Houses (Skyrim)

Houses are buildings with sleeping accommodations and containers that are safe for storing items. A house is available for purchase within many of the larger cities in Skyrim; however, permission must be obtained from the city's Jarl before their purchase. There are also a number of other properties throughout Skyrim that can be used as a home.

There is no limit to how many houses the Dragonborn may own. The Dragonborn can ask spouses to move into a house or choose to move into the spouse's house. Children also are able to change houses.

Benefits of owning a house

 * 1) Sleeping in the Dragonborn's own house grants the Well Rested bonus. If the Dragonborn sleeps in a house where their spouse also lives, they will receive the bonus Lover's Comfort. However, under the effects of the Lycanthropy affliction or having the Lover Stone active, the Dragonborn cannot gain either of these bonuses.
 * 2) Containers in an owned house do not reset, so items may be stored inside any of its chests, wardrobes, cupboards, dressers, and others.
 * 3) Decorations can be bought for an owned house from the city's steward. Every house's kitchen includes a cooking pot or spit. The Dragonborn may also purchase an alchemy lab for every house. Arcane enchanters are available for every house except Breezehome in Whiterun.
 * 4) Hjerim, Proudspire Manor, and Vlindrel Hall have enough combined bookshelf space between them to hold every available book in Skyrim. This does not include diaries, journals, notes, letters, documents, recipes, or spell tomes.
 * 5) Valuable dead bodies can be stored in houses without being reset.

Plots
With the addition of, plots of land can be bought for 5000 in order to build a Homestead.

Breezehome
Breezehome, in Whiterun, is inexpensive and easily acquired early in the game, but it is the only home that lacks an enchanting table. It and Vlindrel Hall are the only homes that provide adequate storage in the alchemy room. In order to access an Arcane Enchanter in Whiterun, the Dragonborn must exit Breezehome, then head to Dragonsreach on the opposite end of the city. If the Dragonborn is a member of the Thieves Guild, the fence in Whiterun is located outside of the city entirely, at Honningbrew Meadery, making it one of the more inconvenient fences to reach. Breezehome is conveniently close to the town's smelter, blacksmith, alchemist, general goods store, and both taverns.

Honeyside
Honeyside, in Riften, is similarly inexpensive and can be acquired early in the game. Unlike Breezehome, it can be equipped with an enchanting table.Additionally, the Thieves Guild fence, Tonilia, is located in the Ragged Flagon, which requires a significant trip with three transitions to reach from the home.

Vlindrel Hall
Vlindrel Hall, in Markarth, has both an alchemy table and enchanting table. Smithing amenities are available, including a Smelter, but are located across town. The fence in Markarth is located nearby, but moves around and sometimes requires a transition to reach. Vlindrel Hall has the disadvantage of having fewer armor storage mannequins than the other "higher-end" homes, having only one. Vlindrel Hall is a good choice for book collectors as it provides the most book storage (162 books), thanks to three large bookshelves conveniently located next to each other instead of scattered smaller shelves such as in Hjerim.

Hjerim
Hjerim, in Windhelm, contains both an Arcane Enchanter and an Alchemy Lab (once upgraded), and is close to Smithing amenities, a Smelter, and the Windhelm fence, all of which are closely grouped with zero transitions. Niranye, the Windhelm fence, is located outside in a market stall, whereas every other fence (except for Endon in Markarth, sometimes), requires at least one additional transition to reach. Lack of storage space is a concern, as is the very poor lighting in the hidden room containing the Alchemy and Enchanting areas (dropping torches strategically may fix this). Hjerim also takes some of the most work to acquire, as the quest "Blood on the Ice" and part of the Civil War questline must be finished before purchasing the house.

Proudspire Manor
Proudspire Manor, in Solitude, is by far the most expensive home in the game. Solitude itself offers an average selection of shops, however they are located some distance away from the manor. The Solitude fence is located nearby, but will require a transition to reach. One must buy this property to complete the quest No Stone Unturned legitimately as one of the Stones of Barenziah is in the bedroom area unless they are using the double Stones of Bareniziah glitch.

Severin Manor
Severin Manor, in Raven Rock, is a sizable Dunmer home given to the Dragonborn by completing the quest Served Cold. It is acquired fully furnished, and contains an Arcane Enchanter, Alchemy Lab, and Forge, as well as a large storage space, allowing you to unload some unwanted gear without having to leave the island. It is the only house on Solstheim, and your spouse cannot move here.

