Buying rules depend on the nation. On a £300,000 home bought by a home mover, the purchase tax is £5,000 of Stamp Duty in England and Northern Ireland, £4,600 of LBTT in Scotland and £4,500 of Land Transaction Tax in Wales. Each of the 66 guides below answers one question, with its official sources and their date.
Buying
Buying a home in England: the steps, offer to registration
Buying a home in England follows a fixed sequence: you arrange finance, make an offer, instruct a solicitor, order searches and a survey, exchange contracts and complete, and the Stamp Duty Land Tax return is then due within 14 days.
Buying a home in Scotland: Home Report, offers and missives
Buying in Scotland works differently from England, with the Home Report due within nine days of your request. Before you offer you read the seller's Home Report, which the seller or agent must give you within nine days of your request.
Buying a home in Northern Ireland: process and registers
Buying in Northern Ireland follows the same broad order as in England: offer, solicitor, survey, mortgage, exchange of contracts, completion, usually in around two to three months with a deposit of at least five per cent at exchange (nidirect). nidirect says the whole process usually takes around two to three months and that you will usually pay the seller a deposit of at least five per cent of the price at exchange.
Stamp Duty Land Tax: rates, who pays and the 14 days
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is the tax on buying a home in England and Northern Ireland, with a 0% rate on the first £125,000 for a single-home buyer.
LBTT in Scotland: rates, first-time buyers, ADS, 30 days
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) is the tax on buying a home in Scotland, with a 0% rate up to £145,000.
Land Transaction Tax in Wales: rates, higher rates, 30 days
In Wales the tax on buying a home is Land Transaction Tax (LTT), with a 0% rate up to £225,000, collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority, not Stamp Duty Land Tax.
First-time buyer relief: England, Scotland and Wales
The UK has no single first-time buyer relief: it depends on the nation where the home is.
Buying a second home: SDLT, ADS and LTT higher rates
Buying a home when you already own another one costs more tax in all three tax systems of the UK. In England and Northern Ireland you usually pay an extra 5 percentage points of Stamp Duty Land Tax on every slice of the price.
Non-UK resident SDLT surcharge: the 2% and how to reclaim it
If you buy a home in England or Northern Ireland and you were not in the UK for at least 183 days in the 12 months before the purchase, you are treated as non-UK resident and pay a 2 percentage point surcharge on top of every other Stamp Duty Land Tax rate.
Conveyancing explained: who does it and what it covers
Conveyancing is the legal work of moving a home from seller to buyer: checking the title, dealing with the other side, handling the money and registering the change; in England and Wales licensed conveyancers have been able to act instead of a solicitor since 1987.
Property searches when buying a home in the UK
Property searches are enquiries your conveyancer makes to public bodies and registers before you commit to buying; in England and Wales, a Land Registry title register costs £7 (GOV.UK).
Home survey levels 1, 2 and 3: which one to choose
In Scotland, the Home Report's Single Survey rates defects in three categories, while the RICS Home Survey comes in three levels.
The Home Report in Scotland: contents and your rights
In Scotland, a seller or selling agent must give you the Home Report within nine days of your asking for it (mygov.scot).
Leasehold and freehold: what you own, and 2024 reforms
In England and Wales, only some provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 were in force on 14 October 2026. Freehold means you own the property outright, without a time limit.
Exchange and completion: when you are bound to buy
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, you are legally bound to buy only at exchange of contracts, when the buyer pays a deposit and both sides are committed. Completion, when the rest of the money passes and you get the keys, follows.
The title register: what it shows and how to get it
In England and Wales, the title register at HM Land Registry records who owns a property, any mortgage or restriction, and rights such as rights of way.
Joint tenants or tenants in common: buying a home together
When two or more people buy a home together in England and Wales, they must choose between being joint tenants or tenants in common, and they tell HM Land Registry when the property is registered.
Buying a new-build home: reservation, snagging and warranties
Buying a new-build home in England differs from buying a second-hand one: you may buy off-plan, pay a reservation fee that is refundable only in some cases, and be asked to exchange contracts soon after reserving (GOV.UK).
Buying a listed building: consent, offences and checks
A listed building is protected for its special architectural or historic interest.
Flood risk when buying a home: maps, zones and Flood Re
Check flood risk before you make an offer: each UK nation has a free official map, by postcode or area.
Japanese knotweed and buying a home: the legal position
In England, GOV.UK says you do not legally have to remove Japanese knotweed from your land unless it is causing a nuisance, but you must stop it spreading off your property, and you can be prosecuted for causing it to spread into the wild.
Right to Buy: discounts, rules and where it still exists
Right to Buy lets most council tenants in England buy their home at a discount if it is their only or main home, it is self-contained, they are a secure tenant and they have had a public sector landlord for 3 years (GOV.UK).
