Plain-English answers on UK property.
How-to guides, common-question explainers, and translations of what just changed in the market. Sourced, dated, and written for the person actually doing the selling or buying.
The housing market is steadying: what it means for sellers
On 9 July 2026, surveyors reported the first clear signs of the housing market steadying after months of decline, even though buyer demand and agreed sales are still below normal. For sellers it means the market is holding rather than climbing, so the winning move is to price to the buyers in front of you and sell on your own timeline, not to wait for a surge the data does not promise.
One agent valued my house much higher. Should I pick them?
A much higher valuation from one agent is common, and on its own it is not proof your home is worth more. The highest number is the easiest one for an agent to say and the hardest one to actually deliver, so treat it as a claim to be tested, not a prize to be grabbed.
A full-price offer on day one: accept it or hold out?
A fast offer at or near the asking price usually means your home was priced right and a ready buyer moved quickly, not that you set the price too low. Do not reject it on a hunch, but do slow down long enough to check the buyer is real and to weigh a solid offer in hand against the hope of a better one that may never come.
The Halifax house price index is now Lloyds: what changed?
On 7 July 2026, the long-running Halifax House Price Index was published for the first time under a new name: the Lloyds House Price Index. The figures are worked out exactly as before, so the change is a badge and not a break, and the June reading showed the average UK home up 0.2% at £299,330.
A buyer offered but needs to sell first. Should I accept?
Yes, you can accept an offer from a buyer who still has their own home to sell, and plenty of these sales complete happily. The trick is to judge the offer on how far along their own sale is, not on how keen they sound, and to keep your big decisions gated on real progress.
My buyer keeps delaying completion. Should I worry?
A completion date that shifts once or twice is common and usually down to solicitors, mortgage paperwork, or getting everyone in the chain onto the same day. It becomes a worry when the date keeps slipping with no clear reason, so the job is to find the cause and, if you have already exchanged, use the tools that force a firm date.
Why do Nationwide and Halifax give different house prices?
They disagree because each one measures a different thing at a different stage of the sale, so no two indices are counting the same homes. In June 2026 the average UK home ranged from about £270,000 to £376,000 depending only on which index you read, which is why a single national average never tells you what your own home is worth.
Should I sell my house now, or wait for a better market?
For most people, the right time to sell is when your own life is ready to move, not when you think you have called the top of the market. Trying to time house prices rarely beats a clear plan, and in mid-2026 the market is steady enough that a well-priced home is still selling.
My house has been on the market for months. What should I do?
A home that has sat unsold for months almost always comes down to one of three things: the price, how it shows in photos and viewings, or the agent behind it. All three are fixable, so a stale listing is a solvable problem, not a dead one.
Does my estate agent have to tell me about every offer?
Yes. By law your estate agent must pass on every offer to you promptly and in writing, right up until contracts are exchanged, unless you have told them in writing to stop. Holding an offer back, or being slow to tell you about one, breaks the rules that all UK estate agents work under.
My buyer's mortgage was declined. What happens to my sale?
A declined mortgage does not automatically end your sale, and it happens more often than most sellers realise. Your buyer may still be approved by a different lender, so the first job is to find out why it was refused before you assume the worst.
Should I accept a cash buyer or one with a mortgage?
A cash buyer usually means a faster, safer sale, because there is no mortgage that can be declined or down-valued along the way. But a higher offer from a mortgaged buyer can still be the better deal, so the choice comes down to how much certainty is worth to you against the size of the offer.
My buyer wants to wait for a cheaper mortgage rate. Should I?
If your buyer wants to hold off to grab a slightly lower mortgage rate, a short and dated pause is usually fine, but an open-ended one is not. The safe move is to let your own side keep moving, set a clear deadline, and read the buyer by what they have actually spent rather than what they say.
I'm getting viewings but no offers. What should I do?
Viewings without offers almost always points to one thing: the home is good enough to visit but something is stopping people committing, and nine times out of ten that something is the price or a repeated piece of feedback. The fix is to gather the feedback, test your price against real sold data, and act within a couple of weeks rather than waiting and hoping.
What documents do I need to sell my house?
