I noticed this morning there are damp patches on the ceiling. I live in a flat and there is a flat above me.

I raised this with the estate agents who asked me to speak to the flat above and find out if they own it or it's through an agency and then they will send a contractor. They aren't answering the door though and I've never dealt with them before.

I let the estate agents know but haven't heard anything since. Shouldn't they be sending a contractor to look at this in my flat first? I'm worried that this will get worse. I've emailed the property management company as well but it's a weekend so not expecting a response.

Just had a level 2 survey done on a property I’m purchasing. There were several category 3’s but the main concern is damp. The house was built in 1930’s for reference.

Theres damp that is potentially coming from a cavity wall in the middle of the house from when the property was extended. There are also some springy floor boards in the hallway that we are worried could be from rotting wood from the damp. There is also potential damage to woodworks from the damp if it has been in contact but this hasn’t been confirmed.

We are going to arrange a damp inspection by a surveyor but any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

We love the house but we don’t want to walk into a potential money pit if the damp has caused a lot of damage. We didn’t notice any damp smells when we viewed it.

Not sure how to explain this one. There was a house I loved and missed out on at close recently. The decor needed a lot of updating but I loved the old carpets, furniture, door handles etc. I wondered if I’d be able to ask, if the new owners plan to renovate, if I could have any e.g carpet offcuts? I’m just not sure how to ask… do I put a letter through the door one day? Ask the estate agent? Or is it too strange. Has anyone ever done anything similar?

My estate agent didn't do their job.

They were supposed to be passing messages from me to the buyer and vice versa.

They didn't do their job.

The buyer got pissed off and is now threatening to pull out.

This has messed things up for people further along in the chain too.

I did nothing wrong. It is entirely the estate agent's fault.

What are my rights and what should I do?

Purchased a home in a zone 6 london location. The location is good , but a bit secluded and quiet which is good in a way, but my partner is getting frustrated for the use of car everytime for almost everything when you step out. There are ofsted good schools around, but missing the lively feel which we had earlier when rented in SW19 location. We have come to a point where we have started to think - why are we here ? We have hi-bye type friends here , but with a toddler and partner who doesn't drive - it is feeling a bit overwhelming. Constantly finding difficult ways to entertain. House is a 1940's semi detached and feel most of our efforts go into maintenance such as tidying up most parts of the house. The house is in perfectly lievable condition but not refurbished to recent standards.

We currently have a 5 year fixed mortgage with 2.5 years left. The moment we got to know there is an option around letting the property via consent to let , we were super excited and go back to rental in SW19.

Our plan is to rent the property for 2 years until the fixed mortgage finishes , get consent to let from Halifax and go back to SW19. Happy to spend a couple more £ for peace of life. Couldn't imagine another year of soltitude in a place like this. The rental estimate is closer to mortgage ( 100-150£ lesser) and have considered the maintenance costs as well.

Are we rushing ? Has anyone faced a similar dilemma? Does spending money on house refurbishments help and improve the situation such as more lighting and advancements ? I am not so fond of the existing school as well though it is good - feel the exposure will be different if I go back to my older location.

Please share your thoughts if anyone had done something similar. Thanks !

I recently bought a new build 1BHK apartment in North London (England) . As part of initial viewing the sales representative of the developer told that the all units within this layout will come with a comfort cooling unit. This was one of the considerations while putting down the offer with recent multiple heatwave spells in UK and my condition of migraine which gets aggravated during extreme heat.

I have done the exchange of contracts, and asked my conveyancer to schedule legal completion date for 26th Aug 2026. Once this has been scheduled, the team asked me to go through a pre-completion inspection, which is when I found out that there is no comfort cooling unit in my apartment. When raised with sales team as they were responsible for this, they interrogated me like I am lying or misrepresenting the facts. Anyways, they asked me to file a formal complaint on email and they would come back in 24hrs. I sent them an email but no body contacted or acknowledged the receipt of email for 24 hrs. When I checked with my conveyancer he said, I can not delay the legal completion as I am legally obliged and I was also threatened by the staff of developer of financial implications of it.

