AIBU to think this intimidating house buying letter should be reported to police?

Ive had fliers of this kind pushed through the door and they end up in the bin with all the other garbage. I have a ring doorbell, cctv and a stern notice about unsolicited visitors. People still knock occasionally and I watch them toddling up and down the street. Quite amusing on cold winter days. Its not my problem f people want to waste their time because they cannot read.

You can fill out a form at the town hall to withhold your name from the publicly available electoral roll. Credit reference and mortgage companies will still be able to check it for legitimate purposes.

Yes, this.

Having said this, I wouldn’t want to leave my young teens alone in the house at the time that somebody like this had said they were going to come.

Honestly in what way is it intimidating?

My elderly mother would absolutely worry about this.

Bin it and tell them to not answer the door at 11am on Thursday.

If someone does show up and is insistent and won’t leave they can call the police then.

If it was my house I would ignore it but if my elderly neighbour was worried I would contact the police for them

Can’t someone else be there when they are supposed to go round and tell them to buzz off in less polite language?

Inviting themselves with a set date she has no way of declining for one. I’d be livid if my mother received this. She’d be terrified.

Because someone has said they are going to come round to ask about buying a house? I really don't think they would.

I have been baffled by where the intimidation that other people have talked about has came from.

I'm with you on this. If the couple have lived there for 58 years they must be approaching their 80s at least and even if their names might be easy to get, how did the author of the letter know their age?
Vulnerable and some information not easily found. Definitely non-emergency Police and if they aren't able to attend, someone else with them.

I think it should be reported. It's wrong.

letter in bin recycling and carry on life as normal on Thursday encourage them to go out for the time person intends to visit let the other party waste their time. If they cannot be out then get friendly neighbour in to make it clear if someone does knock that they are not interested.

i don't think there is any harm in reporting non urgently to the police in case anything escalates.
I hope they have a ring door bell to record any unsolicited calls.
Id put a note on the door saying "no unsolicited callers "
And they shouldn't answer the door physically.
Honestly the absolute gall of some people.

How odd that this also popped up on my local Facebook group too. Slightly different wording though. Hmmm.

This is nothing like the letters we get fairly regularly from estate agents or even (apparently) from potential purchasers. Those are just pointing out that if we wanted to sell there are people out there looking for houses like ours (allegedly). No attempt to guilt trip us into selling. No spurious appointment. Not addressed to us by name, making us think they've already dug up information about who lives here and our circumstances.

Report to the police of if not Age Concern

They are potentially vulnerable and as someone else has said sign up to the land registry alert service.

Also potential cuckooing as well casing the joint for burglary. There are some very unscrupulous people out there

I can confirm from personal experience that our local police have taken seriously an attempt by known criminals to extort money from a vulnerable older person in our area. I saw one of them attempting to get the target to let her into the house and knowing the background I went out and challenged her. I also took photos of her and her minder who was standing nearby watching, and at the request of a family member passed them on to the police and spoke at some length to an officer on the phone. It seems to have done the trick for now.

If this letter is circulating on Facebook, it may be an urban myth, but scammers do live amongst us. This BBC series/podcast was about probate fraud - cases where an elderly person dies, leaving a house and no close family. Scammers moved in and managed to get probate for forged wills leaving the property to a completely unrelated person. Horrifying. I think the loophole has been closed now, as a direct result, but no doubt the scammers are even now looking for another one. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0lmy77v

Estate agent ex used to get the information from land registry to send letters. Used to get great results.
he was a twat, but his letters weren’t toned like this!!

tell them to bin it and either answer the door and tell them they aren’t interested, the ideal one. Or don’t answer the door - but they’ll likely come back.

Well The elderly couple are intimidated & frightened (understandably)

if you can't appreciate that no sure what more there is to say., 💁🏻‍♀️except our local
police would definitely want to know about it & ward off any trouble.

Report it - it's elder abuse. Swap out the ages for skin colour and that should make sense. Too many people not taking elder abuse seriously. It's not even a question. Report it. Especially as you say, other letters weren't personalised so this one is different.

I have had letters from estate agents with sob stories from people wanting my "family home". But they have all said I can call to discuss. No one saying they will turn up.
No one saying they will turn up.
On that basis, and the fact they are older and vulnerable, log with 101 and have someone there when this person is due to turn up.

Developers often write to home owners. Just put the letter in the bin and don’t answer the door to them. Also everyone should be signed up to land registry alerts

Give over. I lived in a HMO for three years because I was a student. The only thing we were in receipt of was Student Loans.

I don't have time to read the full thread, but if no-one else has said it, I've recently heard a lot about "cuckoo-ing" and I'd be concerned about this.

It's when vulnerable homeowners (or even renters) are targeted by individuals needing somewhere to live, or even criminal gangs who want their house to use as a base for storing drugs or running brothels. Yes, it sounds far fetched but I know personally of one case where an old gent was confined to an increasingly smaller area of his home as strangers moved in and took over his spare rooms. This was due to a young woman he'd been persuaded to help, and then it grew from there. Its becoming such an issue that the Government are having to take action on it. www.gov.uk/government/publications/crime-and-policing-bill-2025-factsheets/crime-and-policing-bill-child-criminal-exploitation-and-cuckooing-factsheet

@Blopi I don't necessarily think it needs 101 input just yet, but I would definitely have someone younger and on-the-ball there with them on the day. I'd rather be safe than sorry. It's much harder to end cuckooing once it's started!