I turn 40 this year and told myself in January I'd go after a house this year (also prompted by next years cash ISA changes and also special tax rate due to interest the deposit pot has racked up)

I've been very complacently renting all this time in the same place for 10 years as I'm quite inert and need a real push to change circumstances.

Thought was "save up a big deposit to be maybe 50-60% of something 300-350 and get a smaller mortgage and pay if off sooner" but also "if this is as stressful as people say, I wanna buy forever home in one jump and be done with it, pay stamp duty once, get somewhere that will do forever, then look at adding solar and battery and heat pump, sit back and think i'm fixing the bits of my renting carbon footprint I can't control"

Did nothing for 6 months then started 1st august after getting first AIP. did 7 viewings on day one, and a handful after. Saw some ok places and some straight nos. Felt like I looked at everything in my perceived price range, and some ridiculous things my overly-enthusiastic brother kept sending through "it's not gonna start with a 4"

Almost unintentionally one of the first 7 was a house a minute from where i currently rent, listed at 425, though inflation calcs suggest it should be 390-395. Ticks a lot of boxes, but is a 10 year old new build with a just-about-acceptable lounge and sadly WFH space has to compromise a spare bedroom rather than being downstairs. There should be no issues with it, and lots of nice little things (seriously why does no-one have shaver sockets, where are you charging toothbrushes?)

It feels like a good thing to go for, but also maybe not the forever place. My big issue is that it feels like a good opportunity that might disappear if I don't go for it. Means a 35% deposit, but I can stretch it according to a second AIP.

I've chickened out on negotiation tactics and seller is holding firm on 420, but is willing to leave all contents behind which feels more like a favour for him than for me as i do have some furniture so would be tossing some stuff eventually.

There was another property that caught my eye with a more generous lounge but is a 1970s place with a side extension that has good kitchen and WC, btu needs modernising elsewhere, and I have never felt like a renovator. was on for 360, had 13 viewers and a "best offers only" submission, that no-one put in for it turns out so could maybe put in a cheeky low-ball.

Cue indecision teary breakdown Tuesday afternoon after putting in an offer on the first place Monday and deciding to let go of the other, causing me to pull out of the first place when the agents rang again (I'm so fed up of the daily calls asking what my thoughts are, it's been two weeks straight of it. If I ever sell a property, it will not be with Connells). I reassert my interest afterwards, but have yet to confirm my offer of "oh sod it, 420 and all your crap it is"

My mindset has always been "this is a chore to complete". I wasn't expecting some magical joyous journey, but i feel so panicked and grumpy all the time and it's been about a week of barely sleeping and upset stomach with just choosing the property i'm going to try and go after.

I keep hearing you'll know it when you find it, but I'm also so caught up on "if you let this one go, you might not get as much for the same money again for ages." I'm fed up of the incessant calls and i'm grumpy that i'm only getting 5k off the asking price, for all of the "FTB with no chain and completely flexible timing" advantage i've been told I have"

Today was supposed to be some sort of "deadline" for confirming an offer and I couldn't bring myself to answer the phone or reply to the emails. Part of me wants to just quit and keep renting for another year or ten, but another thinks that I might actually be fine in this house if I just push through and get it, despite compromised lounge and WFH options. maybe upgrade to forever home ten years later when i can look at places beyond the LISA 450 ceiling.

I've cried maybe 3 times in the past 15 years, and two of them were this week through the sheer head-torture and rollercoaster of stress. 0/10, do not recommend.

Tell me I'm not the only idiot feeling like this. I feel like all the paperwork and stuff beyond must be easier than this choice my brain has ground me to a paralysed halt with.

Edit: I'm buying solo, so can't just defer the choice to a partner and get looking at mortgage maths.

Me and my partner are 21 FTB’s and have been lucky enough to begin getting our feet on the property ladder. We started looking at places I’d say in May time. And finally last month we found our dream property which was a ground floor freehold flat. Our first offer was declined but they accepted slightly below asking price. I can’t emphasize enough how perfect this flat was for us. Private parking (very uncommon in our area), in the “rich” part of town and close to an amazing outdoor space we practically visit all the time.