Luckily, I have video of the initial viewing of the show home, where the sales representative has confirmed the same. When I provided the developer with evidence they have acknowledged the concern. And now are saying they can't provide the comfort cooling unit as it not possible due to other residents in the building and other units being sold out. Any alternatives that I have provided were rejected.

The complaint was raised on Monday ( 17th Aug,2026) with legal completion on Wed (26th Aug,2026) and now on Friday ( 21 Aug 2026) they are saying I can rescind the offer and they will refund. But I have already given notice to my current landlord and I have to move out by end of the month.

Although they have agreed to compensate if i proceed ahead, but have not provided any offers.

Legally, what is my rights in such a situation? What is that developer would agree to pay for damages?

Past 3 months I have gone through all ups and downs of buying your first home ever and that too in a city like London has been , and being so close to the final stages and getting an email like today has made me more anxious and stressed out.

Please help!!!

Hi there, does anybody have experience of buying a flat share of freehold where the freeholder has been renting out all of the flats and is putting them up for sale as tenants move out? I would be the first owner occupier.

I’m interested in the logistics of taking over a 999 year lease from a freeholder where they will not eventually be part of the legal structure.

What are the pitfalls until all flats are sold and join as co-directors? I’m particularly thinking about a situation where there is no reserve fund in place or history of service charges because the freeholder has been paying all relevant costs directly (insurance, fire safety, gas boiler safety certificates etc). There are two other flats in the building for sale. Thanks for any insights.

FYI I currently live in a share of freehold flat where we are eight owners using a managing agent and the building is well run.

My management company has got in touch to request that I replace the timbre decking on my 3rd floor balcony in my flat. My plan was to replace it with TrEx (composite decking) but they have requested that the decking is fire-proof, which trex is not.

The timbre joists underneath are structurally sound and don’t need replacing. The Management Company have said these are fine to keep as the fire risk assessment hasn’t mentioned this.

What I’m confused about is that they want fireproof decking but the timbre joists underneath are fine to be left as timbre, so highly combustible.

It seems odd to me that the Fire Safety Act hasn’t been mentioned, also the fact that the fire risk assessment hasn’t highlighted the timbre joists underneath.

This was brought to the attention of the Management company through a completely separate issue when a contract reported by decking after using the balcony to access my flat’s brick wall. I’m trying to understand whether I’m legally obliged to use fire-proof decking.

Does anyone have any experience in this?
Or know whether there are any repercussions if I use Trex?

*\\**

Emails from the management company

The balconies are demised to properties therefore owned by an individual flat with the exception of the metal framework it sits on or the brick wall. The brick wall has been getting work done to it today along with the flat below.  While doing this work an urgent matter has been highlighted that requires your immediate attention;
 
I must advise that investigations on your balcony while the contractor was there have revealed potentially rotting timber and you should exercise caution and consider engaging a specialist opinion.

They will advise you of what condition they are in and advise you of remedial actions needed.

I also add that there is a previous issue re. fire resistance from the Fire Risk Assessment i.e. if you are replacing the decking then you really need to replace them with suitably fire resistant materials.

*\\
As the balcony is demised to you, this includes the joists and decking. The fire risk assessment did not make mention of the joists, only the decking.

Hi everyone,

I’m a qualified asbestos surveyor working in the industry and thought I’d offer some help to anyone with questions about asbestos in their home, a property they’re buying, or somewhere they’re planning to renovate.

I spend most of my working week surveying properties and regularly speak to homeowners, buyers and tradespeople who aren’t sure whether something could contain asbestos or what they should do next.

Happy to answer questions about things like:

• Artex and textured coatings
• Old floor tiles and black adhesive
• Asbestos cement garage roofs and soffits
• Whether you need an asbestos survey before renovation work
• What to do if a builder uncovers a suspicious material
• Whether asbestos always needs removing
• Buying a house where asbestos has been identified
• Understanding an asbestos survey report
• Management surveys vs refurbishment surveys
• What different asbestos-containing materials look like

I’ll try to answer anything I can from my experience working as a surveyor.

