Terms of use.

ByHomeOwner is a property marketplace operated by BY THE HOME OWNER LTD. These terms are the agreement between you and us whenever you browse the site, create an account, publish a listing, respond to a listing, or use any of our tools.

We are not an estate agent, letting agent, mortgage broker, surveyor or conveyancer. We do not act for either side of a transaction and we do not charge commission on a sale or a let. We provide the place where owners, buyers, renters, agents, developers and local service businesses find each other and communicate.

You must be at least 18 and legally able to enter contracts. You are responsible for everything done through your account, so keep your sign-in details private and tell us straight away if you think someone else has access.

• Give accurate registration details and keep them up to date.
• One person or business per account; do not share or sell account access.
• We may suspend or close an account that breaches these terms, that we reasonably believe is being used fraudulently, or where verification fails.

Verification is free and it is mandatory. Before a home goes live we check the identity of the person publishing it and the evidence that they have authority to market the property; it stays offline until both checks pass. A room or houseshare goes live only after the advertiser's identity check has passed and our team has approved the room. A listing can be taken offline again if the evidence expires or is withdrawn.

• You must only list property you own or are authorised to market, and you must be able to evidence that authority on request.
• Price, size, tenure, bedroom and bathroom counts, availability and photographs must be accurate and current. Photographs must be of the actual property.
• You are responsible for meeting the legal requirements that apply to you, including consumer protection rules on material information, EPC requirements, and licensing or safety obligations for rented homes.
• We may edit obvious formatting problems, refuse a listing, or remove one that we reasonably believe is misleading, unlawful or unverifiable.

Some homes are offered by auction. The auction page shows the seller's own auction terms; read them before you bid. We run the bidding page but are not party to the sale.

Verification reduces risk. It is not a survey, a valuation, a title check, or a guarantee about the property or the person. Always take your own professional and legal advice before committing money.

Messages sent through the site must relate to a genuine property interest or service enquiry. The following are not allowed:

• Fraud, impersonation, money laundering, or requests for payment off-platform.
• Discrimination against a person because of a protected characteristic.
• Bulk marketing, scraping, automated data collection, or reselling our data.
• Attempting to break, probe or overload the site, or to bypass verification or access controls.

Messages may be reviewed by ByHomeOwner Support for safety and dispute handling, for example when a message or chat is reported. Support may reply in a chat (always labelled "ByHomeOwner Support"), hide a message that breaks these rules, or close a chat. We do not edit what you write.

Never send money, deposits or documents to someone you have not verified independently. If something feels wrong, stop and report it to us.

Listing a property and searching are free. Where we do charge — for optional extras or business subscriptions — the price, what is included and the billing period are shown before you pay. Charges are only ever taken for a service you have actively chosen.

Optional listing extras — a one-off Listing bump, or Featured placement that renews each period until you cancel — start as soon as your payment is confirmed. Cancelling Featured stops the next renewal; it runs to the end of the period already paid for. Consumer cancellation rights apply where the law gives them to you, but because extras start straight away at your request, you may lose the right to cancel once they have begun.

You keep ownership of the photographs, descriptions and documents you upload. You give us a licence to host, resize, display and distribute that content so we can run the marketplace, including showing your listing in search results, alerts and partner referrals you have agreed to. You confirm you have the right to grant that licence.

We provide the marketplace with reasonable care and skill, but we do not promise the site will be uninterrupted or error-free, and we are not party to any deal you reach with another user.

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited. Subject to that, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, lost profit, or loss arising from another user's acts or omissions, and our total liability to you is limited to the greater of the amounts you paid us in the twelve months before the claim or £100.

We may update these terms as the service or the law changes; the date at the top shows when. Material changes will be notified to account holders. You may close your account at any time. We may suspend or end access where these terms are breached or where we must do so for legal or safety reasons.

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. If you live elsewhere in the UK you keep the right to bring a claim in your local courts.

Please raise any complaint with us first through our contact page so we can put it right. Related documents: Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.