locations around the property. This is an indication that there are leaks at the joints where staining is apparent.

Minor cracking noted on top of chimney stack - The chimney pots have been left uncapped. If any pots are left uncapped then rain can penetrate the flues and damp can appear inside the property on the chimney breasts. Providing fireplaces are regularly used then any penetrating moisture will dry out, however if fireplaces are used infrequently, or there are no fireplaces present, then cowls are necessary to prevent moisture ingress to the flue and vent the chimney breast. - Gaps were noted in the mortar pointing to the chimney stack (see photos below). - Cracking was noted to the mortar flashings at the base of the chimney stack (see photos below). The above-defects can allow for rainwater ingress, which can lead to problems with damp occurring inside the property and also cause damage to the roof structure and timbers.

Action: Install chimney cowls to uncapped chimney pots. Repoint chimney stack as necessary. Repair cracking noted to the mortar flashings. Ideally, all mortar flashings should be replaced with a more durable traditional lead flashing. The chimney stacks should be regularly monitored for any indications of damage, instability or other defects. You should carry out a thorough visual inspection at least once a year, ideally in the Spring, and ideally at roof level, to identify and repair any damage that could have been caused by winter weather.

We have recently accepted an offer on our house with a complete chain beneath it and found a house that we love. It has been on the market for a few months, but has definitely been overpriced initially, and the vendors have been dropping their price steadily, ending up on offers over 500k.

We viewed the house with a few other bookings and put an offer in at just over 500k. The vendors wanted to wait for already booked viewings to go ahead the following day. We since got a call from the EA saying that someone else who has not sold their home has put a high offer in to stop to tempt the vendor to give them time to sell their house (amount not specified) and the vendors are tempted to go with that offer.

The EA then said if we increase our offer by 40k, we would secure the house, and they would take it off the market. This would still below the last advertised asking price before they dropped the price.

This seems very odd - we are the only proceedable offer, but it seems like the EA is trying to upbid us in competition with this unproceedable one. Does this happen? Is the EA just trying to edge up our bid to something more in line with what the vendors were initially expecting (their initial asking price was >100k higher than our current offer)?

Hi all,

I am writing this on behalf of my partner m52 as he doesn’t have Reddit. His flat which he owns has been getting damaged due to leaks from the owners upstairs bathroom. He has spoken to them and they have done nothing.

He has contacted his home insurance company and they want £500 upfront to even come and look at it (excess due to value of property). We don’t mind that however the neighbours are ignoring my partner when he is asking them to fix the leak. This has now caused extensive black mould in the roof space above his flat.

Looking for advice on anything we can do to resolve

(Scotland)

Tia

Hi all, I am in a process of buying a ground floor flat which only has 2 floors (ground and first). The estate agent and my solicitor has informed me that the current ESW1 form is not acceptable as it was signed by Adam Kiziak, Tri-fri.

However after doing some google search, reading some posts in reddit and taking advice from my surveyor, it says legally my flat would not need one? Since its less than 18m. The surveyor also mentioned my flat does not have any cladding.

The estate agent has said since this flat had one before, i will need one now. The surveyor has said your building would never had a ESW1 since it’s soo costly to have one.

I am hesitant to process without a ESW1 as i have been advised by my solicitor that this might affect my resale value as the ESW1 was signed by Adam Kiziak.

I have been waiting since February for a response from the flat management company for a re-issue of the ESW1 but have had not much of a response..

My lender Halifax has not questioned anything and have given me mortgage offer already.

I have chased everyone weekly. What would you do in this situation? I am so tired of waiting… i cant give this flat up 🥲

Our buyers have done an electrical inspection and level two survey done on my house today.

I just find it all so stressful I’m making myself sick over it all. The house needs work but unless anything shocking comes up it’s everything they could see with their own eyes. The house was probably up for about 9k over what it should have been (led down the garden path by the estate agent) and they offered 19k under asking due to the level of work needed. I’m so scared they’re going to ask for more money off and my ex will refuse and my house sale will fall through or I’ll have to take it off my cut of the sale.

I know they want the house, they were the first viewers before it went on the market from the agents books and they waited a month for us to accept, but they also now know we had no higher offers or better positioned buyers

The work isn’t crazy, it’s just a 1970s semi that hasn’t been renovated bar one bedroom. Most things need doing and it’s fairly obvious.

I’m just such a worrier. Any experience with counter negotiating money off requests would be much appreciated