Conclusion
Hjerim can only be acquired upon progressing to a certain point in the Civil War questline while Vlindrel Hall cannot be acquired until at least level 20 and Proudspire Manor is prohibitively expensive for most low-level players. Breezehome and Honeyside are smaller, and each less convenient in some ways, but can be obtained much earlier in the game for the majority of players. Therefore, which house is most advantageous will likely depend upon playstyle and personal preference.

Faction related houses
Faction houses are granted free of charge upon joining with a guild. Spouses cannot live with the Dragonborn at these locations unless the spouse is also a member, for instance Aela the Huntress and Onmund being members of the Companions and the College of Winterhold respectively.

The chest and barrel in Kodlak's Quarters in Jorrvaskr in Whiterun can reset, thus permanently deleting all items placed within them after a certain period of time. The wardrobe, cupboard and other containers do not, however.

Spouse houses
The following is a list of all the possible spouses who own property and the conditions required to marry them.

Bugs
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 * An exploit can be used to acquire a house without losing gold; requires possession of the amount of needed to buy the house. Immediately after telling the steward, "I'll take it!", exit the conversation before he finishes talking, store all your gold in any nearby chest or drawer, and your gold will not be taken but you will still receive the key and trigger the ownership flag on the house. Can be used, for example, to acquire Proudspire Manor (and subsequently any other house you can work this exploit on).
 * Using the above exploit may cause weapon racks to become unusable.
 * The above exploit can also be used to acquire the decoration upgrades to houses for free.
 * Placing items anywhere in a your house freely (ex. tables, dressers, etc.) will often result in the items ending up on the floor nearby upon re-entering the house, not including weapon racks, wall mounts, bookshelves, which are placed by activation. Bumping or otherwise moving items which were already placed in the house can also result in them being "unpinned" and free to be strewn about the house. In some cases, re-entering a house will result in a large number of items falling through tables, flying off shelves and otherwise making a huge mess (especially in Breezehome), making this a nightmare for players demanding neatness in their home. The housecarl, unfortunately, does not include cleaning in their list of duties to their Thane.
 * In Hjerim, Vlindrel Hall and Honeyside the mannequins can glitch so if the armor is taken off the mannequin, if the player re-enters the house, the armor has been duplicated and will be on the mannequin. This glitch can be used for income, since the armor can be sold.
 * Sometimes Sanguine Rose and Wabbajack, when put in the weapon racks, will be stored upside down. The Axe of Whiterun, when put in weapon racks, will be stored perpendicular to the wall.
 * If books are placed on a bookshelf in player's home, then read and taken, player will be unable to activate the bookshelf again. Seemingly the only solution is loading a previous autosave.
 * Mannequins, weapon racks, weapon plaques, and display cases may bug in differing ways. In all houses, mannequins can become transparent, but putting a necklace on them, exiting the activation screen, and taking it off can fix it temporarily. Racks, plaques, and display cases may all lose their ability to be activated. One known temporary solution is to punch the bugged piece of furniture until the option to 'activate' reappears.
 * Sometimes when a house is purchased, the items inside will not be in players ownership, so every item will have the "steal" option instead of "take," and taking them will be considered stealing by onlookers.
 * Many pointed out bugs, like mannequins, weapon racks and dagger displays not working properly, can be avoided by buying the house and all upgrades at once and then entering the purchased and upgraded house. Although, some minor bugs are still present like mannequins becoming transparent or player's items put in the house can be found scattered all over.
 * Sometimes one of the bookshelves will turn invisible. This is only a visual bug/glitch. Could be caused by having books on said shelf when completing a whole quest line. Taking everything off the bookshelf then exiting and reentering the house fixes this. Might only affect the bookshelf right near the entrance in Breezehome and the Companions quest.
 * When entering Breezehome some books on bookshelves will disappear entirely resulting in them no longer being on the bookshelf or anywhere at all. The solution is to load the last autosave.
 * Sometimes when the Dragonborn enters Heljarchen Hall, and if Alesan is adopted, he will spawn under the table in the main hall.
 * Sometimes, mannequins can glitch and move off of their plates. The solution is to simply exit the house,