r/HousingUK

I’m a PG student coming to UK this September with my husband and toddler. Planning to rent an AirBNB while I look for more permanent rental unit. Can anyone advise how long it may take to find one? Will one month of Airbnb be sufficient?

Every few weeks my neighbour will wash his car and at the same time blow all trash on his side to our. Is just so annoying.

This is in England Berkshire and it’s about partition wall.

I’m not UK native and new to all these. Basically I bought a house that needs some work. One of them is removing a load bearing wall between kitchen and utility room. Had the structural engineer came on site and did the calculations. Report said needs a trail pit etc.

Found a builder said they could do the work but I need to submit building control request (building notice). So went on the council website and did the form. One of the questions ask whether this involves partition wall act.

Not sure so asked my structure engineer he said should not. The padstone is on our wall.

Anyway I was being super caution because I saw somewhere else mentioned about trail pit would trigger a partition wall act if it’s within 3m of the neighbors.

So I had a letter of acknowledgment written and approached to the lady who lives beside us. She refused to sign anything. Stating that she is not comfortable signing to something she does not have knowledge of (even tho the letter is just saying about the work we are going to do and nothing else)

Now I understand that people might be cautious or scared of signing and she also refused to provide a picture of her kitchen wall shape to us (builder wants to verify the depth of the wall)

Builder said that it’s fine. As long as we’ve talked with her and the building control gives certificate, we should not be in any trouble for doing this work. Also no trouble for selling the house in the future.

If someone know about the building control stuff and whether I have done it correctly? Without the signed letter it would be ok as well?

Any advice would be appreciated 🙏

I purchased my property 5 years ago.

Plots of land sold off to individual buyers who built houses on them.

I bought from someone who bought the plot to build then live in. They stayed in house for circa 3 years

My neighbour bought his plot and built his home.

We share a private drain/sewer connection which finds its way into an adopted sewer.

Both our houses have completion certificates.

Deeds state we are connected to a public or private sewer.

Not had or having any sewer problems.

He built a form of annex/single story "granny flat" circa 3 years ago which his teenage kids live in.

He has decided to apply to convert this into a separate dwelling.

Some other houses are being built nearby and they have sought to connect into drains via our route - but they have been advised that the annex has been built over the drain/sewer, making it an "illegal sewer" and as such they have to find other means to connect into the main sewer.

It has dawned on me:

If we have issues with sewer in future it is inaccessible as this 2nd house is over the top of it.

Even if it were accessible I have no "rights" from what I can tell to access it as its on his private land

Have decent relationship with my neighbour but he is very laid back about all this... as you would expect. But if he were to move - this would be a "me" problem in future that my new neighbours might not see as their concern.

I plan to move in next 5 years... obviously when I bought the house the drain wasnt built over...it is now.... maybe this will be highlighted as a concern to potential buyers.

I dont really know what to do here.

Water board see it as a private drain/issue.

Council have said its a civil matter.

So short of him knocking annex down and/or me going down some legal route... im not sure what I should do.

Welcome any advice/views.

Thanks

I know they changed the law so they have to count benefits but I keep being told " we can't access the property " or "that's been rented" , and then I see the property drop in price and clearly still be available.

I'm almost certain it's because I am part time worker part time disability/ pip income .

Anyone else facing this ? How to report (no written proof its happening)

England

Hi all,

I am approximately 6 weeks into the buying process of my dream home but have had some issues with AML checks due to part of my deposit being made up of a LISA (£34k), and another part being joint savings from my ex-partner over 10 years, which were split (£38k). I planned to use £65k and keep the rest for fees etc. I, of course, was completely upfront with my solicitors about the source of the funds, and they requested my bank statements, which I agreed to and sent (6-years worth). They then asked to see my ex’s bank statements corroborate mine and this is where all went wrong - I contacted my ex to source these and he has now blocked me on everything. The relationship was quite abusive and it has been so stressful, so I am going to try a new approach.

I just wanted to sense-check my plan and ask a couple of questions.

My new approach is:

- To get a new solicitor as my current ones are also not the most helpful (I have been allocated a newbie and they are quite slow and unsure about a lot of the process)

- To change my deposit from £65k to just the LISA funds of £35k. I have been saving approx. £4k per year into this LISA for 4-5 years, plus made some money on investments, plus the government bonus.

- My salary has been increasing since 2020, from £29,000 to £49,000 and my costs are low.

My questions is:

How much detail will they (a new solicitor) need to satisfy my AML checks? Will they likely need information from my ex again? I only ask this because although the money is majority savings from salary, (and I will double-check this), there may have been times when my ex sent me some money to deposit into the LISA (aka a one-off £1,000 from his salary so I made the end of financial year bonus.)

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely a very stressed first time buyer!

Moved to my new house a month ago. I like it but there is a lot of modernising to do. Have always felt like we overpaid and On The Market values it at 25K less that we paid.

It’s a huge amount of money and I can’t help feeling bad about it!

EDIT - thank you all SO MUCH for your replies. It’s been really helpful getting a reality check. My house isn’t an investment or a game, it’s a lovely place in great street of a great village. Spent two hours stripping wallpaper today and had great fun. Will take a break from Rightmove for a while now 😂

When I first moved in, I was told the council flats were going to be a separate building. Once it was finished, it turned out it was actually directly adjoined to ours.

The wider area is generally lovely, but that building has made living here absolute hell.

The first couple who moved in smoked weed on the balcony all day, every day. Her boyfriend would periodically come round, they’d beat the shit out of each other, and smash each other’s cars up. The police were round more often than Royal Mail.