Missing planning permission or building regulations sign-off: what it means when buying
Planning permission and building regulations approval are two different things, and a home can need both (GOV.UK). When you buy in England or Wales, your conveyancer asks the seller for the planning permissions, building regulations completion certificates and installers' certificates for past works.
Coal mining searches when buying a home in the UK: reports, costs and subsidence claims
If a home sits in a former coal mining area of England, Scotland or Wales, your conveyancer will usually order a coal mining report (often called a CON29M) as part of the searches.
Restrictive covenants, easements and rights of way on a UK property
A restrictive covenant is a binding promise not to do something on land, such as not to build, not to run a business or not to exceed a certain size of building.
First registration of unregistered land in England and Wales
Some land in England and Wales is still unregistered: its ownership is proved by paper deeds, not by an HM Land Registry title. GOV.UK says a property may not be registered if you have owned it since before 1990 and have not mortgaged it since.
Land Registry fees in the UK: Scale 1, Scale 2, Registers of Scotland and LPS compared
After a purchase, the buyer's ownership has to be registered, and the land registry charges a fee set by law. In England and Wales, HM Land Registry uses Scale 1 for transfers for money.
Gazumping and gazundering in the UK: why they are legal before exchange and how to protect yourself
Gazumping is when a seller who has accepted your offer takes a higher one from someone else. Gazundering is the reverse: the buyer cuts the price just before the deal is signed. Neither is against the law in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Stamp duty refund on higher rates: reclaiming the surcharge after selling your old home
If you bought a new main home before selling your old one, you probably paid the higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) in England or Northern Ireland: the normal rates plus 5 percentage points.
Lease extension cost: how the premium is worked out (England and Wales)
In England and Wales, the owner of a leasehold flat with a long lease can force the landlord to grant a new lease with 90 years added to the remaining term and the ground rent cut to a peppercorn (zero), under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.
Financing
UK mortgage affordability rules: FCA checks, 4.5x limit
Across the whole United Kingdom, a lender that offers you a regulated mortgage must be able to show that you can afford it.
UK mortgage deposit and loan-to-value (LTV) explained
Your deposit is the part of the price you pay yourself. The rest is the mortgage. Loan-to-value (LTV) expresses that mortgage as a percentage of the property's value: it is the loan divided by the value, times 100.
Mortgage in principle in the UK: what to know first
In the United Kingdom, FCA rules require a lender assessing a full mortgage application to assume an interest-rate rise of at least 1% and to obtain evidence of your income.
Lifetime ISA for a first home: rules, 25% charge, cap
In the UK, a Lifetime ISA lets you save up to £4,000 a year towards a first home, and the government adds a 25% bonus, up to £1,000 a year.
Shared ownership in the UK: shares, rent and who can apply
With shared ownership you buy a share of a home and pay rent to a landlord on the rest. In England, GOV.UK says you buy 10% to 75% of the full market value, with the usual range 25% to 75%.
Help to Buy and First Homes: what still exists in 2026
On 21 October 2026, you can no longer apply for a Help to Buy: Equity Loan in England (GOV.UK), and the Help to Buy ISA is closed to new savers.
Selling
Costs of selling a home in the UK: agent, legal, EPC, tax
Selling a home in the United Kingdom has no single official price list, but in England, Wales and Northern Ireland you need an EPC, valid for 10 years, before you market the property.
Capital Gains Tax on a home: relief and 60-day report
Selling your own home usually means no Capital Gains Tax (CGT) in the United Kingdom, thanks to Private Residence Relief, which applies automatically if you meet its conditions.
Energy performance certificate (EPC) rules by UK nation
In England and Northern Ireland, an energy performance certificate (EPC) rates a building from A (best) to G (worst) and is valid for 10 years. In England, you must order one before you market a property to sell or rent.
Selling an inherited home: probate, confirmation and tax in the UK
In England and Wales, a home owned in the dead person's sole name is sold by the executor or administrator once they hold a grant of probate or letters of administration. GOV.UK says not to "put property on the market until you've got probate".
Renting
Renting in England: the rules since 1 May 2026
In England, the Renters' Rights Act 2025 took effect on 1 May 2026. Section 21 "no fault" evictions ended, most existing assured shorthold tenancies became assured periodic tenancies with no end date, and new private tenancies are periodic from the start.
Tenancy deposit protection in the UK, nation by nation
In every UK nation a landlord who takes a tenancy deposit must put it in a government-approved scheme, but the deadline and the penalties differ. The deadline is 30 days in England and Wales, 30 working days in Scotland and 28 days in Northern Ireland.
Private residential tenancy in Scotland: your rights
In Scotland, most private lets are a private residential tenancy (PRT), and a landlord can end one only on one of 18 eviction grounds.