To sell a house in the UK you need proof that you own it, a valid Energy Performance Certificate, photo ID for identity checks, and a set of standard property forms your conveyancer sends you. Getting these together before you list is the single easiest way to avoid delays once you have accepted an offer.
The towns going backwards as Britain's housing recovery splits in two
Britain's house price indices say the market is recovering, and on average it is. But the official record of what homes actually changed hands for shows a split market: in nine of the 44 English towns ValuQ analysed, the typical home sold for less in 2025 than in 2024, and some of England's strongest and weakest towns sit inside the same region.
In Basildon, the year you bought decides if you're up £87,000 or down £7,000
Nationally, house prices are recovering, and Basildon is part of it: the average home sold for £341,335 in 2025, up 2.9% on the year. But whether you have actually made money on your Basildon home comes down almost entirely to the year you bought, because a 2016 buyer is up around £86,905 while someone who bought at the 2022 peak is roughly £6,794 behind on the average.
Can I take my mortgage with me when I sell?
In most cases, yes. The majority of UK fixed-rate mortgages are portable, which means you can move your existing deal to your new home instead of paying it off and starting again.
My buyer's solicitor keeps raising enquiries. Is that bad?
In almost all cases this is normal, not a warning sign. Raising enquiries is exactly what a buyer's solicitor is paid to do, and a long list usually means they are being thorough, not that your sale is in trouble.
How do I know if my buyer is actually serious?
You judge a buyer by what they have spent and instructed, not by what they say. A serious buyer books a survey, submits a mortgage application, and instructs a solicitor; a hesitant one keeps talking while spending nothing.
My buyer's mortgage offer is about to expire. What happens?
A buyer's mortgage offer running out rarely ends a sale. Most lenders will extend the offer or re-issue a fresh one when the buyer asks, so the usual result is a short delay, not a collapse.
My buyer wants to move in before completion. Should I?
In almost every case the safe answer is no, at least not before completion. Letting a buyer in early hands them the keys to a home they do not yet own or pay for, and it can be very hard to remove them if the sale then collapses.
How many estate agent valuations should I get before I sell?
Get at least three valuations before you choose an agent or set a price. Three gives you a reliable middle ground and exposes any figure that is unusually high or low, which matters more than ever in the careful 2026 market.
My buyer's mortgage valuation came in low. What now?
A down valuation, where the buyer's mortgage lender values your home below the price you agreed, is a common bump and most sales survive it. You have four clear routes: challenge the valuation with evidence, ask the buyer to cover the gap, meet in the middle on price, or remarket.
What does sold subject to contract (SSTC) mean?
Sold subject to contract, or SSTC, means a seller has accepted a buyer's offer but the sale is not yet legally binding. Either side can still walk away, with no penalty, right up until contracts are exchanged.
My estate agent wants me to drop the price. Should I?
If your agent is suggesting a price cut, it usually means your home has had time on the market without the offers you both hoped for. Sometimes that advice is exactly right, and sometimes it is a sign the home was valued too high at the start, so the way to decide is to look at the viewing and offer data, not the agent's opinion alone.
House prices picked up in June: what it means for sellers
UK house prices grew 2.2% over the year to June 2026, up from 1.7% in May, according to Nationwide's index published on 1 July 2026. That points to a market steadying rather than surging, and what it means for you depends far more on your town and street than on any national headline.
My buyer's survey flagged damp. What should I do?
A damp note on a survey is one of the most common findings in UK homes, and it is rarely the dealbreaker it feels like. The calm first move is to find out exactly which type of damp the surveyor saw before you agree to any price cut or any repair.
Do I pay estate agent fees if my house doesn't sell?
With most high-street estate agent contracts you pay nothing if your home does not sell, because they run on a no sale, no fee basis. The catch is in the contract type and the small print, so the real answer depends on exactly what you signed.
My buyer wants to drop the price after the survey. Should I?
A survey-driven request to cut the price is one of the most common moments in a sale, and it does not mean the deal is dead. Look at what the survey actually found, decide what it is fairly worth, and you stay in control of the number.
Should I take my house off the market when I accept an offer?
There is no rule that forces you to come off the market the moment you accept an offer, and the choice is yours. The safe move is to gauge how committed your buyer really is first, then come fully off the market once they have put their own money down.
