Sell or buy without the agency fee
A loft room, rear extension or garden office can add real value to a private sale, but only if the paperwork can survive conveyancing. This guide explains how sellers can identify gaps in planning and building-regulations evidence, choose between a certificate, retrospective application or indemnity policy, and disclose the works without losing the buyer.
In a private sale, the question of what remains in the property is often settled too late and too loosely. This guide explains how sellers can distinguish fixtures from fittings, document ambiguous items such as EV chargers and integrated appliances, and use a clear inventory to prevent disputes after exchange.
When roof-mounted panels are leased or financed rather than owned outright, a private sale involves a contract as well as a property. This guide explains the paperwork sellers should assemble, how to describe the arrangement honestly to buyers, and how to negotiate transfer costs directly.
Rural and semi-rural homes often depend on a septic tank or packaged treatment plant that no buyer will see and few surveyors will inspect. This guide sets out the records, rules and disclosures a private seller should assemble in 2026 so that private drainage supports the sale rather than stalling it.
Flood risk is rarely a simple yes or no, and in a private sale the seller must make the uncertainty legible. This guide explains how to read flood maps, gather insurance and resilience evidence, and answer buyer concerns before they harden into price negotiations.
Japanese knotweed is less a single problem than a documentation problem, and in a private sale the seller controls the file. This article explains how to record treatment, guarantees and boundary evidence so that a buyer’s lender and solicitor see a managed issue rather than an unexplained risk.
Flats awaiting cladding or building-safety works can still be sold privately, but the transaction rests on documentary proof rather than optimism. This guide sets out the evidence lenders, buyers and solicitors will expect, and how to price and present a mid-remediation sale honestly in 2026.
Restrictive covenants can constrain extensions, business use, parking and even external alterations long after the original developer has gone. In a private sale, the seller must read the title carefully, answer buyer enquiries directly and decide whether an indemnity policy or a deed of variation is the more sensible route.
Trade buyers assess a renovation-ready home by cost, risk and exit, not by dressing. This guide explains how a private seller can build a credible trade pack, test proof of funds, negotiate against build cost and avoid the common pitfalls around access, warranties and material information.
A neighbour who already knows the house can be the most straightforward buyer a private seller will ever find — and the one most likely to expose gaps in the paperwork. This guide sets out a formal, step-by-step route from the first conversation to completion, covering valuation evidence, boundary and access disclosures, heads of terms and the legal checks that protect both sides.
Reservation agreements promise to bind a buyer before exchange, but their legal effect is narrower than many sellers assume. This guide sets out how a private seller should weigh the cost, the clauses that matter and the practical risks of asking a buyer for a deposit without an agent to referee the arrangement.
A buyer’s mortgage valuation can stall or strengthen a private sale long before solicitors exchange contracts. This guide explains how no-agent sellers can prepare access, evidence and explanations so that the lender’s valuer sees a straightforward, defensible property.
A shared drive or private lane can seem straightforward until a buyer’s solicitor asks for the paperwork. This guide explains how private sellers can evidence rights, maintenance and permissions before marketing in 2026.
A buyer’s survey can feel like a verdict on your home, but it is usually a list of observations, risks and maintenance points. This guide explains how a private seller can triage findings, gather evidence, answer renegotiation requests calmly and use the exchange to strengthen trust before exchange of contracts.
Energy upgrades can strengthen a private sale, but only when the paperwork stands up to scrutiny. This guide explains which MCS certificates, warranties, grant records and building-control documents buyers and lenders expect in 2026, and how to present a retrofit file honestly.
A garden office or annexe can add useful space, but buyers’ solicitors will want more than photographs. This guide explains how private sellers can assemble planning, building-control and insurance evidence in 2026, identify permitted-development risks, and price the extra space on what it lawfully provides.
A leasehold sale depends less on the asking price than on the file held by the freeholder and managing agent. This guide sets out the enquiries, fees, consents and lease questions a private seller should resolve before a buyer’s solicitor loses patience in 2026.
A sitting tenant can be the most credible buyer a landlord will ever have — and the most complicated. This guide sets out how to test the price, protect the deposit and synchronise a tenancy ending with a private sale completing in 2026.
A private seller cannot rely on instinct alone when setting an asking price. This guide explains how to assemble a defensible valuation file using Land Registry evidence, local comparables and clear condition adjustments, so that the figure stands up to buyer scrutiny, lender assessment and your own negotiation.
A boundary argument or a feud next door is not just a viewing awkwardness; it is information that must be handled like a title defect. This guide explains what the TA6 asks, how a buyer’s solicitor can uncover the row, and how a private seller can price, market and negotiate around it without an agent.