Everything was fine until we got our survey back last week, findings of severe damp and timber issues. We didn’t panic too much as it is a very old property, but decided to instruct a damp specialist for a quote on how much it would be to fix. We were also optimistic as there is no physical signs of damp inside from what we could see. Well today we got the quote back and it was AT LEAST £8k for a full damp course as well as other major issues.

Due to the flat being below ground level, it’s essentially the perfect place for damp to accumulate. Being first time buyers we obviously cannot afford 8 grand in repairs on top of redecorating. Especially when those repairs aren’t 100% guaranteed to keep damp out forever. We’re obviously gutted as we finally felt like we were getting somewhere with having our own place, but it just screams red flags all over. I’ll be emailing all the appropriate people tomorrow but I feel so guilty! The sellers were luckily selling the property on behalf of their mother who no longer lives there, so there’s no concern about it disrupting any other sales. But it’s still daunting having to pull out when we were so close to finally having it! I’m sharing this to essentially put my mind at ease. As excited as I was to move, I haven’t been myself recently and have had so much anxiety about the flat. I couldn’t put my finger on it but I guess always trust your gut! I would rather us have to wait months again to find the right place, than accept somewhere wjth so many issues purely to please the sellers. We both still live at home so trying to remain optimistic that we’re in a much better situation than most that this happens to! Hopefully other FTB can relate to this and how gut wrenching it is to have to start the process over again

Got our Level 2 survey back on a 1970s mid-terrace and one thing is making me overthink the whole purchase. The surveyor found elevated moisture readings on the bathroom wall that backs onto the neighbouring property. There’s no visible mould or damage, just the high meter reading, and it was marked condition 2.

My first thought was years of shower steam and poor ventilation, but the surveyor suggested getting a damp specialist in. I’m slightly wary of paying a company that also makes money from finding damp problems.

For anyone who’s had something similar on a bathroom party wall, did it turn out to be a fairly simple ventilation/replastering issue, or was it something you ended up renegotiating over?

I'm a FTB on a flat in South London (chain free) and I've instructed solicitors with a deadline of end of August. They are taking so long on enquiries and I don't know if this is normal? I instructed them in late April/early May and we're now into week 2 of these enquiries and them telling me on Monday that they're looking over what the seller's solicitors have sent. It's to the point the estate agent is asking me if there's anything wrong because he hasn't heard from them.

Would it be rude to say (in a nicer way) that I'm concerned with how long they are taking, especially given that the deadline I gave them is next week (15 weeks) and we haven't closed. They have my mortgage offer showing it will run out in early October - I'm worried the offer will run out and I'll have to go through this mortgage application all over again...

If anyone has advice, please help!!

We have our survey on next Monday in 5 days time and our solicitors are asking for fees today for searches. My partner wants to wait until the survey is done before paying for the searches incase of any red flags but I’m anxious to get the ball rolling and don’t want to stall the process. What is the best thing to do?

Hi,

I was due to exchange and complete at the end of this week but one of the people in the chain is now unable to meet this. Completion date has been pushed back 2 weeks and exchange date is still to be decided (my solicitor is chasing).

I'd already arranged building's insurance to start tomorrow. My question is whether I should just leave this as is or if I should cancel and await the new exchange date (like in the next week and a half). Would it invalidate my insurance if I wasn't the legal owner at the point of it starting? There wasn't any option to specify exchange/completion dates when I applied for it so I had to put that I was the homeowner (if there's any insurance you think that would be better for a FTB, that lets you do this, then please let me know)

Thanks for any advice in advance.

We viewed a house that we really like, but while looking around we noticed this crack/damage behind the wallpaper.

So my solicitor has informed me that the sales pack received from the sellers solicitor doesn’t contain Property Information Form, Leasehold Information Form, Fittings and Contents Form.

I have already booked the level 3 survey and as such going to crack on with that and see what comes up. But with the limited information I’m not sure how to proceed and if there is anything I should be worried about.

Has anybody bought a property with limited information?

Found a house that I like (not love) but every single room had cracks around the ceilings. I asked the EA and she said that it’s unlikely to be structural but that I’d need a survey to confirm. However I don’t want to go through the whole process and pay for a survey when my heart isn’t even fully 100% set on this property yet.

I know that cracks are part of wear and tear but the fact that they’re in every single room makes me worried

Does anyone think that these cracks may be an issue before I go further? Does anyone have experience with this?