Exchange of contracts vs completion: what's the difference?
Exchange of contracts is the moment your house sale becomes legally binding; completion is the day ownership and the keys actually change hands. In England and Wales they are two separate steps, usually a few days to a few weeks apart, and that gap is normal.
The 28 towns where flats fell while the houses next door rose
Across 46 English towns ValuQ analysed, the average flat lost value over the past year in 28 of them, while the semi-detached houses on the same streets gained. In places like Southampton, Medway and Colchester a flat is worth thousands of pounds less than a year ago, even as the family homes around it kept rising.
Basildon flats fell £10,000 this year while its houses barely moved
The average flat in the Basildon area is worth about £10,000 less than it was a year ago, while the town's semi-detached and terraced houses barely moved. Official Land Registry figures show Basildon flats down 5.2% in the year to April 2026, against a 0.3% dip for semis and a 0.5% dip for terraces.
My house isn't getting any viewings. What should I do?
A quiet first few weeks is one of the most common worries in a sale, and it almost always points to one fixable thing rather than a problem with your home. In a 2026 market the usual cause of no viewings is the asking price, followed by the photos and the way the listing is being marketed.
Should I sell my house first, or buy first?
For most UK movers, selling first is the safer and cheaper route, because it tells you exactly what you have to spend and makes you a stronger buyer. Buying first gives you freedom and a chain-free position, but it usually means paying for a bridging loan or carrying two homes, so it suits people who can absorb that cost.
Asking prices just had their biggest June drop in 14 years
On 15 June 2026, Rightmove reported that the average asking price for a UK home fell 0.6% in June, a drop of £2,113 to £376,191 and the biggest June fall in fourteen years. The plain takeaway for sellers is that buyers have a lot of choice right now and are walking past homes that are priced too high.
Sub-4% mortgages are back, even with the base rate on hold
Through June 2026, major lenders including NatWest, Halifax and Santander cut their fixed mortgage rates, bringing the cheapest two-year fixes back below 4% for buyers with large deposits. This happened even though the Bank of England held its base rate at 3.75% on 18 June, and it matters to sellers because cheaper borrowing puts more able buyers in the market.
What fixtures and fittings do I leave when I sell?
When you sell in England or Wales, anything fixed to the property (a fitted kitchen, built-in wardrobes, radiators) is assumed to stay unless you say otherwise, while free-standing items (sofas, curtains, a plug-in fridge) are yours to take. You record exactly what stays and what goes on a form called the TA10, which becomes legally binding once contracts are exchanged.
My estate agent has gone quiet. Can I leave them?
Yes, you can almost always move to another agent, but the timing is set by your contract, not your frustration. Check your tie-in period and notice period first; once both have passed, a short note in writing is usually all it takes to leave cleanly.
My buyer hasn't ordered searches. Should I worry?
A delay on searches is one of the most common early wobbles in a sale, and it usually means a slow start rather than a buyer pulling out. Searches are normally ordered once the buyer's solicitor has the contract pack and the buyer has paid them on account, so a quiet first few weeks is normal; a buyer who has not even instructed a solicitor is the part to watch.
My chain collapsed. What happens to my sale now?
A collapsed chain is one of the most common setbacks in a UK sale, and most sellers go on to complete with a new buyer or a repaired chain. Your sale is not legally over: nothing binds until exchange of contracts, so a chain break sends you back a step, not back to the start.
A buyer offered under asking. Accept or hold out?
An offer below your asking price is normal, not an insult: in early 2026 the average UK home sold for about 3.5% under its asking price. Whether to accept or hold out comes down to one question, which is whether the offer is close to what your home is genuinely worth, not whether it matches the figure on the listing.
What is conveyancing and how long does it take?
Conveyancing is the legal work that transfers ownership of a property from the seller to the buyer, handled by a solicitor or licensed conveyancer. In 2026 it typically takes about 16 to 20 weeks from offer acceptance to completion, though a simple, chain-free sale can finish in as little as 8 weeks.