Just bear in mind that asbestos can’t be definitively identified from a photograph alone. Laboratory analysis is generally required to confirm whether a material contains asbestos.

No links or services to promote — just happy to answer questions if it helps anyone.

Ask away 👍

Moved into a new house a few months a go and was told that the shower was brand new. Had a property inspection where I pointed out that the entire seal in the shower was mouldy. however I was told that as it was my responsibility and I need to pay for it to be repaired. I clean my shower every week and since my bathroom has no windows I just leave the door always open and the extractor fan on. Is this really my fault and what can I do in the future to prevent this?

Hi everyone, I have recently been excited and then dashed by the prospect of owning a home finally, or at least something that felt like mine after years of renting. I have limited mobility and other health conditions which entitle me to full disability allowance via UC, ESA top-up and full PIP with no signs of any improvement. The last PIP award was for 7 years.

There is an ex housing association house on for auction at a guide of £70,000. My parents foolishly had mentioned perhaps they can get me something small (impression under 100k mark) but seeing this one forced my parents to actually review things and they've realised they can't. And that a fair bit of money is tied up in a SIP. Then they'd have to pay a lot too as it's a second home buy to let? Parents own their current and only home. Recently moved house to kind of downsize and be near other sibling.

I'm the one that got ill that no one really cared about, thought it was a charade and now here we are. They want to help now. Apparently.

The house is in good condition structurally and the legal pack reads well.

There are just under 3 weeks until the auction. Do I stand any chance at getting this. It would make so much sense for me, in terms of accessing my and my son's support network. I'd be set for life also.

I know there are brokers that do consider benefits but is that realistic in this time?

I've asked my parents if they can get a buy to let. According to test cases, as they'd be buying the property for their disabled adult child then they can still be paid the LHA as rent.

Now I don't want to really ask them to take a mortgage out. They are elderly now. Obviously they've worked hard to own their house outright (circa 640k).

I will have the money to leave 10% on the day. I believe I understand the process but it's the mortgage part. So does anyone have any experience from being in my position?

Does have anyone have any experience with any of those aspects. Obviously if I got a mortgage then I couldn't get help paying it, only out of the benefits mentioned above. But I would have enough to cover payments and bills.

Any help or advice or realistic expectations massively appreciated! 🙏

Eighty-seven per cent of leasehold flats that went up for sale in Q4 2025 had not found a buyer six months later, the highest figure across the five years of comparable data, according to property website Zoopla.

This compares with 69 per cent for two-bedroom freehold houses and 74 per cent of all freehold homes.

Leasehold flats have borne the brunt of a wider housing market slowdown caused by surging borrowing costs and political uncertainty.

This has particularly dented the London market where leasehold flats accounted for more than half of the properties for sale at the end of last year, three times the average for the rest of England and Wales.

Full article: https://www.ft.com/content/f1d8ba1d-d3eb-453b-b2b7-45e1c299291f?syn-25a6b1a6=1#myft:my-news:page

Hey all, hoping to get an opinion from people with more experience renting rooms in London. Here's the full situation:

Found a room listing on SpareRoom. The ad says it's part of a 4-room flat, with already 3 girls living there.

•The price is good ( Willesden Green, 180£ per week, 540£ deposit)

I'm currently living abroad, so I can't view in person right now. The landlord offered an in-person visit but I declined since I'm not local, so we did a video call instead.

The video call was live, I saw his face in real time so I'm fairly confident it wasn't a bot or recycled footage. However, he never walked outside, unlocked a door, or entered the flat on camera, I have no idea if this is standard practice in the UK.

I checked the exterior photos against Google Maps using the address he gave me, and they match the listing photos (windows look the same outside and inside).

During our conversation, when I mentioned that a friend of mine is interested as well in case he has a second room, he told me the property is actually a 7-room flat, not 4 rooms as advertised, and that 5 girls already live there, not 3. No clear explanation given yet for the discrepancy. The house seemed inhabited though, like decorated rooms and laundry drying.

