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Hi there, Looking for some advice from people with more experience than us... We are an engaged couple (both 33yrs old) planning to buy a house together; one of us is a First Time Buyer and one of us has owned a flat as his main residence for 7yrs. We are selling the flat, had one offer on 13th June which fell through on 21st Sept due to the low lease (which is now being extended). We got a mortgage illustration on 25th August 2022 (3.6%), just before the interest rates went crazy. We put in an offer on a house which was accepted on 8th August, 2022. We notified the Seller that we were chain free, as we planned to buy the flat irrespective of selling the flat first (which was naïve!). We have now had the mortgage deal accepted and have until 31st March 2023 to complete the purchase of our house. The seller was also keen to sell as fast as possible as she had already had a sale fall through. She moved out into rented accommodation in October 2022 (against the advice of the estate agent) and has since been chasing us to exchange. We told the seller that we were just waiting on the survey, which arrived on 17th Nov 2022. A new offer was accepted on the flat (from another FTB) on 18th Nov 2022, and solicitors have been instructed. Given how close we were to completing the previous sale, our solicitors have all of our documents on file and are ready to go. QUESTIONS: Can we risk waiting until the new sale of the flat is completed (basically creating a chain)? What is the likelihood that we would lose the house purchase and more importantly our mortgage deal? The advantage of creating a chain would be saving £5,376 in capital gains tax, which seems unavoidable if we purchase the house whilst the flat is still in our possession. We would also not have to pay the higher rate of stamp duty (£5,000 rather than £15,500), although we are aware that we would be able to claim most of this back when the flat sells. We would appreciate any advice on this situation from people with experience! TL;DR how much risk is our house purchase at if we create a chain when the seller is ready to complete?

So, looking highly likely, that I will not achieve my 2020 goal which was simply to add 1 further property to my portfolio as part of my 10 year plan. Not for want of trying mind!!! COVID has made and continues to make things a lot more challenging and now as many other Hubbers have reported, since restrictions have eased, the market has gone crazy with people paying over the odds for many properties that are on the market. Like others, I am now holding my cash in the hope of a dip in the second or third quarter of next year, so looks like a will fail to meet my 2020 goal. Frustrating to be honest!!!

I’ve just agreed to purchase a property with a tenant in situ. Having only previously purchased with vacant possession I’ve been on the hunt for a list of documents/info for my solicitor to request from the vendor. My solicitor is good so would have no doubt picked up on some of these, but I suspect not all. I think this may be a useful resource for others, what with there being a fair few properties being marketed with tenants in situ. Here’s the request list I plan on sending to my solicitor: · Tenancy Agreement (AST) · Right to rent entitlement, status and proof · Deposit protection information (is the deposit protected correctly) · Deposit prescribed information receipt (proof tenant has received) · Government how to rent guide issued (proof tenant has received) · EPC issued (proof tenant has received) · Current gas safe certificate · Proof smoke detectors have been tested · GDPR · Inventory · Legionella risk assessment · List any complaints, requests or maintenance issues raised by the tenant during the tenancy · Proof of good account standing (i.e. Tenant is up to date with rent) · Question whether the tenant has ever been late with rent payment at any point during the tenancy I very much doubt all the items will receive satisfactory responses but at least I’ll know what needs addressing to make things fully compliant. The latter questions should also give piece of mind or ring alarm bells! If there’s anything I’ve missed, or you have an idea that may be useful then please do contribute. Likewise, if you have any experience of this and have a story to share that may be useful/interesting then please do. Thanks Paul