Nearly a quarter of homes sold since 1995 lost money in real terms
"You can't lose money on bricks and mortar" is the most repeated belief in British housing. ValuQ took 13.7 million repeat sales from HM Land Registry and stripped out inflation. The record says 22.8% of homes sold since 1995 lost money in real terms, even though only 7.8% lost in cash.
Identical-on-paper homes sold £63,000 apart: the limit of every online valuation
An online estimate gives a home one number. The market gives it a range. ValuQ grouped 13.7 million repeat sales by type, street, purchase year and holding period, and found that identical-on-paper homes still ended up about 21 percentage points apart in return, around £63,000 on a £300,000 home. That gap is the part of a home's value no model can see.
My sale fell through. What do I do now?
A sale falling through is one of the most common setbacks in selling, and it is rarely the end of the road. Around a quarter of agreed UK sales collapsed in early 2026, so you are on a well-worn path, and a lost buyer does not change what your home is worth; it changes who ends up buying it.
What happens on completion day when selling a house?
Completion day is the day the sale legally finishes: the buyer's money reaches your solicitor, ownership transfers, and you hand over the keys. For the seller it usually means being moved out and giving vacant possession by an agreed time, often early afternoon, once your solicitor confirms the funds have landed.
My buyer went quiet after the survey. Is my sale falling through?
A quiet spell after the survey is one of the most common wobbles in a sale, and most of them pass. A survey almost always lists something, so a buyer going quiet usually means they are reading the report and getting quotes, not walking away.
Do I need an EPC to sell my house?
Yes. If you are selling a home in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, the law says you must have a valid Energy Performance Certificate, and you need to have at least ordered it before your home goes on the market. An EPC is valid for ten years, so if you bought recently you may already have one.
Offer accepted weeks ago and nothing's happening. Is that normal?
In most cases, yes, this is normal. A typical UK sale takes around twelve to twenty weeks from the day an offer is accepted to the day you complete, and the first stretch is usually quiet on the surface while solicitors, searches and mortgage checks grind away in the background.
My neighbour sold for more. Is my house worth the same?
Not necessarily, and a neighbour's sale is one of the most misread numbers in property. Two homes on the same street can sell for very different amounts, because price comes down to condition, size, layout and timing, not just the postcode you share.
Northern cities hit record highs as commuter towns stay below their 2022 peak
Six English cities hit record house-price highs in April 2026, while a string of southern commuter towns are still worth thousands of pounds less than at their 2022 peak. New Land Registry figures released on 17 June 2026 show the recovery from the 2022 dip is now complete in the affordable North and Midlands, but has stalled across the commuter belt.
Two Basildon homes, two miles apart, opposite fortunes: your postcode decided it
Basildon's four postcodes have split this year: the typical home in SS13 (Pitsea and Vange) sold for £290,000, down 4.9%, while two miles south in SS16 it sold for £335,000 and held its value. New Land Registry sold-price data to April 2026 shows the borough average hides a £45,000 gap between Basildon's cheapest and dearest postcodes, and a £119,000 gap on detached homes.
Why does buying a home take so long in the UK vs other countries?
On 18 June 2026, the government set out the biggest overhaul of home buying in England and Wales in a generation. The reason it had to act is simple. A UK home purchase takes around 120 days and roughly one in three sales collapses, while in the United States the same deal is done in 30.
Bank holds rates at 3.75%: what it means if you're selling
On 18 June 2026 the Bank of England held its base rate at 3.75% for the third meeting in a row. For anyone selling or buying this summer the message is steadiness: borrowing costs are not rising, and a held rate gives both sides of a sale a stable backdrop to plan around.
My buyer dropped their offer at the last minute. What now?
This is one of the most stressful moments in a sale, and it has a name: gazundering, when a buyer lowers their agreed offer late in the process. Take a breath, because you are not trapped: nothing is legally binding until contracts are exchanged, and you have clear, calm options.
Can I change my mind and pull out of selling my house?
Yes. In England and Wales you can pull out of selling your home at any point before contracts are exchanged, for any reason, with no legal penalty. You may lose money you have already spent on fees, and there are a few stages where withdrawing gets harder, so it helps to know exactly where you stand.