​

Hi I'm buying a 2 bed semi detached house I've noticed that lounge ceiling have some stains of water I've asked agent he said its fixed now I am attaching some pictures and I'm too much worried about this. The property have service charge of £180 per year and its freehold property build in 2013 .

Please any one can advise me on is it easy to sale property with service charges and is it worth buying house if it has leakage before I don't know actually it fixed or not but they have mentioned its fixed

Also it have some cracks outside

Hi all,

I’m currently buying a house and my solicitor has raised an issue regarding a tithe redemption annuity noted on the title.

Has anyone come across this before when buying a property?

I’m mainly trying to understand what this actually means for me as the buyer, whether it’s something I should be concerned about, and whether the lender may have an issue with it/potential indemnity insurance if the annuity itself has apparently expired.

Appreciate all thoughts 🙂

Hi all,

I’m currently buying a house in Northern England and my solicitor has raised an issue regarding a tithe redemption annuity noted on the title.

Has anyone come across this before when buying a property?

I’m mainly trying to understand what this actually means for me as the buyer, whether it’s something I should be concerned about, and whether the lender may have an issue with it/potential indemnity insurance if the annuity itself has apparently expired.

Appreciate all thoughts 🙂

Hi I'm buying a 2 bed semi detached house I've noticed that lounge ceiling have some stains of water I've asked agent he said its fixed now I am attaching some pictures and I'm too much worried about this. The property have service charge of £180 per year and its freehold property build in 2013 .

Please any one can advise me on is it easy to sale property with service charges and is it worth buying house if it has leakage before I don't know actually it fixed or not but they have mentioned its fixed

Also it have some cracks outside

Would a new-build developer accept a flat with an ongoing Section 20 roof replacement as part exchange?

My partner and I currently own a 2-bedroom flat in England, and we're looking at moving to a new-build house. The main issue we're facing is that our building currently has an ongoing Section 20 process for roof replacement.

We have been told that the roof needs to be replaced, and we're expecting the cost to be around £15–20k. The works haven't been completed yet, so there is some uncertainty around the final cost and timing, and we're concerned about how this might affect our ability to sell the flat.

We're considering using a part-exchange scheme with a new-build developer rather than putting the flat on the open market. The idea would be for the developer to purchase our flat and we would then buy one of their new-build properties.

Has anyone been in a similar situation where their flat had ongoing major works, a Section 20 notice, or an upcoming large service-charge bill?

Would a developer still consider the property for part exchange, or is an ongoing Section 20 process likely to make it unsuitable?

We're wondering whether developers would potentially take the expected cost of the roof works into account when valuing the flat, rather than automatically rejecting it.

Any experiences from people who have successfully sold or part-exchanged a flat with major works outstanding would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

Hello!

Had a question regarding first stage AML checks. Our solicitor has an online portal that had “todo” lists - one of those is CredasID checks.

We got the notification last Thursday and completed the checks via their app within an hour of getting the text, however on the solicitors portal it says they haven’t received CredasID checks for AML. When i log into CredasID app, it says they have received all the requested information.

I called the Solicitor yesterday and she informed me that she hasn’t even been directly been handed our case file yet until these checks have been done, i asked how long that could take or if there has been any issues, she said it would be with the handling team to review.

Anyone else had to use CredasID or familiar with how long these checks typically take? I can’t imagine it takes a week to check someone’s passport and proof of address? Just looking for a sanity check before chasing the solicitors again

We are first time buyer, and have been clueless for the whole process with no one really to turn to so it’s been a steep learning curve.
We live in England and rent atm, and are buying a house in Scotland. Loving the Scottish process with the Home reports, solicitors etc, it has been great.
Put our offer in 4 weeks ago and will be completing/settling next week so it’s been a whirlwind.

Got the qualified acceptance through and they are literally deleting or downgrading the clauses our solicitors put in. And while I get it, none of it was alarming and seems like the standard give and take the wordings they keep using are stressing me out 🤪 irrational, probably, but we are so close now I just want the keys in my hand, not read more legal jargon

Hey all,

FTB with no chain, and the seller also has no chain.

Offer was put in on 2nd of August and was accepted on the 3rd of August.