Hello :) Im in a bit of a head-spin, so would really appreciate thoughts and advice. In May this year I had an offer accepted on a new-build 1 bed in Homerton East London. It was a long process of getting my mortgage offer, and its just come through this week (19 oct). I was abroad with my work since May and have just returned to London the same week as the mortgage offer came through. I was expecting to smooth sail straight into the final stages of completion/exchange but after a visit to the property yesterday (the first since it was fully completed) I left feeling very unsure. Background info; after viewing about 40 properties in the market around apr/may 2018 around the 400k price I realised I wasn;t looking to get much for my money. It will be my residential home, and I was looking for a small period flat. I wasn't considering a new build until the agent suggested I come see the new development, and I think I was seduced by the shiny new clean beautifully furnished show-room flat. The idea of moving into a space that needed no work suddenly seemed very appealing. I agreed the asking price and the deal was done. After visiting the flat last week, I left thinking that it wasnt the same quality spec as I recalled, and the actual feel of the new development.... a bit souless. Not anticipating this last minute change of mind, I walked into a local agent (different to what I was purchasing from) and started reeling off a series of questions about the market, had it changed much since may, his thoughts on new build vs period and ex-council. His thoughts summarised; yes the market has softened since May, new builds were most likely being over-priced in the current market and generally speaking the construction of a ex-council/period was far superior to a new-build and they would hold their value much better. I then spend a full day scoping the market on Right Move, and it seems fairly clear - property prices have indeed dropped since May, and with a budget of circa 400K I could get a relatively OK 1 bed victorian or 2 bed ex-council in the same area. It suddenly seems clear that Im paying over market price for the new 1 bed, and would be better off getting an ex-council or period. I havent yet exchanged contracts, but searches, surveys and some legal admin has been done. I expect I will be liable for part of the vendors legal expenses? Questions; - Was I crazy to ever consider a new-build? - Is a low-rise ex-council in desirable East-London (victoria park) the way to go? - Would it be better to go with a smaller period flat in the same location? Or do ex-council and period more or less level each other out in the end? THANK YOU

Hi, I am currently in the process of buying a leasehold property and have received the Property Information form from the seller's solicitors. Under the leasehold property information there have been a number of breaches (7 in fact) ranging from 2 years to 21 years ago. These breaches include 'laying a patio' and 'erected fence around the garden'. I appreciate these are not serious breaches however they are breaches nonetheless and I wondering if there would be any repercussions from the Freehold owner, or whether there is a time limit on such breaches to be acted upon? Should I be concerned? Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks.

Hi hubbers, I would love your advice. Quick background - I own one BTL and own an apartment where I live. I'm ready to buy a small home with a garden and intend to put my apt up for rent. After an extensive property search I have found a beautiful small detached period property in a nice area. Full of charm etc. The property was owned by an elderly lady who took great care of it but it does need modernisation. I hope to knock through the living room, dining room and kitchen into one and put patio doors in. It is a 2bd plus one box room btw. The property is on the market for £175K. A semidetached of same layout on the same street which has been modernised already, is on at £155K. My architect predicts a 30-40K pricetag for the modernisation. Given the modernisation required I had put on an offer of £125K which in hindsight was low but was refused and the bid was not registered. I waited 1 wk before putting on a new bid of £135K. Again the offer was rejected and again the offer wasn't registered. I'm very frustrated. Has anyone any advice on a POA going forward. The seller is pricing the property as if it is fully refurbed. I feel I am putting in a respectable bid. They will not give me any idea where they are prepared to meet me at. Do I put my offer in writing and explain why I came to my decision? Does the email be forwarded to seller. Are they obliged to register my offer? I'm sure some of you guys have been in a similar position, I wonder how you navigated through it? Thanks in advance. Eoin

First thanks to @rob bence and Rob Dix for the awesome content of TPP228: TIPS TO SAVE AND MAKE YOU MONEY. The tips on the freeholders charge for a subletting fee was amazing. I am in the process of a re-mortgage now and have been hit by two fees; one from the leaseholder and the other from the property manager for a "Lessors notice fee". One is £48 pounds which while not ideal I can take the other is £162 which doesn't seem "reasonable" as the letter of the law states. I am wondering if anyone has any templates or court cases which are similar to the sub letting fees which I could use to dispute the fees or cut them down a little since an extra £200 on the fees is not great. Thanks in advance!

