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Original poster

Would you buy a house that somebody had been murdered in?

363 replies

lucy889 · 10/03/2025 14:18

Around 12 years ago, an awful murder involving a child and parent happened a few miles from our house, it was such a shock and the house has been empty ever since.

It's now on the market, I personally could never buy it or live there and I feel sad every time I drive by.

Would you buy it given the history if it was perfect for you?

OP posts:
Tapofthemorning · 10/03/2025 17:58

TheMorels · 10/03/2025 17:39

Yes, bricks and mortar absorb energy from what went on the house.

That is SO very silly to me. I’d love it to be true, mind.

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So the Lidl where Shipman murdered all those people holds dark, negative energy in the middle aisle? Genuinely curious.

Redscrunchie · 10/03/2025 17:57

Madewithchilli · 10/03/2025 17:04

How long ago did this happen?

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It was in the 90's.

SunnyViper · 10/03/2025 17:56

Yep

Marshmallow28 · 10/03/2025 17:51

Yes of course as likely to be a bargain! More house for your buck

Isobel201 · 10/03/2025 17:41

Comedycook · 10/03/2025 17:39

Died or was murdered?

People die in houses all the time...it's barely worth noting. My grandmother, father and uncle all died at home. Probably all of us live in or next to a house where someone once died.

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I think committed suicide - my dad at the time said not to mention it to some of his ex's relatives as they were sensitive about those things. But it didn't upset me, tbh we didn't really know them.

Comedycook · 10/03/2025 17:39

Isobel201 · 10/03/2025 17:35

I live next door to a house that someone has died in, but I don't give it a second thought. Someone currently rents it but only lives here part of the year because of work.

Died or was murdered?

People die in houses all the time...it's barely worth noting. My grandmother, father and uncle all died at home. Probably all of us live in or next to a house where someone once died.

TheMorels · 10/03/2025 17:39

DarkMagicStars · 10/03/2025 14:32

No. Houses hold energies.

Yes, bricks and mortar absorb energy from what went on the house.

That is SO very silly to me. I’d love it to be true, mind.

researchers3 · 10/03/2025 17:37

Llllllllppppp · 10/03/2025 14:23

No.
I think because of the type of person I am I would have nightmares, my brain would work over time and I would become convinced it’s haunted.
Also to know that people have really suffered in that house it would never feel like a home.

Same.

Barbadossunset · 10/03/2025 17:36

Elizabeth Bowen wrote a brilliant story about just this called The Cat Jumps. It’s very spooky.

Isobel201 · 10/03/2025 17:35

I live next door to a house that someone has died in, but I don't give it a second thought. Someone currently rents it but only lives here part of the year because of work.

Tapofthemorning · 10/03/2025 17:34

DarkMagicStars · 10/03/2025 14:32

No. Houses hold energies.

I mean, you're right, insofar as they hold energy. But spooky energy? I probably would. I'm more concerned about the size of the garden and if it's got a decent boiler. I might be put off by resell value but realistically most houses of a certain era will have had people die in them. I think you have to declare in the USA, could be wrong.

Cherrysoup · 10/03/2025 17:32

Not a murder, but a pretty violent suicide, place was a state by all accounts. A young couple bought it for a heck of a bargain, great area, fab catchment for highly rated primaries/secondaries. The guy was a tradesman so gutted/re-did and made it his own. Not sure I would have been able to stop thinking about it, but I’m glad it was sold and looked after.

avocadotofu · 10/03/2025 17:29

Absolutely not!

Catproblems · 10/03/2025 17:28

No. There was a horrible murder in the village where I went to school. Decades later I still get a wave of sadness driving past. Many locals may feel the same about the house.

maybe different if it was more anonymous in a city.

user2848502016 · 10/03/2025 17:28

Yes if the price was right!

BellaVita · 10/03/2025 17:26

Not a chance 😫

UndermyShoeJoe · 10/03/2025 17:24

I’d buy it also love those houses that have sealed up hidden rooms and such.

TheMorels · 10/03/2025 17:22

Cattreesea · 10/03/2025 17:20

I don't see why not.

Anyone who buys a period property might be be living in a house where over the decades someone died, was unhappy, was very ill and so on. That's just life.

If you are superstitious you could always have it 'cleansed' by a priest or just burn sage in the house.

We live in a Jacobean house. I’m sure lots of people have died in it.

EnchantedBroccoli · 10/03/2025 17:20

Lentilweaver · 10/03/2025 14:27

I am more worried about global warming- future suffering- than any previous incidents.

Me too.

Cattreesea · 10/03/2025 17:20

I don't see why not.

Anyone who buys a period property might be be living in a house where over the decades someone died, was unhappy, was very ill and so on. That's just life.

If you are superstitious you could always have it 'cleansed' by a priest or just burn sage in the house.

Delphiniumandlupins · 10/03/2025 17:17

I think 12 years would be much too recent for me. I once viewed a house that was very close to the site of a murder in the 60s. I didn't know the case until a friend mentioned it when I told her the street. The house wasn't right anyway but I wouldn't have been put off by the tragedy a few doors along. I think it might always affect the value. I'm not worried about ghosts etc just like to feel other people have been happy in a house.

Keepgettingolder81 · 10/03/2025 17:13

Yes, it's not like they are still in the building

AgnesX · 10/03/2025 17:13

If it was the right house, in the right place and at the right price. Yes. Time moves on.

NeedWineNow · 10/03/2025 17:11

No. Our house is over 100 years old and it is more than likely that someone has died here previously, but I couldn't buy a house knowing that a murder had been committed there. The knowledge would haunt me.

Mirabai · 10/03/2025 17:09

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 10/03/2025 14:35

I expect it was the previous Rillington Place ( Christie). I used to live near there, the whole street had been pulled down and rebuilt in the 1970’s.I also knew someone who lived there ( he wasn’t very nice!)

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My friends used to live in Ruston Close (the renamed Rillington Place). No bad vibes there.