About The House Desk

On this page

1. What we are
2. What we are not
3. How we are funded
4. Who writes the guides

Most people sell a home only a handful of times, often under pressure. Much of what they find online is written by firms hoping to be chosen for the sale. We write the other kind of page, one that asks the same questions of every route and shows where each answer came from.

What we are

The House Desk is a publisher. Our guides are written from legislation, government guidance, redress scheme rules, official registers and companies' own published terms. Every figure carries its source and the date we read it, and every page lists the sources it relied on. For how that works, and what happens when the evidence is incomplete or contested, see how we research.

Our readers are owners and executors choosing how to sell, sellers whose sale has stalled or collapsed, landlords selling a tenanted property, and owners of properties that are hard to sell. Each section is built around the decision in front of them rather than around any one firm or product.

What we are not

We do not act for sellers or buyers, run auctions or buy homes, and we do not value property. No page tells a reader what their home is worth or what a buyer will pay. Where a page prints a range, it says whose figures they are and when they were published.

Legal, tax and financial advice is outside what we do. Our guides explain what the law and the official guidance say, scoped to the part of the UK they cover, so a reader can ask better questions of a solicitor, conveyancer or adviser. They do not replace one.

How we are funded

Introductions pay for the site. A seller who wants to go ahead can ask to be introduced to one firm, and that firm may pay us a fee; how introductions work sets out the steps and our privacy notice covers your details. The site carries no advertising, no sponsored content and no affiliate links.

Payment never decides what our research says. No firm can pay to be covered, to be described more kindly or to have a finding removed, under the rules in our editorial policy.

Who writes the guides

The guides are written by Haroon Ali, who has worked in property and renovation for over 11 years. No page carries an invented name or job title. Guides on legal and tax questions explain what the rules say and tell you when to take advice for your own situation.

To report an error or get in touch, use the contact page.