Hi Having bought a leasehold flat with my parents a couple of years ago I recently started looking at how I could create a property portfolio, having been reinvigorated by the property podcasts. Just as I start looking into this a come across my first potential issue with my existing leasehold flat, a Section 5A right of first refusal from my landlord to purchase the freehold. My understanding is that, assuming sufficient leaseholders are interested in taking advantage of the offer, we can purchase the freehold from the landlord. If not, the landlord can sell the freehold to another company and then they can potentially do what they want in terms of future service charges, etc to recover their investment. This is a completely new concept to me and I will be seeking legal advice this week; however, I wanted to get people's input on here. In particular: 1. Can anyone recommend a legal firm that specialises in leasing matters? 2. If sufficient tenants want to purchase the freehold (I think it needs to be at least 50%), but not everyone does, what happens? The freehold has been offered at £800k between 100 flats (of varying sizes). Would those that want to buy the freehold buy the whole freehold between them or just their portion? What would happen to those that are not interested? How would the building be managed if there were a split? 3. I am aware that there is also the possibility for the tenants to group together and form a right to manage company. Can anyone provide any information on this option and how it would impact the landlord's wish to sell the freehold? 4. Is there a way, as a tenant, to gain the contact details of the other tenants to discuss this issue? I believe the flats are predominantly BTL and, therefore, I imagine just sending a letter to each property (or putting a notice on the notice board) will probably not get a quick response... I wasn't expecting this to be my first PH post but I guess this is my baptism of fire...! Any advice would be greatly received.

I am renting at the moment while looking for a suitable flat to buy (failing that i will have to rent). My question is: Once I have found the flat to buy how long will the whole process take to complete the transaction (from start to finish). This will help me to plan and consider when to hand in my notice. Thanks

Hi, We have purchased a 1 bedroom flat for 41,000GBP. Valued at 50,000GBP and others being sold for 50,000GBP in the area. We got 1,500GBP reduced from the price on our offer. It was a cash purchase and no finance is on the property. Flat condition is good, needs appliances and new paint but was in good condition. All plumbing and heating are in working condition. Really good conditon report from the surveyor also. All in all we will have purchase, lawyers fee and new appliances and upgrade for under 44-45,000GBP. We are going to let it initially under full management at 10% fee. Rent in the area is 375-400GBP per month. After deducting management fees, sinking fund and paying the factor fees we are looking at around 275 per month clear We are looking at 10.6% Gross and 7.8% Net. Looks like we have got 6/7,000 in value from the actual selling price of others. We got our cheaper due to a motivated seller who had 6-7 units and this was his last unit before leaving the UK. Apologies the numbers are not accurate but they are ball park. I have the actual figures recorded just not at hand and wanted to post this message to you and see what feedback on the deal was. We are happy as a first investment, it is in a good area, with good transport links and is being used as a "test" for our model and process as we are expat investors we needed to test the systems before refining it.

Have never read about this but what's your view on using household/contents insurance payout to 'add value' by refurbishing then selling on ? Been interested in purchasing a property near the Thames that will be a home / not an 'investment'. In 2004 the area was flooded, and asking the agent showing the property how much of the property was flooded his response was just the hall...... 6 weeks on after getting a mortgage offer accepted, instructing solicitors etc I find out from another agent ( he wasn't interested in marketing the property ) that several rooms were flooded and their insurance premium after the flooding was over £4200 / annum . The current agent marketing the house wasn't aware of the extent of the flooding until I questioned it. The sellers then told the agent that several rooms were affected, the refurb, which the insurance mostly paid for totalled £100,000 and their insurance premium was £4200. I'm pissed off as I didn't know anything of this and was only told by another agent. It also goes against my principals to get as much out of the insurance company for a complete refurb to a cost of £100,000 which includes new high spec kitchen, 2 x high spec bathrooms, solid oak flooring, instead of carpet etc etc. So what are your views ?

Dear All What thoughts do you have on the percentage of flats that have been rented in a block to the number that have been bought privately? Good points / bad points? Should there be an even mix? What happens if there is a drastic leaning one way or the other, and does it matter? Also - Is there an easy way to determine the percentage split, short of asking local agents? Many thanks