Buying next to a railway line: what actually matters
About one listing in five around London sits within 100 m of a track. Train noise and vibration are different problems, and only one of them has a cheap fix.
Read the guide →Buying a home, explained properly
The things that hold up a purchase, decided in plain English. No jargon, no yields, no pretending it's simple when it isn't.
School catchments: how they actually work
A catchment area gives your child priority, not a place. How admissions really decide, why the distance moves every year, and what to ask before you offer.
Read the guide →Shared ownership: what it actually costs, and what happens when you sell
You pay a mortgage, rent on the share you don't own, and 100% of the service charge. What staircasing really costs, and what happens when you sell.
Read the guide →What an EPC rating actually tells you about your bills
An EPC is a model of the building, not a forecast of your heating. What the letter measures, why a C is the average rather than a good result, and how to read the certificate properly.
Read the guide →"Near a station" means nothing. Here's what to measure instead
No rule says what "near a station" has to mean, and the distance on a listing isn't a walk time. The five things that actually decide your commute.
Read the guide →Cracks in walls: when it's subsidence and when it isn't
A crack scale surveyors actually use, what really causes subsidence, and how to tell a genuine structural problem from a wall that just needs redecorating.
Read the guide →How to check flood risk properly before you buy
The government's flood checker gives you a rating, not an answer. What the four bands actually mean, why surface water is the risk most buyers miss, and the checks worth doing.
Read the guide →North-facing gardens: how much does it actually matter?
Why a north-facing garden is a trade-off rather than a fault, what the sun actually does in a UK winter, what the price gap is really measuring, and how to test a specific garden.
Read the guide →Damp: rising, penetrating and condensation, and how to tell them apart
Three different problems get called damp, and they have three different fixes. How to tell which one you're looking at, and why a meter reading proves less than you'd think.
Read the guide →How to check crime rates in an area before you buy
Why the police crime map isn't showing you where crimes happened, what the categories hide, and how to read the numbers for an area you're buying in.
Read the guide →Short leases: when the 80-year rule actually matters
Why a lease under 80 years costs much more to extend, what lenders do about it, and why the 2024 reforms haven't fixed it yet. Position as at August 2026.
Read the guide →Which house survey do you actually need?
RICS Level 1, 2 and 3 explained: what each one really inspects, why your lender's valuation isn't a survey, and how to choose without overpaying.
Read the guide →What estate agent listing language actually means
Why listings are written the way they are, what the vaguer phrases usually signal, and why the things a listing leaves out tell you more than the words in it.
Read the guide →Service charges: what's normal, and what's a red flag
What a service charge actually covers, the £250 consultation rule that caps what you can be billed, and the questions worth asking before you offer on a flat.
Read the guide →EWS1 forms explained: what buyers of UK flats actually need to know
What an EWS1 form is, when a lender will ask for one, what A1 to B2 mean, who pays, and what to do if the flat you want doesn't have one.
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