What should you check before buying a house?

It tells you roughly how much a lender will offer and shows sellers and agents you're a serious buyer. It's not a guaranteed offer.

A bigger deposit gets you cheaper mortgage rates. First-time buyers aged 18 to 39 can open a Lifetime ISA, which adds a 25% government bonus towards a first home costing up to £450,000.

England has Stamp Duty Land Tax; Wales has Land Transaction Tax with different bands. First-time buyers in England pay no stamp duty up to £300,000 on homes costing up to £500,000.

Allow for the conveyancer, survey, mortgage arrangement and valuation fees, and removals. Together these often run to several thousand pounds.

Look up the council tax band and the energy rating, and for a flat ask for the service charge and ground rent.

Search the town or area to see the average sold price and what each property type sold for, from HM Land Registry records.

Each area's price page shows the change over one year and ten years. A falling market gives you more room to negotiate.

A street or two can change the price a lot. Put up to four areas side by side to see where your budget goes further.

Plenty of recent sales means a fair price is easier to judge and the home should be easier to sell later on.

Traffic, parking, noise and how the street feels can all change a lot over the day.

Make the journey to work or school at the time you'd actually travel.

Being close to a school doesn't guarantee a place. Check the admission rules with the council.

Look up the speeds available at the exact address, and check your phone works inside the home.

Street-level crime maps cover every neighbourhood in England and Wales.

New housing, extensions next door or a road scheme can change the view, the noise and the value.

Look for musty smells, stained ceilings, peeling paint and fresh paint in just one corner.

Diagonal cracks around doors and windows can point to movement. Check for missing roof tiles, sagging gutters and rotten window frames.

Ask how old the boiler is and when it was last serviced. An old fuse box can mean the home needs rewiring.

Run the taps and the shower, and flush the toilet.

Knotweed and large trees close to the house can affect your mortgage and insurance.

Ask how long it's been on the market, whether there's a chain, what's included in the sale, and whether any offers have been turned down.

Get quotes once your offer is accepted, or before. Check what's included and whether there's a fee for leasehold work.

The lender's valuation only protects the lender. A RICS Level 2 survey suits most homes; choose Level 3 for older, altered or unusual properties.

The local authority, water and drainage, and environmental searches can reveal road plans, enforcement notices and contaminated land.

Check the long-term risk from rivers, the sea and surface water, and make sure you can get insurance.

For leasehold, check how many years are left on the lease (extending it gets much more expensive once it drops below 80 years), the ground rent, the service charge and any restrictions.

The EPC shows the energy rating and what improvements would cost.

Extensions, loft conversions and knocked-through walls should have planning permission or building regulations sign-off.

Don't exchange until the formal offer is in place and its conditions are met.

You're usually responsible for the building from the moment you exchange.

This is often 10% of the price. If you pull out after exchanging, you can lose it.

On completion day, take meter readings and collect the keys. Your conveyancer pays the stamp duty and registers you as the owner with HM Land Registry.