The home-buying shake-up: what it means for buyers and sellers
The government has set out the biggest change to how homes are bought and sold in England in years, built around sharing key property information upfront and making agreed deals harder to collapse. Most of it is still being rolled out rather than law today, so nothing about your move changes overnight, but here is what is coming and what it means for you.
Do I have to tell buyers what's wrong with my house?
Yes, in most cases you do. When you sell a home in England or Wales you fill in a Property Information Form, and the law says you must not hide a problem that would matter to a buyer's decision.
My agent valued my house highest. Should I trust it?
Be careful. The highest valuation is not the same as the highest selling price, and the agent who quotes the biggest number is not always the one who will sell your home for the most.
Should I sell my house now or wait until next year?
There is no single right answer; it depends on why you are moving and whether you are buying as well as selling. The calmer way to decide is to weigh the cost of waiting against your own plans, rather than trying to time the market perfectly.
Property scams to watch when selling or buying a home
The most damaging property scams target the moment large sums of money or your home's ownership change hands, usually by impersonating your solicitor, your agent or you. You can avoid almost all of them with two habits: confirm any bank details by phone on a number you already trust, and never act on an urgent last-minute change without checking it first.
Sole agency vs multi-agency: which is better for selling?
Sole agency means one estate agent has the exclusive right to sell your home for a set period, usually at a lower fee of around 1.2% to 1.8% including VAT. Multi-agency lets several agents market it at once and only the one who finds your buyer gets paid, but the fee is typically about double, around 3% to 3.6% including VAT.
Should I accept a lower cash offer on my house?
A lower cash offer can be worth more than a higher one that depends on a mortgage, because cash removes two of the most common reasons a sale falls through. The right call comes down to how big the price gap is, and how solid each buyer really is when you look at what they have actually done, not what they have said.
A higher offer came in after I accepted one. Can I take it?
In England and Wales you can legally accept a higher offer right up until contracts are exchanged, because nothing is binding before that point. The harder question is whether you should, and that comes down to how genuine the new offer is and how much you would risk by dropping a buyer who is already moving.
Revealed: the cheaper your town, the faster its homes are rising
The cheapest towns in England are now rising fastest while the priciest are falling, a reversal of the old rule that expensive areas always lead. ValuQ's analysis of the latest official house price data found Hartlepool, the cheapest town we studied at an average of £136,532, rose 8.0% in the year to March 2026, while Watford at £381,977 fell 5.1%.
Basildon is one of two Essex towns where prices fell this year
Basildon's average home value fell 1.6% in the year to March 2026, making it one of only two Essex towns out of twelve ValuQ studied where prices dropped. Next door, Harlow rose 5.3% and Rochford rose 4.0%, so a Basildon owner has quietly fallen behind neighbours just a few miles away.
Revealed: the seaside towns where pandemic buyers are selling at a loss
Almost one in three homes bought in Minehead or Bideford during the pandemic boom and resold this year went for less than the owner paid, against roughly one in ten nationally. New ValuQ analysis of completed Land Registry sales shows the race for space being quietly handed back, town by town, along the English coast.
Twice as many homes sell just under £300,000 as just over it
Since the first-time buyer stamp duty threshold dropped to £300,000 in April 2025, 9,616 homes in England and Wales have sold in the £5,000 just below that line, against 4,652 in the £5,000 just above it. New ValuQ analysis of completed Land Registry sales maps the invisible walls the tax system builds into house prices, and the dead zones just above them.
Just 6% of homes bought in 2007 have ever doubled in value
Of the homes bought in Britain's 2007 peak and resold since, just 5.9% have ever sold for double their purchase price, 19 years on. New ValuQ analysis of 12 million repeat sales shows the old rule that property doubles every decade worked for 1990s buyers, then quietly died: 84.5% of 1996 purchases doubled, in a median of 10.4 years.
House prices rise 5% in Harlow but fall 3% next door
Official Land Registry figures for March 2026 show average prices in Harlow up 5.3% in a year while Epping Forest, the next district along, is down 3.4%. That 8.7 point gap between two neighbouring districts is the widest divide in Essex, and it makes the county average of +0.1% close to meaningless for anyone pricing a home.
Freehold vs leasehold: what's the difference when selling?