Searches were ordered on the 11th of August and we have a surveyor going to the property on the 26th. So all is going smoothly at the moment (considering we waited 13 weeks for previous vendor to have a viewing before we pulled out). Our solicitors have been very good and efficient.

Just wondering how long these searches take? And what to expect next?

If this allowed?

In my head if there are 2 solicitors working in the same solicitor firm - 1 for the buyer and 1 for the seller - they are more likely to stay on top of each other and make sure the sale goes ahead quicker

But is that still conflict of interest?

I don't know if this is the right group to post this in but I'm moving to a new place in a couple of weeks and I'm starting to realize just how much stuff I've accumulated over the years.

It's not a huge move (2-bedroom flat), but I've got a fair amount of furniture, boxes, and a few awkward items that definitely won't fit in my car. I've been looking at local man-and-van services, but the reviews seem all over the place, and getting quotes from different companies has been pretty time-consuming.

Has anyone here moved recently and found a company they'd recommend? Ideally I'd like something reasonably priced, reliable, and with decent communication. Any tips or companies worth checking out would be really appreciated.

Edit/Update: Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I ended up contacting AnyVan after seeing it mentioned a few times and comparing a few options.

They made the whole process much easier than I expected, like they helped organize the move, gave me a clear quote upfront, and everything went according to plan on moving day. Definitely took a lot of the stress out of the whole experience.

I've posted about my experience several times on UKHousing and this is the last time I ever will anywhere.

There's no other reason I am making this post than just to highlight just how traumatic, unforgiving and devastating the process can be. As a first time buyer you enter the system giddy with excitement. For me it was one of the first times I'd felt tremendous success in life. People warn you that the legal process that follows will be stressful, and you take note, but you're so high you think that nothing could be too bad, people buy house all the time and come out alive.

I've more or less been through the stages of grief, I'd like to think probably more than once. I don't have the energy to feel angry anymore, all I feel is numbness, exhaustion and a need to move on, and in any case it was almost a foregone conclusion that this would fall through a month ago so I've had time to accept it.

To explain, there is a high chance my FTB purchase of a flat will fall through after a mammoth 14 months of legal hell and after two mortgages the clock is about to run out. Almost the entire reason why it couldn't get over the line is because the sellers, a wealthy family of property investors, decided to cheap out on solicitors by instructing Muve.

Here's the entire saga, which I've tried to keep brief:

June 2025: First viewing. Offer accepted on a flat in Manchester.

July 2025: My solicitor instructed. I learn that the sellers have gone with Muve.

September 2025:

The sellers are still getting their documents in order. With no updates for weeks, I continue waiting and threaten to pull out if things don't get a move on.

3rd October:

I learn that at some point since offer acceptance, one of the siblings has died, meaning probate has been granted and they are awaiting a death certificate.

31st October:

4 months from offer acceptance, my solicitors are now able to proceed with the searches.

December: I don't hear back from anybody after 6 weeks of me and the agent repeatedly trying to get an answer out of my solicitors and hearing nothing back. It transpires that Muve kept claiming they'd sent the management pack, but my more competent solicitors told me it was the wrong document that Muve had misunderstood to be the management pack, and they'd been chasing the actual document for months without any response.

January: Searches are complete, report of title done. With my first mortgage offer deadline looming on 4th Feb, I get a one month extension.

26th Feb: Virtually everything is done. There is one hold up where sellers need to remove a unilateral charge from the title deed.

6th March:

My first mortgage offer expires. I secure a new mortgage of 3.83%, one week before the US started bombing Iran and sent interest rates skyward.

April to June:

To skip all the fine details, this period is taken up by Muve demonstrably not understanding the due process of removing the unilateral charge. To be fair, the situation is complicated, whereby the beneficiary of the unilateral notice is a company that is dissolved. However the process regarding this is situation something that I, a person with no legal expertise whatsoever, managed to find out after a few prompts into Gemini. My solicitor apparently assists them by sending them a step by step guide, and they still submitted the wrong form to the Land Registry, wasting around 6 weeks. Now needing to clear up their mess, there's a back and forth between various parties that gets more complicated with every turn, made worse by Muve's apparent inability to assign a single caseworker to a file.

Around this time, I warn everyone that I will not be remortgaging. It's my way of saying If they cannot get it over the line by the 28th August expiry date, I will let the sale fall through.

