Plain-English guides to buying, selling, renting and owning property in England: the contracts, the paperwork and the rights behind them.
Owning property comes with protections that are easy to miss until something goes wrong. These are the ones our readers ask about most.
Once your ownership is registered at HM Land Registry, the register is the proof of title, and the state pays compensation if it is wrong through no fault of yours.
Title registers and plans are public. Before exchange you can check who owns the land, which charges are secured on it and what covenants bind it.
Under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, an adjoining owner who plans certain works to a shared wall or close to your foundations has to serve notice first.
If you own a flat on a lease, you can ask for a summary of the costs behind your service charge and apply to the First-tier Tribunal if a charge is unreasonable.
Many owners of long leases may claim a lease extension or join neighbours to buy the freehold, subject to qualifying rules.
Light received through a window without interruption for twenty years can become a legal right that later building work must respect.
If you own property in England, easements and rights of way are not abstract legal concepts — they directly shape what you can do with your land, how you access it, and even how much it’s worth. I’ve seen too many transactions stall or disputes ignite because someone assumed a right was broader than it actually […]
Most homeowners assume their title plan marks the exact edge of their land. In reality, the red line on a Land Registry plan is only a general indication. To understand what you actually own, you need to piece together the title register, any historic deeds, and the physical boundaries on the ground. Getting this right […]
Ending a tenancy in England is never as simple as telling the tenant to pack up and leave. The law sets out a clear, multi‑stage process that a landlord must follow — and ignoring it can lead to serious consequences, including a criminal conviction for illegal eviction. Since 1 May 2026, private landlords have lost the […]