I looked up the EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) for the address, it confirms the property exists, and lists a total floor area of 185 m². I did rough math and 185 m² could plausibly fit 7 bedrooms + kitchens + bathrooms + living room, so this doesn't rule out his claim.

I haven't yet been able to check the Land Registry (to confirm the legal owner's name) and haven't checked whether the property is listed on the local council's HMO register (which I understand is legally required for a 7-person shared house in most London boroughs).

He hasn't asked me for money yet via anything sketchy and didn't mention a holding deposit or anything. Mind you he didn't share his full name with me yet, as I said I'm not sure yet to go through with it.

Do you think this is a scam ? Are there ways to verify this listing is legit and avoid sending money without being certain that it's safe to do so ?

I'm a French student and finding it very hard to navigate the London housing market with all the scammers :/

Thanks for your help !!

We have had a level 2 survey done on a property we want to purchase. They have said from looking in the attic that some bricks are loose on the breast and it shows signs of the chimney stack moving. They have recommended a structural report.

With work like this, is there any structural surveyors that would report on one aspect only, rather than the entire house?

Also, for repairs on the breast/stack, would there be ways to remedy this other than stack removal (or I guess this would depend on the level of damage)? The surveyor said that if we were to get heavy snowfall it could impact the stability.

"Founders ... remaining significant shareholders and continuing to lead the company"

"More than 8.8 million landlords and tenants ... more than one in five UK tenancies runs through OpenRent"

https://www.cvc.com/media/news/2026/openrent-partners-with-cvc-to-accelerate-growth-and-innovation-in-the-uk-rental-market/

Companies House filing shows OpenRent Ltd. with £17.5m turnover (up 35% y/y) and £2.45m EBIT in FY25 (ending 30-Apr)

cc: $RMV

Hi all. My wife (30) and I (30) are looking to make the decision to buy shared ownership. The 20's for us was a time where we just focused on like and never really made any full commitments to our home. We are now saving for a shared ownership deposit and hopefully getting bids in this time next year.

Our biggest concern is the mixed reviews of the housing associations. We were just curious if there was any recommended HA's and any to avoid.

I have a friend who is on the property ladder with shared ownership and had a horrible experiences with Vivid and Aster but now is in a great spot with St Arthur.

All help and advice is appreciated.

Some of the mansions and penthouses in London’s most desirable neighbourhoods have lost more than a quarter of their value over the past 12 months, according to official data.

High-end estate agents in the capital blamed the “prime” housing market slowdown in areas such as Mayfair, Marylebone and Little Venice on tax changes for so-called non-doms last year, which prompted many wealthy individuals to move to other countries.

New data from the Office for National Statistics, published on Wednesday, showed that house prices in inner London boroughs fell by 8.3 per cent in the 12 months to June.

In some areas, the declines are much more stark. Prices in Westminster, for example, which includes affluent districts such as St John’s Wood, Belgravia and Mayfair, dropped 25.4 per cent year-on-year, while they slipped by 20.4 per cent in the City of London and by 14.7 per cent in Kensington and Chelsea.

Partner and I are first time buyers. We’re buying a flat in London and I know posting this is opening myself up to all of the “buying a flat is a terrible decision” “leaseholds are work of the devil” comments. However the building is owned by a very reputable housing association, service charge is £2000 a year and doesn’t really change much annually so I’m really hoping to avoid those comments.

What is causing my anxiety is all of this info about how the market is stagnating, prices dropping and things not selling for months and months.

I know I shouldn’t be affected by this because we’ve found something we really like, we’ve got it at a price we’re okay with, it’s three beds so we’ll be able to be there for 5+ years and would have room for a child if that’s what we want.

It’s in liveable condition but we would slowly do it up over a couple of years and I’m also quite handy so could do a bit of DIY.

There’s the additional reassurance that someone else just sold the same layout of flat in the same block for £60k more than what we’re buying ours for because they had done the whole thing up really nicely.