After copious phone calls and letters, I finally got them booted out. Then the next lot arrived.

Same story: screaming, banging, domestic violence, and a cat being locked outside on a top-floor balcony for days at a time. I’ve had to take the poor thing in most days just to make sure it’s okay.

They eventually left.

Then, the newest people arrived. After two months, they switched council flats with their parents in a different city (illegally). They don’t hit each other thankfully, but they do smoke marijuana all day and are jobless, meaning I have to listen to shitty music 24/7 blasted because they’re never out of the flat.

I gave the benefit of the doubt when I moved in, but never again will I live next to council housing. Call it classist if you want, but I’m speaking from years of repeated experience at this point. Stereotypes do not come from absolutely nowhere.

How the hell do people get to live in these beautiful apartments while I’m paying heavily to be here, only to deal with chavs year in and out?

What are my options to stop this completely?

There's a recurring take on here that says that stale RM listings proves that there are plenty of desperate sellers, and that stubborn sellers just haven't cut the price enough yet. And that it follows from this that buyers have a lot of power to get what they want.

Two points worth separating out:

Good houses in good locations are still moving - Properties in a sought-after catchment/commuter spot, in standard and ready to move in condition, are still selling at a normal pace. The stagnation people are seeing is concentrated in specific segments - overpriced flats, houses needing full modernisation, awkward layouts, weak locations, cookie cutter properties in the middle on car country, not the market as a whole. Anyone who's looked for or bought a property in the UK will know that two similar properties 500 yards apart might be priced very differently depending on various factors. One might struggle to sell while the other will get sold if listed.

Listing a property costs a seller precisely £0 in England - People miss this bit with the constant "why won't this seller drop their price" comments. Once you've instructed an estate agent (no upfront fee in the vast majority of cases, only on completion), there is no ongoing cost to simply leave it listed. No listing/relisting/holding fee. So a large chunk of those 200+ day listings aren't panicking sellers who need to sell, they're people who may sell at their number, aren't in any particular rush (no chain pressure, not relocating for a job, no divorce/probate deadline), and are perfectly happy to sit there until the one serious buyer who wants exactly that house turns up. Zero cost to waiting means zero pressure to capitulate.

The market IS soft (generally speaking), I'm not arguing that it's not. But unlike what a lot of buyers think, that doesn't mean that that objectively amazing house that ticks all the desirable boxes is going to be sold for a huge 'discount', or that the seller that's been on the market for 6+ months is desperate to sell, or that the buyer can dictate everything. The seller has the power of No.

I sold my house last year and got quite a lot of money out of it as equity. I moved into my fiancé’s house and now we are in the process of selling his. His is shared ownership, so we have to sell it a certain way due to the legalities of it.

We’ve found a house we love and offered on it. Our offer isn’t being taken seriously by the seller because we are not “proceedable” as my partner’s house has not been offered on yet.

Here’s the thing: I have the full value of the deposit in my bank. Originally I was going to put down £60K and my fiancé would put down £15K when his sells. If I were to put down the entire £75K deposit and show proof of funds to the estate agent, as well as an agreement in principle for the remaining value, would that make us proceedable even if my partners house hasn’t sold? Would that be a smart thing to do? We obviously don’t want to miss out on this house.

He would then pay me back £15K when the sale of his goes through.

What do you think? Good idea? I need a sense check! Thanks all.

We offered under asking on a property in SW London where the seller has yet to find another house. The seller has asked us to raise our offer, saying he will break the chain and move in to rental if he can't find another place. We're not sure if the seller will actually move into rental, or just take the money and stall during the process while he looks for a house to buy. Is there any way of protecting ourselves from this? Is it normal to set a deadline on the completion date? We don't want to be unrealistic or unfair as we know conveyancing is unpredictable and can take a while, but are also afraid of offering more money for chain-free, only for the seller to take their sweet time anyway.

Also, what is an appropriate additional amount to offer for breaking the chain?

Thanks

Found a property which seems lovely inside but it is on top of a hill and has stairs leading up to it (about 50 steps) from garage/road to house.

What are your experiences?

Edit: Semi detached house, very quiet, decking

In the last few years we sold, relocated, and eventually bought a lovely home. All in England.

Our purchase price showed on the land registry very quickly, literally within weeks the registration was complete.

I've been keeping an eye on several properties that "we missed out on" that were sold and completed in the last year, out of curiosity, to see if our offers competed with the final sale.

But so far only one is showing out of 6 properties, and two in particular, on the same road, are still not showing months after the new owners moved in (we drive past them often).

So what's with the LR? Is it a solicitor thing, like they're supposed to chase? Is it just a lottery on whose file gets done first?

Any inside knowledge?

🙏🏻

Public car park outside my flat is becoming a short stay car park. The entrance to the flat is via the car park

Monday-Saturday 2 hours max no return for 4 between 8-6pm

There are a few smaller car parks up the road but not ideal (2 min walk or so) maybe about 20 spaces between them and my car park has about 50

There’s barely any parking on the road (about 10 spaces)

Council have said nothing about a permit. Although I’ve complained an many residents around the car park have too (they also rely on this car park to park as it’s closest and has the most space)

I’m now worried tha the value of my flat will tank. A bit selling point for me was having that car park right outside…

Would this put you off buying this place with what I’ve just said?

Honestly, we’re all really pissed off by this. Parking will now become a nightmare

As above. Seen a house I like but it’s a Victorian semi, all rooms share a party wall.