Buyer Guides
UK property cost research — written from the data, not the marketing brochure.
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buyer-guides
Why so many houses are leasehold in the North West (2026)
In most of England barely one house in fifty is leasehold — but across Greater Manchester and Lancashire it is the majority, HM Land Registry sales show.
6 August 2026
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buyer-guides
Keys before completion: the early stamp duty deadline trap (2026)
Take the keys early — to start renovations or beat a slow chain — and your stamp duty return can fall due weeks before you complete.
4 August 2026
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buyer-guides
Leeds: West Yorkshire's priciest homes, cheapest council tax 2026
The most expensive West Yorkshire borough to buy in charges the county's lowest council tax, because bands track 1991 values and council budgets rather than today's prices.
1 August 2026
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buyer-guides
The deposit gap: cheapest vs dearest UK cities to save for, 2026
A 10% deposit on the typical home ranges from £14,100 in Hull to £115,000 in Kensington and Chelsea — the same share of the price, eight times the cash.
31 July 2026
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buyer-guides
Derelict vs empty homes: how council tax cuts both ways in 2026
A genuinely derelict property can be removed from the valuation list and pay nothing, while a home that is merely empty now attracts a premium of up to 300%.
30 July 2026
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buyer-guides
Home-mover stamp duty: the hidden £2,500 since April 2025
A threshold that fell on 1 April 2025 added a flat £2,500 to the stamp duty bill of most people moving home in England — here is the arithmetic.
20 July 2026
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buyer-guides
Does council tax ever cost more than your mortgage? (2026)
Even in England's most heavily taxed area, the mortgage still outweighs council tax on all but the cheapest homes.
19 July 2026
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buyer-guides
Cheapest council tax outside London in 2026
England's lowest Band D bills are almost all in the capital — here are the 20 lowest-charging council areas everywhere else.
18 July 2026
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buyer-guides
How much of your monthly home cost is council tax? (2026)
On a home at the national average price, council tax is about one pound in seven of the monthly bill — and the share shrinks as prices rise.
17 July 2026
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buyer-guides
Conveyancing fees in 2026: what it costs to buy a home
The solicitor's own fee is the small part — searches, Land Registry fees and stamp duty do the heavy lifting.
30 June 2026
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buyer-guides
How much deposit do you need to buy a house? (UK, 2026)
A 10% deposit ranges from about £15,500 in Sunderland to £52,750 across London — what a deposit is, how much you need, and what it changes.
30 June 2026
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buyer-guides
Freehold vs leasehold in the UK: what the difference costs (2026)
Almost every flat is leasehold and most houses are freehold — here's what that means for ground rent, service charges and your lease.
29 June 2026
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buyer-guides
Cheapest and most expensive council tax in England 2026-27
The Band D gap between England's cheapest and dearest billing authorities is now £1,737 — here's the full ranking and what drives it.
28 June 2026
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buyer-guides
EPC Ratings Explained: What the A–G Scale Means in 2026
The energy badge on every home for sale or rent — what the letter means, who sets it, and why more than half of UK homes sit below band C.
27 June 2026
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buyer-guides
Council Tax Bands Explained: How Your Bill Is Set in 2026
What the A–H bands mean, why they're frozen at 1991 values, and why the same band costs £1,028 in one area and £2,765 in another.
27 June 2026
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buyer-guides
JBSP age limits and retirement interest-only mortgages 2026
How a supporting parent's age caps the mortgage term — and why a 10-year term can nearly double the monthly payment.
16 June 2026
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buyer-guides
Gifted deposit vs savings as security: the IHT fork (2026)
The two ways a parent funds a child's deposit have opposite inheritance-tax and ownership consequences — here's how each works.
15 June 2026
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buyer-guides
Springboard mortgages: what the parent really risks (2026)
How a parent's savings or home can stand in for a first-time buyer's deposit — where that security sits, when it comes back, and what happens if payments stop.
15 June 2026
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buyer-guides
JBSP vs guarantor mortgages: how the two structures differ (2026)
One makes the parent a full borrower, the other a backstop — and that difference drives affordability, age caps, stamp duty and the exit route.
10 June 2026
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buyer-guides
Removing a Parent From a JBSP Mortgage: How It Works in 2026
The two routes that release a parent from a joint borrower sole proprietor mortgage, the one that doesn't apply, and the affordability maths that decides the timing.
9 June 2026
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buyer-guides
Judicial review of a tribunal-approved Schedule 36 notice in 2026
When paragraph 30(3) closes the appeal door, the only remaining challenge is JR of the FTT's approval — here's what grounds are available and how the case law shapes them.
31 May 2026
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buyer-guides
Schedule 36 paragraph 32: the 30-day appeal trap (UK 2026)
Three procedural rules in paragraph 32(1)/(2) FA 2008 that quietly dismiss most late or badly-drafted appeals against HMRC information notices.
30 May 2026
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buyer-guides
Schedule 36 para 32: FTT finality and judicial review (UK 2026)
Why the First-tier Tribunal's decision on a Schedule 36 information-notice appeal is final — and what judicial review can and cannot do about it.
30 May 2026
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buyer-guides
Schedule 36 carve-outs: the material HMRC cannot demand (UK 2026)
Paragraphs 23-25 of Schedule 36 FA 2008 and the Prudential boundary between legal advice privilege and the narrower statutory tax-adviser carve-out.
30 May 2026
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buyer-guides
Schedule 36 paragraph 5A: HMRC's identity-ascertainment notice (UK 2026)
How HMRC compels letting agents and short-let platforms to identify landlords — the four-condition test, the statutory output cap, and the paragraph 31 appeal.
29 May 2026
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buyer-guides
Schedule 36 paragraph 50: the tax-related penalty above the day-rate stack (UK 2026)
How the Upper Tribunal-imposed, statutorily-uncapped tax-related penalty escalates a Schedule 36 information-notice obstruction into the same range as the underlying SDLT at stake.
28 May 2026
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buyer-guides
Accidental landlords and CGT: the PRR rule change after 2020
Worked example: a £270k purchase in 2018, sold for £350k in 2026 after 24 months let — what proportion of the £80k gain is taxable.
23 May 2026
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buyer-guides
Bridging finance cost in a UK property chain (2026)
How short-term lending is priced when an onward purchase has to complete before the old home sells.
23 May 2026
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buyer-guides
New-build flat service charges: what's typical in the UK (2026)
After the 2022 ground rent reforms and the 2024 Leasehold Reform Act, here's what to expect on a new-build flat — with the numbers, the legislation, and the line items.
22 May 2026
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buyer-guides
Why CGT private residence relief claims fail: 5 common reasons (UK 2026)
Lettings relief, the 9-month final-period exemption, garden caps and periods-of-absence rules: how the most common PRR claims get cut down on enquiry.
17 May 2026