Renting in Wales: occupation contracts explained
In Wales, since 1 December 2022, nearly everyone who rents a home holds an occupation contract under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016. In the private sector this is usually a standard contract.
Renting in Northern Ireland: notice, rent and deposits
In Northern Ireland the private rented sector is governed by its own legislation, including the Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, not by English law. A deposit cannot exceed one month's rent and must be protected within 28 days.
Right to rent checks in England: what landlords must do
In England, a landlord or letting agent who does not check that every adult who will live in a rented home has the right to rent before the tenancy starts risks a civil penalty of £5,000 to £20,000 per person.
Landlord registration and licensing in the UK: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Private landlords must register in Scotland (every 3 years, fine up to £50,000 for letting unregistered), Wales (Rent Smart Wales, every 5 years, plus a licence if you let or manage yourself) and Northern Ireland (every 3 years, £70 online).
Buy-to-let tax: the mortgage interest restriction (Section 24) and the 2027 property rates
Since 6 April 2020, an individual landlord of residential property cannot deduct mortgage interest and other finance costs from rental income.
Rent a Room Scheme: £7,500 tax-free from a lodger, and the rules
The Rent a Room Scheme lets owner occupiers and tenants receive up to £7,500 a year tax-free from letting furnished accommodation in their only or main home, for example to a lodger (HMRC helpsheet HS223, 2026 edition, for 2025 to 2026).
Holiday lets after the end of the furnished holiday lettings tax regime (UK, April 2025)
The furnished holiday lettings (FHL) tax regime was abolished by Schedule 5 of the Finance Act 2025, from 6 April 2025 for Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax and from 1 April 2025 for Corporation Tax.
Rent increases in the UK: how often, how much notice, and how to challenge
No UK nation caps how much a private landlord can raise the rent on 21 October 2026. What the law limits is how often and how much notice a landlord must give. Rent can rise once a year in all four nations.
Renters' Rights Act 2025: what is in force, what has a date, what is still to come
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025 and mainly reforms private renting in England.
Minimum EPC rating for a rental property: E today, C by 2030 (England and Wales)
In England and Wales, a private landlord cannot let, or continue to let, a home rated F or G on its energy performance certificate (EPC) unless a valid exemption is registered.
Owning
Council tax bands in England, Scotland and Wales
Council tax in England, Scotland and Wales is set by your home's valuation band, the charge your local council sets for that band, and any discount.
How to challenge your council tax band (and NI domestic rates valuation)
In England and Wales you challenge your council tax band with the Valuation Office, through the GOV.UK online service.
Domestic rates in Northern Ireland: how your bill works
Northern Ireland has no council tax: homes pay domestic rates on capital value as at 1 January 2005, with any value above £400,000 ignored. Homes pay domestic rates, collected by Land & Property Services (LPS).
Service charges and ground rent on a leasehold home
If you buy a leasehold home in England or Wales, you may pay a service charge for the building's upkeep and a ground rent, which on leases granted on or after 30 June 2022 is usually a peppercorn (zero).
Inheritance tax on a home: the £500,000 threshold
Inheritance Tax (IHT), a UK tax run by HMRC, is charged at 40% on the part of an estate above the £325,000 nil-rate band.
Property fraud: Property Alert and title restrictions
Property fraud is when fraudsters try to "steal" a property, most often by pretending to be the owner and selling or mortgaging it without the owner's knowledge (HM Land Registry).
Property boundaries: title plans, boundary agreements and disputes
In England and Wales, there is usually no record of the exact boundary between two properties, nor of who owns the hedge, wall or fence between them (GOV.UK).
Party wall agreements: notices, surveyors and awards (England and Wales)
In England and Wales, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 requires you to give your neighbour written notice before you work on a party wall, build on the boundary, or dig near their foundations.
Council tax on second homes and empty homes: the premiums by nation
Councils in England, Wales and Scotland can charge more than the normal council tax on homes nobody lives in.
Transfer of equity: adding or removing a name on a property title (England and Wales)
A transfer of equity changes who owns a home without selling it on the open market: adding a partner as joint owner, or removing an owner after a split.
Divorce, separation and the family home: who keeps it, and the tax (UK)
When a marriage or civil partnership ends in England and Wales, who keeps the home is settled either by agreement made binding in a consent order (court fee £62) or, failing agreement, by a judge's financial order (fee £321), which puts children's housing first.
Adverse possession: claiming land you have occupied, and defending your title
Adverse possession is how someone who has occupied land without the owner's consent can become its registered owner.
Cladding, EWS1 and the Building Safety Act: what leaseholders in England pay
Since 28 June 2022, the Building Safety Act 2022 protects leaseholders in England from the cost of fixing historical fire and structural safety defects in relevant buildings: at least 11 metres tall or 5 storeys, with at least 2 dwellings.