Is this a red flag? House buying

[ParkAndRider]

In a small desirable village, near a large city there's a selection of different housing. At one end of the village there is a line of eight almost identical cottages I think 1960s build. Out of the eight, four are on the market. This is a fast moving market generally. They all went on the market approx five months ago.

Haven't had a chance to raise it with the EA yet and I'm not sure if there was a negative reason they would say anyway.

Would you see this as a cause for concern or just a coincidence?

As they say no such thing as a coincidence

is there building plans near by? or something happening in the local area?

That's what I thought. I've tried googling but can't find anything.

Look into any planning permission applications. Look on Right move to see when they went on the market, some might have been on the market for a long time and others just come on. If they all came on the market within a short period of time it is more cause for concern.

Get hold of the Local Plan, that will give you details of what land in the area is earmarked for.

Perhaps they’re all owned by one landlord who is selling up

I'd first speak to the EA.

Then check that they aren't all owned by the same person/estate. It could be someone divesting themselves of property, or an inheritance sale. Or an extended family moving away from the area. Are they all with the same estate agent?

Then apply some advanced Google-Fu to check for planning applications, proposed developments, adverse environmental issues, newspaper reports, etc.

There are usually clues when this sort of thing happens.

is the area affected by some of the National Grid pylon proposals or other mega projects, new roads, wind farm , solar panel , anaerobic digester?
in the case of pylons, formal planning permissions have not been sought but there have been consultations.