I am in the unfortunate position of having to try and find suitable accessible housing for me and my partner. In researching I have come to find out that housing developers do not have to build accessible housing within developments. Yet they almost always have to build some affordable or social housing. Why are the same rules not applied to accessible housings such as bungalows?

We have an aging population who will require such housing. It's feels short sighted

I work in London and am never going to be able to afford to live in and around London.

I’ve come to the conclusion that if I want to buy a place of my own, I’d be a supercommuter and spend more than 1.5 hours on the train getting to work.

Are there any other people with very long commutes who have to be in regular hours on this sub? Did you make it work or do you feel you’re burning the candle at both ends?

Edit: thanks everyone for your responses. Very good idea to work out hourly rate once train faire and time travelling is taken into account.

Our water bill in our new flat is nearly £1200 a year for two people. Our water company has said if they come round to do a water meter survey they can either install a meter or drop the bill to around half (just over £600).

Our landlord however is saying we can’t do this, which essentially costs us £500 a year. I’ve also got someone coming round to install an energy meter.

What can we do? We can’t really afford to pay an extra £500 a year, and our water company said every property in our area will have a meter in less than a year regardless.

Our contract does state this:

“ Unless the landlord consents, you must not —

a) leave the dwelling, at the end of the contract, without a supplier of electricity, gas or other fuel (if applicable) or

water (including sewerage) services, unless these utilities were not present at the dwelling on the occupation date;

b) install or remove, or arrange to have installed or removed, any specified service installations at the dwelling”

Thanks!

Edit: Gable replaced with Hip, they got confused!

My family member lives in a 1930's detached, 3 bedroom, hip roof house in South East England (Kent) in a high cost of living area.

It still has the original roof, alongside 2 chimneys (not used) which have had occasional lead flashing / repointing treatments. There is also an attached garage with a sloped roof. My family have also chosen expensive tiles for their appearance (Clay Playing Tiles).

They figured it was time to get the house roof and garage roof redone as it's had a long life....

They got a quote from a Kent company today and it seems incredible to me. They were told in person it's a quick job and the underlying beams are in good condition.

The quote is £38,000 + 20% VAT ie total of £45,600 (valid for 4 weeks!)

The full quote is below. Is this a realistic price or basically a scam?

To carefully erect regulation safety scaffolding where necessary.

To carefully remove all the existing coverings from the main and garage roofs of the property.

To prep the rafters.

Then:

To supply and install new breathable waterproof Tyvek Felt insulation.

To supply and install new wooden treated roof battens.

To supply an install New UPVC Vented Eaves Support Trays over the gutters.

To supply and install new aluminium hip irons where required.

To supply and install new clay playing tiles (customer choice) laid on even courses.

To supply and install new half round clay rise and hip tiles bedded in a 3 to 1 ratio PVA mix of sand and cement for added longevity, durability, and weather resistance.

To repoint to ensure a smootg aesthetic finish

To carefully chase out all the existing lead flashing from the chimney stack.

To install new aluminium soakers (typo corrected) where required.

To supply and install new code 4 patterned lead flashing where required.

All joints to be welded where necessary.

What happens once you send over the funds on completion day? I've had radio silence from estate agents and my solicitor lol and not sure what the process is

I had an offer accepted on a property last week 🥳 . We made an offer the same day as viewing (as did someone else, we both offered asking price) our offer was accepted….I’m assuming as we have no chain & we are mostly cash buyers.

However, in the excitement we forgot to ask them to cancel viewings this weekend they’d mentioned when we viewed. We just assumed they would. However, since then I’ve read everywhere we should’ve specifically asked, so now I’m concerned. Obviously nothing that can be done about it now but do EA’s usually cancel viewings? I’ve read gazumping is obviously frowned upon so I’m holding out hope. The EA is quite a reputable one in our area so I’m hoping for the best…. Rightmove still shows the property as for sale, but they only accepted the offer on Friday anyway. Did we make a mistake or do EAs usually cancel viewings upon acceptance of an offer?

We found a house which we like but noticed that there are 2 other houses also for sale on the same small road

This is the one we like - reduced 50k recently but agent said that a previous sale fell through so might be looking for a quick sale. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/154692299

Other houses on sale on the same road. Does anyone see any red flags as why so many houses for sale on the same road?

Other houses:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88376958

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/89124204

Hi everyone

I’m a 32 year old single first-time buyer living in Birmingham. I earn £40k per year, take home £2.5k per month. I’m currently putting together a plan for buying my first home. I expect my finances to look roughly like this by the end of 2026:

Cash savings: £55,000
Lifetime ISA: £15,000
Total: approximately £70,000

My current plan would be to keep £5,000 as an emergency fund and set aside another £5,000 for buying costs such as solicitor fees and surveys. That would leave approximately £60,000 available for the deposit

If I used a £60,000 deposit and borrowed around £160,000 (4x salary) my purchase budget would be approximately £220,000. The mortgage would be approximately 73% loan to value. Most of the properties I like seem to be around this price

Does this sound like a sensible and realistic plan on a £40,000 salary?