Freehold means you own your home and the ground it stands on outright, with no time limit. Leasehold means you own the right to live there for a fixed number of years while someone else owns the land, and that difference changes how easily, and for how much, you can sell.
What are the signs a house sale is about to fall through?
The clearest warning sign is a buyer who has stopped spending money on the purchase: no solicitor instructed, no searches ordered, no mortgage application moving. Most quiet patches are normal, but when a buyer goes silent and their costs stay at zero, that is the moment to pay attention.
My buyer's mortgage is taking ages. How long should it take?
From a full application to a formal mortgage offer usually takes about two to six weeks, and many straightforward cases come back faster than that. So a few weeks of waiting is normal; it only becomes a worry when weeks pass with no sign the buyer has actually applied.
Are UK house prices falling in 2026? What the new data shows
On 11 June 2026 the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reported that far more surveyors are still seeing house prices fall than rise, with its price gauge stuck at -35% for a second month. Yet the main sold-price indices show prices are still slightly higher than a year ago, so the honest read for sellers is a flat, cautious market, not a crash.
A buyer offered below asking. Should I accept or hold out?
A below-asking offer is normal, not an insult, and in a flat market most homes change hands a little under their first asking price. Whether to accept comes down to three things you can check in an afternoon: how the offer compares to recent sold prices, how strong and ready the buyer is, and how long your home has been on the market.
My buyer needs to sell their home first. Should I accept?
Accepting an offer from a buyer who still has to sell their own home is common and often works out fine, but it adds a link of risk you can manage rather than fear. The trick is to treat it as a 'yes, if' rather than a flat yes: accept in principle, keep marketing, and judge the buyer by how far along their own sale already is.
Almost half of England's homes have not been sold this century
ValuQ analysis of 31 million HM Land Registry records shows that 44.5% of England's 25.8 million homes have not been sold on the open market since the year 2000. The most frozen markets are not remote villages: they are London boroughs, led by Hackney, where six in ten homes have not changed hands this century.
Basildon's New Town homes have outgrown Billericay since 1995
The Act that built Basildon turns 80 this summer, and ValuQ's analysis of every recorded sale since 1995 shows its New Town estates have multiplied in value 6.6 times, against 5.8 in Billericay and 5.6 in Wickford. One borough, three markets, and the fastest growth came from the homes the planners built.
The three-year starter flat is now a nine-year hold
A flat sold in England and Wales in 2000 had been owned for a median of 2.8 years; a flat sold in 2025 had been owned for 9.1 years, ValuQ analysis of every repeat sale since 1995 shows. The flat that used to be the property ladder's quick first step has quietly become a near-decade commitment, and in the North East flats are now held longer than houses.
Do new estates drag down nearby prices? Essex data says barely
Existing homes in the Essex postcode sectors that absorbed the most new building since 2015 have grown 69.4% in value since 2013, against 71.8% where almost nothing was built, ValuQ analysis of Land Registry sales shows. Eleven years of heavy construction cost neighbouring owners about two percentage points, and Basildon's busiest building sectors posted some of the strongest growth in Essex.
Half of homes rated D or worse stayed below C for another decade
ValuQ matched 1.98 million homes in England and Wales that hold two energy certificates a median ten years apart, and among the 1.22 million that started at band D or worse, 52.4% were still below band C at the second test. After a decade of insulation schemes, boiler upgrades and net-zero noise, the country's leakiest homes mostly stayed leaky.
Do I pay capital gains tax when I sell my home?
Most people who sell the only home they have always lived in pay no capital gains tax, because a rule called Private Residence Relief covers the gain on a main home. You usually only pay capital gains tax on a property that was not your main home for the whole time you owned it, such as a second home, a buy-to-let, or a home you let out or left empty for part of your ownership.
Should I sell my house before I buy the next one?
For most movers in 2026, selling first is the safer path, because it tells you exactly how much you have to spend and makes you a far stronger buyer when you find the next home. Buying first can work if you have the cash or a bridging plan to carry two properties for a while, but it carries the real risk of paying for two homes at once if your sale is slow.
Two buyers want my house. How do I choose?
