UK Home & Property Guides

A homeowner on a stepladder places a certificate block on top of a stack of blocks for the consumer unit, sockets and making good, showing the parts a rewire quote should include.

How Much to Rewire a House in the UK: Prices by Size, and What a Fair Quote Includes

What a full rewire costs by house size, why two quotes can be thousands apart, and the certificates you should be handed when the electrician leaves.

October 2, 2026 · 15 min read

Flat vector illustration seen from directly above. A large slate-blue house roof labelled HOUSE fills the top of the frame, with a smaller mint-green conservatory roof divided into five glazed bays attached below it and labelled CONSERVATORY. A dashed amber line traces the join between the two roofs, and an amber badge with a tick reading CHECK FIRST lies on the conservatory roof. On the paved patio beside it, two people study a blank plan sheet, next to a clipboard, a round table and two potted shrubs.

Conservatory Roof Replacement Cost, and the Building Control Question That Comes With a Solid Roof

A solid roof changes what your conservatory is, and that changes the rules. What it costs, when building control steps in, and why FENSA will not cover it.

September 29, 2026 · 16 min read

Flat illustration of a wide boiler manual lying open with blank ruled lines and an empty signature box, a wall-mounted boiler behind it with its front cover swung open to show the burner tray and heat exchanger, and a kneeling engineer in overalls holding a handheld gauge whose probe lead curves up into the flue pipe.

What Does a Boiler Service Include? The Four Checks That Follow Gas Work, and What Your Boiler's Manual Adds

Regulation 26(9) names four checks after work on a gas appliance. Your boiler's manual and service terms set out what else the visit includes.

September 25, 2026 · 14 min read

Flat vector illustration of a homeowner kneeling beside a wood burning stove and holding up a small map with a single location pin, while the stove's flue rises past a wall section to a chimney pot letting out three plain clouds of smoke. A log basket with a certification badge sits on the hearth and a blank data plate is fixed to the side of the stove.

Log Burner Rules in the UK: What You Can Burn, and What Happens If Your Chimney Smokes

The rules split four ways across the UK, and Wales rewrote its own in 2025. Here's what you can legally burn, and what a smoky chimney really costs.

September 22, 2026 · 16 min read

Flat illustration of a homeowner kneeling in a garden beside a toppled timber fence panel with its posts snapped off, holding a tablet showing a magnifier and blank ruled lines, with a dotted line running along the ground through the gap to a house wall. Labels read AFTER THE STORM, WHOSE FENCE and CHECK THE DEEDS.

Which Side of the Fence Is Mine? How to Check, and Why Nobody May Have to Repair It

There is no left hand fence rule. Here is what title records can show, where to look in each UK nation, and why storm cover depends on the policy.

September 18, 2026 · 12 min read

Flat vector illustration of a homeowner standing on a floor line, head tilted back, holding out a small green document card labelled THE QUOTE towards a plain blue invoice panel that towers roughly six times its height, labelled THE BILL. A dotted line runs from the small card along the floor and up to an empty rounded total box at the foot of the tall panel, labelled WHAT YOU OWE. A stepladder and a paint tin lean against the panel, and a question mark floats above the homeowner's head.

Can a Builder Charge More Than the Quote? Four Questions to Ask Before You Pay

Your builder's bill came in above the quote. Here is what makes a price rise yours to pay, what you can refuse, and what to say in response.

September 15, 2026 · 17 min read

Flat illustration of a homeowner standing at their front door checking a tradesperson's identity card against an official register on their phone, with a shield, a certificate and a large search panel behind them.

How to Check a Builder Is Registered in the UK (and Why There's No Builder's Licence to Check)

There is no builder's licence in the UK. See which register applies to your job, how to check it free, and the certificate you should be given.

September 11, 2026 · 19 min read

Flat vector illustration of a homeowner standing beside an open round inspection cover in their garden, a low fence and open gate marking the property edge, and a water company worker in a high-visibility tabard holding a drain rod beside a larger cover set into the pavement, with a dashed pipe running from the house wall under the fence to the pavement cover.

Who Is Responsible for a Blocked Drain? Where Your Pipe Ends and Your Water Company's Begins

Your water company owns more of your drainage than you think. Here is where your pipe ends, who pays to clear a blockage, and how the rules differ across the UK.

September 8, 2026 · 14 min read

A homeowner holding an open electrical condition report with a magnifier, and an electrician beside an open consumer unit, with dotted lines running from three rows of the report to three markers on the floor labelled must fix and optional.

Your EICR Came Back Unsatisfactory: What C1, C2 and FI Mean, and What You Actually Have to Fix

An EICR fails on C1 or C2; FI depends on the BS 7671 edition used. What you must fix, England's 28 day rule, and the £40,000 maximum penalty.

September 4, 2026 · 15 min read

Flat illustration of a homeowner holding a grant checklist beside a house with a wall-mounted heat pump unit and an oil storage tank, an MCS installer waving on the right, and a calendar marked 120-day lookback before a properly made application.

Do You Qualify for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme? The £7,500 Grant, the £9,000 Off-Gas Rate, and What Rules You Out

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme takes £7,500 off a heat pump, or £9,000 off-gas until 31 March 2027. Check the rules for your home, your nation and your heating.

September 1, 2026 · 17 min read

Flat vector illustration of a cutaway house wall on a ground line, with a homeowner holding a clipboard on the left and a surveyor kneeling at the base of the wall taking a sample on the right. Three dotted blue routes converge on the wall: one rising from below the ground line, one arriving through a downpipe outside, and one drifting from the room air. A magnifier hovers over the brick courses at the wall base, beside a raised garden bed that bridges them, and short labels read RISING, PENETRATING, CONDENSATION and CHECK FIRST.

Do You Really Need Damp Proofing? What the Survey Has to Prove Before You Pay for a Damp-Proof Course

Rising damp is the least common damp the English Housing Survey records. Here is what a damp report must prove before you pay for a damp-proof course.

August 25, 2026 · 15 min read

Flat vector illustration of a homeowner at a kitchen table calmly sorting an evidence folder, with a stalled part-built wall, a stepladder and an unplugged power tool behind, and three dotted routes running to a payment card, a small court building and a shield, labelled evidence pack, card claim, court claim and report it.

Builder Took Your Money and Disappeared? The Four Routes to Getting It Back in the UK

If a builder has taken your money and vanished, your route back depends on how you paid and which UK nation you're in. Here is the order to work through.

August 18, 2026 · 15 min read