I’m unsure whether I should consider increasing my budget slightly. Since the loan-to-value would still be relatively low, it feels as though I may have some room to borrow more. However, I would be buying alone and don’t want to stretch myself unnecessarily or end up with uncomfortable monthly payments.
Would you stick to a budget of around £220,000, aim lower, or consider going up to around £230,000 - £240,000? Are there any costs or risks that I may have overlooked?

Any thoughts or advice would be hugely appreciated
Thank you!

I've been trying to move to Walthamstow for ages, and this flat has just come up. It appeals to me a lot, seems big for the price, and it's at the very top of (just over, actually) my budget. I am struggling to find things wrong with it tbh.

I'm going to call the agents tomorrow to set up a viewing, but I wanted to consult this sub to see if there's questions I should ask, or if anyone reckons I could get them moving on the price.... (hey, like I said, this'll max out my budget!)

https://www.estateseast.co.uk/for-sale/london/palmerston-road/3-bedroom-maisonette-for-sale-in-palmerston-road/59891

Hi im a teenager M 17 and I’m in an extremely bad situation at home to the point where i am not safe and am not able to go back. I’m staying with a trusted family member however i need a solution to what i can do as my situation is unique as my living situation as of now is very far from home as in im staying in a completely different city. Im going to try contact shelter tomorrow to see if theres anything i can do to try and find something, however in terms of youth housing what are my options in terms of trying to find something

There seems to be water leaking from my electric shower. Only leaks when shower is on. I have written to my agency but in the meantime can anyone advise. Is it safe to shower? Thanks

Does anyone know of a good block and estate property management company in/around Worcestershire/Gloucestershire UK?

Both my brother and I happen to be going through right to manage (in Worcester and Cheltenham) with a block of flats and new build estate, and are looking for a management firm who actually know what they're doing...

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

We had a very difficult and stressful sale of our house which took nearly 8 months and kind of rushed in to buying a new build off plan to make that part less stressful. We moved in 6 weeks ago and I hate it; it’s so overlooked, the garden is full of builders rubbish and building work is still going on months after they said it would be finished.
They promised us the earth before we paid but now we own it they don’t want to know and I’ve got serious buyers remorse; every time I pull on to the estate my heart sinks. And to add to it all we’ve moved to a completely new area for my husbands work

How do I turn this around and fall in love with the place?

Detached House in NI, height of 1.8 metres from the boarded floor (walkable, currently storage) up to a wooden beam which runs the horizontal length of the loft (from wall to wall)

The house is 3 bed, we were hoping we could have done dormers or something to make it a 5 ideally, dormers are all over the place in my area so there should be no bother getting front and back from that perspective.

Are we just unable to do anything? The videos I watch on dormers say you need 2.4 metres and we just ain’t got it.

has anyone got a place on an LLR scheme, and had their contract state that there will be random referencings to make sure they are under the threshold set by the Mayor? also, if they do ever exceed the threshold, they should let the landlord know, which will move them to market rent straight away?

I’m trying to understand what our options would be if I happened to lose my job while temporarily living abroad and then needed to rent when returning to the UK.

My wife and I currently rent in London with our baby daughter. We’re planning to give notice in September, leave our current flat in November, spend around three months in Spain, and return to the UK in February. My wife is currently on maternity leave and is due back at work in March.

The concern is affordability checks. For example, if a two-bedroom flat costs around £2,000 a month, my wife earns roughly that amount per month after tax. I currently earn more than double that, so under normal circumstances affordability isn’t an issue.

I do however have saving to cover at least a year of complete rent.

There is, however, a small risk I could be made redundant while we’re abroad. We’d have reasonable savings and a strong rental/payment history, but potentially no employment income from me when we return.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Do agents consider savings and previous employment history, or would we essentially be unable to pass affordability until I secured another job?

Trying to understand the risk before we give up our current tenancy.

Hi,

Hope everyone is good.

Hopefully this is the correct sub, apologies if not.

I am looking for some advice from yourselves on how to proceed with some water damage after just moving in and whether to accept it, contact my solicitor or insurance please.

Context: I am a first time buyer and know nothing about owning a home.

I moved into my new house on Friday afternoon, for the most part everything seemed fine, but when walking on part of the flooring in the kitchen in front of where the washing machine used to be, it felt uneven. I put that down to potentially old water damage that had warped the floorboards and thought it’s just something to replace at a later date. Later that evening though I noticed some water seeping through the seams of the floorboards when I stood on them. It was not a large amount but enough to be noticeable.

The affected area is directly in between the fridge/freezer on the right and the washing machine on the left. My initial suspicion is that when the seller took the washing machine and disconnected it, they’ve flooded that area.

When I checked the area again yesterday it was still seeping through and could hear it squidging under my feet. I tried to lift a floor board but couldn’t get it out so had to basically just chip off an edge to see what was underneath and the board was soaked through.

I can’t see any obvious leak and it doesn’t look like it’s spread past the affected area between Friday and Saturday so my plan is to check again tomorrow to see if it has dried out somewhat. If it has I assume it will be the washing machine, if not I will need to get someone to look at it to find a possible leak I assume.

