BLOGS

Extending your lease is one of the best-value things a London flat owner can do – and since the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 began phasing in, the process has been shifting in leaseholders’ favour. Here is how to extend a leasehold in practice. Step 1: Check your lease

Short answer: you do – the buyer organises and pays for the survey. But the process confuses almost everyone the first time, so here is exactly how it works and when to book. Who organises the survey when buying a house? The buyer instructs the surveyor, chooses the level of

Notice, agreement, award – the three words get used interchangeably, but they are different documents at different stages of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 process. Two minutes here saves a lot of confusion later. Party wall notice The starting document. Before notifiable works (cutting into a shared wall, building

“Surveyor” covers several different professions, and knowing which one you need saves time and money. Here is what chartered surveyors actually do – and which type to call for your situation. What does a chartered surveyor do? A chartered surveyor is a property professional qualified through the Royal Institution of

If a property dispute is heading towards court, sooner or later someone says “we need an expert witness”. Here is what that actually means in surveying disputes, what the expert does, and why the right one often ends the case before trial. What is an expert witness? An expert witness

Party wall matters usually run smoothly – until a neighbour refuses to respond, disputes the works, or a bill arrives that nobody agreed to pay. Here is how party wall disputes actually work under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, and how they end. Can a neighbour refuse a party

Two questions dominate every subsidence conversation we have with homeowners: does my insurance cover it, and what happens when I sell? Here are the straight answers. Does building insurance cover subsidence? Standard UK buildings insurance almost always covers subsidence damage – but with a distinctive excess, typically £1,000 (higher than

Rising damp is one of the most misdiagnosed problems in UK housing – and misdiagnosis is expensive, because “treatment” is often sold for damp that is not rising damp at all. Here is what genuine rising damp looks like, what causes it, and how it is actually fixed. What does

Most cracks in walls are harmless. Some are the first visible sign of a structural problem that gets more expensive every month it is ignored. Here is how to tell the difference – the same first checks our surveyors make. Cracks you usually don’t need to worry about Hairline cracks

The uncomfortable truth about boundary disputes: the strip of land at stake is often worth less than one month of the legal fees spent fighting over it. Knowing the real costs upfront is the best protection against that spiral. Average costs by stage Initial surveyor’s boundary report: £1,000–£3,000 – a

Land survey costs in the UK vary enormously – from a few hundred pounds for a simple garden plot to five figures for large development sites. Here is what you should expect to pay in 2026, what drives the price, and how new technology is changing both. Typical land survey

Between 1930 and 1979 Britain built millions of homes fast – and each era left its own hidden problems. If you are buying a house from these decades, here is what commonly lurks behind the fresh paint, and why a Level 3 Building Survey is usually the right choice for