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How to buy a home: preparing to buy, deciding on a home, making offers, conveyancing, paying Stamp Duty Land Tax and making complaints.

• Overview

  Buying a home takes about 5 months on average. The process can take longer…

• Preparing to buy

  When you decide you want to buy a home, you may need to get a mortgage to…

• Deciding on a home

  There are different ways to own a property. Leasehold and freehold…

• Making an offer

  Before you make an offer, check: what the property is worth the number of…

• Transferring ownership (conveyancing)

  Once the offer is accepted, the seller is responsible for drawing up a…

• Tax

  You may need to pay: Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) when you buy a home in…

• Making a complaint

  You can make a complaint to a company involved in the sale if you’re…

Check if you have to pay the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) surcharge from 1 April 2021 for buyers of residential property in England and Northern Ireland who are not resident in the UK.

• Updated: 1 April 2025

Leasehold property - leasehold disputes, buying the freehold, service charges, lease extensions and Right to Manage

• Overview

  You only own a leasehold property for a fixed period of time. You’ll have…

• Leaseholder rights and responsibilities

  Your responsibilities Your lease will tell you what conditions you’ve…

• Service charges and other expenses

  Service charges Your lease sets out the way the service charge is…

• Extending, changing or ending a lease

  Extending the lease You can ask the landlord to extend your lease at any…

• Buying the freehold

  You can ask the landlord to sell you the freehold at any time. There are…

• Right to Manage and management disputes

  You may be able to change the management of your building if you’re…

• Leasehold disputes

  There is a different dispute process in Wales. You might be able to…

When you have to pay Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Stamp Duty or Inheritance Tax on money, shares or property you inherit

Park (mobile) home owner rights and responsibilities - fees and repairs, selling or giving away a home and residents' associations, settling disputes

If someone dies without a will or known family, their ownerless property (bona vacantia) goes to the crown - check if you're an entitled relative, search for an estate, refer or claim on an estate

Make a 'Part I claim' when your property depreciates because of the use of a new or altered highway - eligibility and where to send your claim

About your property boundaries, working out your boundary lines, boundaries and neighbour disputes, agreeing who's responsible for walls and fences

Private renting as a tenant - repairs, rent increases and arrears, settling disputes, deposits and your rights and responsibilities.

Check if you're a joint tenant or tenants in common. Change from joint tenants to tenants in common, or tenants in common to joint tenants