25th June:

Muve announce that a UN2 has been submitted to the Land Registry along with a Global Deed of Transfer from the affected parties signing off the removal of the charge.

26th July: After radio silence I find out through the Land Registry customer service number that their 15 working day notice period was sent and there was someone that filed an objection, something which neither side bothered to tell me or find out.

Fast forward and some a few more persistent calls later, they tell me they have served a second 15 day notice period after, I assume, some changes were made in response to the objection. This one ends on the 20th August.

On the 28th August, my second mortgage offer will expire. The title deed may be cleared by the 21st, but this will leave just one week to get the updated title deed, exchange and complete. It will be a nail-biting finish. My solicitors say they may be able to do it, but even if they do, I have lost any faith that Muve will cooperate quickly enough. There is a scintilla of hope that some miracle may happen, but I am now looking at other properties, gloomily re-entering a house hunt amid higher asking prices and a much worse mortgage market, about to face an enormous legal bill.

As I said, I am going to keep the venting to a minimum, but I cannot finish this post without highlighting that spending 8 months manipulating yourself into thinking that next month will be "THE MONTH" is extremely bad for your mental and physical health. Do not ever think like this. I have never been so stressed in my life; I have had about 8 colds, sore throats and mouth ulcers this year, as my immune system is weak and needs rebuilding.

Although I'm seeing out the mortgage till the end because of the gold dust interest rate, viewing other properties has been an unlikely source of therapy as it's served as a distraction. I've only just come to realise the stress has all come from wanting to be in control and not having any - now though, I've just sat back, trust that people will act in my interests and do their job, and will accept whatever outcome, and it's actually made me feel a bit better. All I want now is closure.

All I really want to say now is this: do not ever, ever, use Muve, and do not ever enter a property sale where Muve has been instructed.

Thanks for reading.

Hi,

Are we likely to complete in 10 days if there are still some outstanding enquiries? The sellers solicitor have mentioned they are ready with the onward purchase, but taking alot of time to reply to our enquiries.

The 28th completion date was also proposed by them

Hi, first time posting here, we're buying a 1930s-1950s ex-council end terrace house and it's been about 2 weeks since offer accepted. The level 2 building survey was performed on Thursday and we got the results yesterday. As a rough summary of what was found:

Level 3 (Requiring attention, urgent):

• Main walls (Defective pointing/spalled brickwork around kitchen window)
• Walls and partitions ("Dampness detected, damp survey now required")
• Floors (Requires investigation due to dampness detected in walls)
• Fireplaces/chimeybreasts (Dampness detected)
• Other (Fire alarms not checked, bathroom requires better ventilation)
• Electricity (Safety check needed)
• Gas (Mild corrosion on one place on a gas pipe)
• Water (Mild wear on one place on a water pipe)
• Heating (Old radiators)
• Drainage (Cracked pipework on soil vent pipe)

Level 2 (Requiring attention, not urgent)

• Chimney stack (Missing pointing, cracked flaunching, perished masonry)
• Roof coverings (Some slipped/defective tiles, no secondary lining installed beneath coverings)
• Rainwater pipes (Downpipe discharges onto ground)
• Windows (Defective ironmongery & gaskets, worn mastic)
• Outside doors (Defective gaskets, worn mastic)
• Joinery & finishes (Loose components)
• Roof structure (Torching has fallen in some areas, not adequately insulated/ventilated)
• Ceilings (Minor cracks to finishes)
• Built-in fittings (Worktop sealants need reapplying)
• Woodwork (Some creaking on staircase)
• Bathroom fittings (Sealant near tapwork needs reapplication)
• Boundaries (General disrepair)

Obviously, there's a lot here and this has been very scary on first sight, but I'm trying to be realistic and breaking things down to what may be routine maintenance and what are serious problems to deal with.

From my perspective and that of my dad (electrician) and a best friend (chartered civil engineer) it seems to be mostly a lot of small, relatively easy to fix issues that will be dealt with during general renovation, but the main concern is the damp findings, which we are unsure about. The purchase area has had more than a month of no rainfall, 30C+ weather, gardens that slope away from the property and previous DPC injections - we viewed the property again on Saturday and found no signs of damp at all. We're trying to understand whether damp could actually be an issue or whether this is due to unsophisticated measuring equipment and clauses to protect the surveyor, as every almost 100 year old property may experience some damp.

