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

This isn't a police matter as it stands and reporting it just wastes there time.

The right thing to do is to offer to be with the elderly couple (if they wish) at the appointed time.

All the letter writer has done is to write a more opinionated letter than is normal. It is very usual for wannabe developers to write letters to the owners of large houses offering to buy them.

Presumably neither of you are elderly?!

@Blopi I would contact our local police & I know they would be willing to have someone at the house if as that time if at all possible.

if that's not feasible, someone should be there with them.

nasty intimidating bastards.

No there's definitely slum landlords who rent usually very substandard property out to people on HB who, as you say, struggle to find tenancies because many landlords don't take HB so they are less likely to complain for fear of having their contracts ended. It's a niche. (Although at least banning no fault evictions should make it a bit harder for the summer end). Or, slightly different situation, but the ones running unlicensed childrens homes who charge an absolute fortune for putting vulnerable children/people in cheap housing. Of course looked after children need accommodation and housing in the community. This isn't a criticism of them. But some firms make a huge profit out of other people's misery.

I think the tone of the letter and the vulnerability of the recipient means a call to non emergency line is necessary.

This isn’t like one of the ads that say ‘So many people are looking for houses in your road, contact us if you want to sell’. Those, yes you just chuck away.

But there is a clear guilt trip in that message (your house is too big for you, you Andre being selfish, others deserve it more) and there is an aggressive dictate too (I am coming at 11am).

To those of you who know you could deal with this yourselves and think it is silly to call the non emergency line, have some compassion. Try to think about things from other people’s perspectives.

You really think the police are this contemptuous of people? That’s worrying.

What? Every student I know lives in an HMO and a good whack of young professionals just staring out also live in HMO properties.

Please explain why you think landlords who rent out HMO homes are taking all their income money from tax payers?

I don’t think you know what an HMO is.

Possibly, just in case this escalates to a knock on the door. Aside from that, I’d ignore it.

I'd report it online but thats it - people are awful aren't they

HMOs are usually not paticularly nice places to live. They are more of a last resort. People who can afford to pay their own rent don't tend to end up living in them.

This letter has just popped up on my Facebook feed also. I was a tad sceptical and seeing it here as well feels even more like a made up thing doing the rounds now….

I think this is really bad advice. It’s asking two people who the OP describes as frightened and worried, to stand up to a property developer who is pushy enough to inform them that their house is too big for them and he’ll be paying under the market value. The author of the letter is clearly pushing his luck and I suspect he’s fully aware there’s not a big, burly man who’ll be answering the door on Thursday, ready to give him a clump if he doesn’t clear off.

It’s relying on the house owners to be able to refuse to give him a moment of their time, and to tell him very firmly to piss off. Or to leave them worrying about who is going to be outside every time they open their door.

How are HMO landlords receiving all their income from the tax payer? They’d only get taxpayer money if any if the tenants were claiming housing costs through universal credit. And a lot of landlords still don’t accept anyone claiming UC if they can avoid it.

Ate you thinking of housing associations? Because even housing associations and council houses have tenants in them who don’t all claim universal credit. Plenty of people are paying rent on a housing association property from their salary, not from benefits.

Honestly the police will laugh them out of the door.

The amount of times people go on about “logging with 101” is hillarious.

The electoral role is a matter of public record. Estate agents do this stuff all the time, people selling stuff, politicians canvassing during the elections, I know at least two of our reform candidates wrote to me personally 😂.

What they do is bin the letter and think “what tossers.” Then carry on with their lives.

I think they should have someone with them when this cheeky character knocks on the door. He should know they aren’t without friends.

Police should absolutely be there to help when vulnerable members of the community have been told that they’ll be getting a visit they don’t want to discuss something they don’t want to discuss. The police should absolutely be doing things like this within the community and I think we should be asking them to, so even if they don’t help, it is at least recorded that they have been asked for help by the community and haven’t provided it. Maybe it will bring change eventually and we will get community policing and support back.

I think it should be reported to the police non emergency line.

I think the letter is wholly inappropriate.

Providing a contact number should they wish to discuss further is the way to go, not dictating to them.

Cheeky fxxkers.

I’d phone non emergency line for advice. Unless the police specifically contradict me, this is what I’d do

definitely get someone (male and muscular preferably) to be there to receive the ‘guests’
On the driveway not within the house though. Recorded and get details of the car. Tell them that the police have been informed and that any further contact will be viewed as harassment

It's disgusting.

There's huge incentives for landlords for big homes to turn them into HMOs .. they get significantly more income, which is of course all paid for by the taxpayer.

This man who wrote the letter knows this and is probably contacting all the elderly owners of all large properties in the area.

What on earth do you think the police are going to do?!

Given that the people are elderly and therefore likely to be vulnerable then I’d ring the police non-emergency line for advice. It would be helpful to have a younger person in the house in case these people do turn up on their doorstep.

It’s all very well saying bin the letter but when vulnerable people are involved things can take a dark turn.

Tell the police what? That someone has informed them that they intend to knock their door? That's not illegal. Have them be out or have someone there to answer the door if they're too intimidated by the letter to deal with it themselves.

Should my friend phone the police on the non emergency line about this?

Yeah, I think she probably should, so the police have time to sort something out. Obviously being elderly doesn’t mean that they aren’t more than capable of telling Mr Common Surname to fuck right off when he arrives on Thursday, but as it has upset and frightened them, not least because they don’t understand how easy it is to get someone’s surname, it doesn’t sound like they’d be able to do this.

I would definitely report this to the police on the non-emergency line. It might provider further evidence for something they're already aware of. If humanly possible, I'd have somebody younger and tougher in the house at the time of the 'appointment'. It would do no harm at all for the scammers to see that there are concerned people around this elderly couple. Scammers are looking for easy targets and unfortunately there are plenty about.

I think there’s loads of dodgy stuff on social media, courses etc about get rich quick stuff. Not being a developer etc where they basically apply for planning etc and then get a massive cut. We have a really large garden where there is space in theory to build another house and I often get letters from companies that if you google, they’ve just been set up. It’s kind of like an MLM scheme.

I think that letter is very aggressive though and I would contact the police, it’s hard to ignore if they just turn up on the doorstep. If they are no help. I’d be tempted to leave a letter on the door saying that they have no intention of sellling and if they continue to contact you you’ll be calling the police or something along those lines.