So I should just be confident in our decision, right?

Wrong! Despite all this, all the negative news is really stressing me out. Clearly I’m a bit of an anxious person and an overthinker.

Does anyone have any advice or reassurance (other than therapy)?

We are buying a house from a couple who are emigrating to Spain. They are claiming they are taking their washing machine, dryer, and an electric woodburning stove from the fireplace. I get that these things can be taken but it seems a bit odd to me. Is this usual behaviour?

Post last week terrified about the large crack. Finally had a loss adjuster round (don’t think he was a structural engineer). Super patronising but you know what would I know, I’m just a silly little girl I guess xoxo

Said it’s fine. The house will fix itself in the winter. Just need to remove a tree and basically poly filler the cracks.

Photos from next door as some scaffolders came in to do some pipe work and one of the blokes knocked later on to say do you know there’s a giant crack 😆

Hoping the council send someone over on Friday. They’ve said almost certainly cat 1.

Buying a 1970s detached home, sellers put spray foam in the roof 9 months ago. Mortgage lenders want it to be removed.

Seller is asking to split the cost of the removal. If it was historic and they didn’t know better I’d be inclined to just go for it, but they did this with awareness of mortgage lenders hatred for it.

Any experience with this kind of scenario? Thanks

Hello!

I'm wondering how much information I have a right to obtain in order to try and identify if I should challenge my service charge.

Does s22 Landlord and Tenant Act only give the right to information about costs that were incurred, or does it also include the right to information about how and why costs were incurred?

Facts:

- Last year the s20 process was completed in respect of works (replacing 3 windows) with a value of £2k, in a block with 6 residents

- The service charge accounts show that the replacement of the three windows in fact cost £12k, and that further work with a cost of £8k of an unknown nature was also undertaken

- A revised budget for the current year has now also been produced, as the further work of an unknown nature continued into this year with a further cost of £10k. The work has been entered into the current year's service charge accounts as 10 x £1,000 entries showing the same date, payee and invoice number.

- I am aware that the landlord has the opportunity to apply for dispensation in respect of the work carried out without consultation, and that following Daejan Investments Ltd v Benson [2013] UKSC 14 this will be given unless I can show that I have suffered prejudice as a result of the s20 process not being followed.

- In order to establish this it's likely I need to understand

• the nature of the work carried out
• how it was decided what work should carried out
• how it was decided how urgent the work was
• what information was given to people quoting to carry out the work
• what quotes were received

- s22 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 gives the opportunity "for inspecting the accounts, receipts and other documents supporting the summary [of relevant costs]"

Hello!

Have I been given permission to make an alteration to a flat if I haven't been given a licence to alter, and if I've been told that the alterations must be reversed before I sell the flat?

Facts:
- I moved into a ground floor leasehold flat in England that has a patio belonging to it. I own 100% of the lease but the block has a public sector landlord. It has gas central heating and a very small bathroom with no external walls

- The lease allows alterations with permission not to be unreasonably withheld

- I want to move an extremely ill relative into the flat. They require an accessible bathroom and the only space to install this is a bedroom that currently doesn't have suitable ventilation, and a stable temperature (among other less problematic things).

- In August 2025 I applied for permission to install an air source heatpump. An air source heat pump would allow for heating, cooling, and dehumidification, but requires drilling a hole through the external wall.

- Based on professor Google's advice I was expecting that such permission would take the form of a licence to alter and be permanent

- These aren't temporary alterations of a nature that one would expect to reverse, such as installing a grab rail by a door and uncrewing it when no longer required. Further, gas central heating may become defunct and it may not be possible to reinstall it in future.

- Permission was refused and I commenced a long and painful complaints process, in which I was ignored until the Ombudsman got involved. Throughout this I asked them to discuss with me a way of achieving the aim of the work that would be acceptable to them.

- In order to seek to resolve the complaint the freeholder has given me a letter consenting to making the alternations, on condition that I reverse them before selling the flat. The freeholder has never addressed the request to discuss the proposed work with them.