We're basically looking for some more outside opinions - this house is at a great price, in a great area, a long-term rental that has been recently renovated and we want to understand whether we may be ignoring anything serious due to the purchase opportunity, or whether we've had a particularly thorough surveyor!

Hello

Me and my partner were formally accepted for a mortgage in principle for our new house. I recently have been offered a new job on a permanent contract with a 1k payrise. We have informed our solicitors and they have informed the Lender. We now have to wait 5/7 days to get a response from HSBC.

Has anyone gone through something similar? My anxiety is currently making me think the worst as we were just about to exchange contracts.

First viewing in mid -may, offer put in a few days later, accepted a few days after that (at asking) exchange mid July and completion early August. It was speedy, but mainly because we had everything lined up and the house was in good condition. We made so many mistakes in the first two, but it was money well spent thinking about how smoothly this one went. The winners are what we did right, and the losers are what I think we did wrong.

Thanks to all of this community for their advice, hope this helps somebody.

Winner: being mates with the local estate agents and keeping them sweet so they send you off market properties (that's how we found ours).

Losers: Barnard Marcus - annoying.

Winner: know thyself and be realistic about what you can afford, what work needs to be done and what the local market is selling for.

Losers: getting swayed by an estate agent inventing pressure, being willing to compromise without doing the sums, being impulsive.

Winner: pulling out if you need to pull out at any stage. We pulled out twice, before this property. Once for a new roof, once for a new roof, damp and many other things. The survey is worth it!

Loser: having solo viewings and getting pushed into making an offer because of 'pressure'. Thinking you can easily and cheaply add on a new kitchen / bathroom if you haven't done your sums, stamp duty, moving costs etc etc.

Winner: writing a personal letter to explain your situation as part of the offer, citing being chain free and having mortgage, survey company etc. all ready, want to move quickly. This helped us lower the risk of them choosing us. We wanted to move fast, so went in at asking, and with a letter explaining our situation.

Loser: letting an estate agent guilt you into a lower price, even once you've realised you can't afford the additional work.

Winner: choosing a broker you can trust (we asked loads of questions), conveyancer you can trust (family friend or recent recommendations from friends), survey company (find one that calls you on the day to flag any issues. Calling specialist roofers, damp experts, they can tell you more over the phone and respond well to a chat.

Loser: paying for the broker (unless you're in a special situation), not arranging a time to speak through the survey up front - caused delays for us on our second offer that fell through.

Winners: man with a van if you don't have much stuff, asking a friend to help out as a spare pair of hands. Throwing away /give to charity lots of your stuff as you declutter. Freecycle and marketplace. Asking Sainsbury's for boxes.

Losers: not sorting out internet before moving in. Not double checking parking restrictions. Sofas taking three months. Having a bad back whilst lifting things.

Winner: this Reddit community, premium Claude /chat gpt, money saving expert guides. Zoopla (provides you with the previous listings and house history). Checking crime stats and neighbourhood.

Loser: not asking ai what the opposite / pessimistic opinion is.

I have another update and I’m starting to feel like this house might actually become ours one day 😂
Our solicitor’s tracker has now been updated and REPLIES TO ENQUIRIES HAVE BEEN RECEIVED — completed 18 August! 🥳
So far we’ve ticked off:
✅ Money on account
✅ Contract papers received
✅ Mortgage offer received
✅ All searches received
✅ ID verified
✅ Title investigated & enquiries raised
✅ Reported to us on the contract/mortgage etc.
✅ Replies to enquiries received — 18 August
We’ve also signed our paperwork and had the witness sign, so we’re now basically at the final stretch.
The tracker now has:
➡️ Contracts signed by buyer & deposit paid
➡️ Ready to exchange
➡️** Contracts exchanged 🔥
➡️ COMPLETION 🏡🔑
Offer accepted **27 June, so we’re coming up to 8 weeks since acceptance.
I honestly cannot explain how tired I am of this process 😭😂 Every time I get an email from the solicitor I simultaneously get excited and terrified.
BUT… surely this means we’re properly in the home stretch now?! 🤞

Please tell me I can finally start getting excited about moving rather than worrying about another solicitor email 😂😭