When two buyers want your home, the best offer is not always the highest number; it is the one most likely to complete. Pick the buyer with the strongest financial position and the simplest chain, because a slightly lower offer that actually completes beats a top offer that collapses weeks later.
What does Sold STC mean, and is the sale final?
Sold STC means Sold Subject to Contract: a seller has accepted a buyer's offer, but nothing is legally binding until contracts exchange. The property is off the open market in practice, yet the sale can still fall through, and around one in four agreed sales did in early 2026.
My buyer's mortgage valuation came in low. What now?
A down valuation is when your buyer's mortgage lender values your home below the price they agreed to pay, so the lender will not lend the full amount. It is common, it is usually survivable, and there are several routes to try before anyone walks away.
My chain collapsed. What happens to my sale now?
When a chain collapses, one sale somewhere in the line falls through and breaks the run of linked moves, which can stall or end your own sale even when nothing went wrong at your end. Your sale is not always lost, and calm, quick action gives you the best chance of saving it.
My buyer wants money off after the survey. Should I agree?
A buyer asking for a price reduction after the survey is one of the most common moments in a UK sale, and it does not mean the deal is lost. You do not have to say yes, you do not have to answer on the spot, and the calm move is to see the evidence first, then decide your number.
What is conveyancing, and how long does it take?
Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of a property from the seller to the buyer, handled by a solicitor or licensed conveyancer. In the UK it usually takes about 12 to 16 weeks from offer accepted to completion, though chains and slow searches can stretch it further.
Has my house gone up in value since I bought it?
There is a good chance your home is worth more than you paid, but the honest answer depends on where you live and when you bought, and the gap between regions is wide right now. You can get a clear, free picture in a few steps using public sold-price data and valuations from local agents, without guessing.
Revealed: the Basildon streets that sell for four times the rest
The most expensive street in Basildon sold homes for a median £575,000 over the past two years; the cheapest we could rank, barely two miles away, for £141,500. ValuQ ranked every Basildon street with enough sales to compare, and the gap from top to bottom is more than four times, which is why the town average tells you almost nothing about your own road.
Forget London: the towns where flats are selling for far less
The national house price indices spent this week arguing over whether prices are flat or up half a percent. ValuQ analysed sold prices in 24 English towns and found a split they all miss: in 10 of them the average flat sold for less than a year ago by a wider margin than in London, led by Manchester, where the average flat changed hands for 17% less even as the city's houses rose.
ValuQ Property Watch: Basildon flats fell 6% as terraces rose
On 5 June 2026 Halifax reported that UK house prices barely moved again, the latest in a run of near-flat national figures. ValuQ went to Basildon's own sold prices and found the calm headline hides a market splitting in two: terraced homes rose 2.3% over the year while flats fell 6.3%, even though the town's overall median price did not move at all.
What documents do I need to sell my house in the UK?
To sell your house in the UK you need proof of your identity, proof that you own the property, a valid Energy Performance Certificate, and the standard property forms your conveyancer sends you (the TA6 and TA10, plus the TA7 if the property is leasehold). Getting these ready before you list is one of the simplest ways to keep your sale moving once a buyer is found.
My house isn't getting viewings. Should I drop the price?
A house going quiet for viewings is one of the most common wobbles in a sale, and in most cases it points to the asking price or the listing itself, not to anything wrong with your home. Before you cut the price, give it two to three weeks of real marketing, read the viewing and enquiry numbers, and only adjust once the data tells you to.
My estate agent has gone quiet. Can I leave them?
Yes, in almost all cases you can leave an estate agent who has gone quiet, but the timing depends on the contract you signed. Check your tie-in period and your notice period first, because leaving the right way protects you from paying two agents for the same sale.
27,000 homes are coming to Basildon. Can the town cope?
Basildon is being asked to build 27,000 new homes by 2043, more than three times the number it was born with as a New Town in 1949. The honest answer to whether the town can cope is yes, but on one condition: the homes are not the threat, and the fight worth having is not to stop them, but to make the schools, surgeries and roads arrive with them.
What is a property chain, and how does it work?
A property chain is a line of linked home sales where each move depends on the one before it going through, so your sale can rise or fall with people you never meet. The longer the chain, the more moving parts there are, which is why knowing your position in it is the best way to protect your sale.