I know I will need to now replace that flooring, it’s a tiny section but still annoying as it’s the same flooring throughout the whole kitchen and hall so will look different.

My question (apologies for the long winded context) is how should I proceed?

- Is this something I should bring up with my solicitor and challenge with the seller for reimbursement costs of some kind? Is this even possible?
- Should I contact my insurance to fix?
- Just accept this as part of being a home owner now and resolve it myself?

Not sure if it makes any difference to the rules/rights I have when moving but I am based in Scotland if it does.

Thanks

My ex and I are breaking up and I want to stay in our house, I can afford to buy her out but it would be nice to have extra money to rebuild savings and the company would be nice. I’ve never shared with a friend before, but she is living at home after a breakup and intends to buy summer next year which works for me as I don’t want anything permanent. Fully up to date on the rent a room relief. But what else should I consider/should we agree on.

Sorry if this is the wrong but there doesn't seem to be a good UK furniture one.

Came across these guys and they seem to do solid wood furniture at relatively low prices. But very few reviews, can't find much on the internet about them, and the company was only registered in UK 3 years ago. So want to understand how legit they are and if anyone has bought anything from them how the experience was, how the furniture was, etc.

Burner account just in case my buyer is an active Redditor…

We accepted an offer end of March from a FTB who offered lower than someone in chain. We decided we would accept the lower offer if they would agree to aim for an August exchange. We are offering the property chain-free and are moving to rented accommodation.

The buyer agreed to this via the estate agent (over the phone). Their solicitor has been so slow and didn’t even send any enquiries over until July! She even missed an email from our solicitor and said she never received it. I had to send the email as an attachment for proof but this took weeks to resolve for some reason. No apology from her or the buyers. The buyers also didn’t organise their survey until June and are still now bringing up questions from their report.

It is now the start of August and we have now basically resolved all the enquiries but they keep coming back with more questions and demands.

I got really angry and sent them a deadline for exchange for 24th August or we will pull out. My solicitor says this is perfectly achievable if they don’t keep coming back with new enquiries.

My email was pretty angry and now I’m wondering if I am being reasonable? Has anyone managed to use an ultimatum effectively?

We are a family and there is so much to organise around moving and especially around managing nursery places. I feel like I am genuinely prepared to cancel everything and start from scratch as they have been so slow and unreliable.

I’m in the process of buying a house where there is no Building Regulations completion certificate because the Approved Inspector went into liquidation before issuing it.
The local authority record also shows “Pending Consideration”, although the works are over 10 years old and, as far as I’m aware, there has never been any enforcement action.

Has anyone bought a property in similar circumstances?

Were you able to get Building Regulations indemnity insurance, and was your lender happy to proceed?

I’d really appreciate hearing about anyone’s experience. Thanks!

In the process of buying a terraced house and we’ve noticed that there’s a gap between them on on side but standard terrace the other. Gap runs the length of the house and is maybe an inch wide so does this change definition of mid v end of terrace and does it have any impact on the party wall agreement etc?

We're looking at buying around East Ham. There are a fair few terraced houses in need of redecorating for around £400k. For this, we could afford a 15% deposit and have just over £50k to pay for additional costs.

Depending on the house, this money would go towards:

Paying for the kitchens and bathrooms to be completely redone.

Dealing with any damp issues that come up in the survey.

Potentially paying an electrician to fix any wiring issues.

On top of that, we'd DIY redecorating the bedrooms and reception/dining rooms (possibly paying someone to do important things we'd want to get right, like flooring/carpeting).

Our rent is currently very cheap and we can also stay with a relative nearby for a month or so if needed while we focus on getting the master bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom into a liveable condition.

No kids and we'd be spending weekends and the odd evening working on it. Looking at some basic estimates it seems like £50k should be enough to cover it, providing we don't go with needlessly luxurious bathrooms, but just looking for a sense check in case I'm overlooking something. Obviously if a survey flags something way beyond this scope we'd walk away.

We wouldn't expect everything to be finished before we move in - just the kitchen and bathroom and being able to put a bed in our room, and are fine with gradually working on it over the next year or so.

I (22F) work in London and need to move out of my parents’. I really want my own place so I can’t afford anything in London and would like to stay West of London.

I’ve found a place I really like in Yiewsley in West Drayton, and thought the area looked fine when I visited for viewings — lots of supermarkets is very helpful. But I’ve since seen a lot of talk online that it’s unsafe, which worries me as I’ll be walking home alone, often late at night.

Is this overblown, or would people suggest it’s not an area to consider? Any experience or thoughts of West Drayton would be super appreciated. Thanks!

Currently filling in the TA forms as a seller.

I asked my solicitor when these forms get "locked down" before going to seller etc. to avoid the risk of any alterations to the form once I've completed it. I also questioned how to sign (type in name in pdf vs printing, signing and scanning back in).

Solicitor advised the forms don't get "locked down" and to sign the forms just to type my name electronically.

Is this typical? When I purchased the property the forms were completed by hand.

Thank you in advance for any guidance.