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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To take neighbour's...

16 replies

SardineJam · 17/10/2011 12:28

...comments, with a pinch of salt?

Bit of background - DP and I were searching for a three bed house (to rent) from the beginning of the year knowing we needed somewhere bigger for us when DS2 arrived. After 20+ viewings of houses we finally found somewhere that we both liked, in a good area, with good schools nearby - it is at the absolute top end of our budget but ticks all the boxes - its not our intention to move anytime soon, and there is no way we would be able to get a mortgage for a long time. We moved into the house in June on a 6 month initial rental contract, which becomes rolling after the 6 months

Our neighbour, I think, thinks he is the street's alpha male - he has lived in his house for over 50 years and likes to regale with stories of how he had the keys to most of the houses on the street and the meter readers loved him because he could let them in etc. he also puts everyone's wheelie bins in their yards after the rubbish has been collected on bin day and the postman/delivery men always leave parcels with him when the addressee's are at work

Anyway, since day one and everytime we see him he always tells us that the landlords are going to sell the house (they used to live here and moved somewhere bigger) and asks what we are going to do when our contract is up - bearing in mind the six month mark is looming soon. It really winds me up that he keeps saying it, but then I just wonder if he is just being a busybody

We have had no issues with the landlords and vice versa and when DP voiced concern, fuelled by the neighbour's comments, when we first moved in, to the landlord about the contract only being 6 months, the landlord said that as the this was the first time they were renting a place out they just wanted to be on the safe side and have a "get out clause" so to speak, in case we were dodgy tenants, which are havent been. He did say he'd be happy for us to sign a new contract after this one expires. And surely if they were selling they would probably give us more than one month's notice, due to the whole home buying process/timeline

So..AIBU to ignore to just ignore the neighbour's comments or should we have the idea in the back of our minds that we need to start looking at other places again soon?

OP posts:

SquishyCinnamonSwirls · 17/10/2011 12:31

Ask your landlord. There's no harm in getting clarification, and then you can kindly tell your neighbour to keep his nose out.

purplewerepidj · 17/10/2011 12:32

Ignore the neighbour, he's obviously just got a bit of a power-trip going on.

Your landlord has reassured you; if anything, the neighbour will be spouting regurgitated polite chitchat from before the LL moved out.

Recognise him for the slightly sad old man he is (lived there 50 years? Is he retired and has little to do/limited social life?) and humour him

ninedragons · 17/10/2011 12:32

Ignore, he's a curtain-twitcher.

DonkeyTeapot · 17/10/2011 12:36

Ignore the neighbour, I used to have one like that. Is his information based on anything concrete, or just what he thinks? I'm sure if your landlord decides to sell, he'll let you know, rather than just telling your neighbours.

From a legal standpoint, I believe your landlord has to give you two full months notice if he wants you to move out, whatever the reason.

Original poster

SardineJam · 17/10/2011 12:38

He always makes a concerted effort to get me to stop and have small talk with him, even if its quite clear I'm in a rush and looking harrassed, grr! And now that I am on maternity leave I'm around a lot more, and find it hard to avoid him - surprised he hasnt invited himself in for a cuppa!

Purple i reckon the landlords may have been wanting to sell at some point but figured they'd take a loss so decided to rent instead - and when they were thinking of selling they probably mentioned it to the very sad old guy at that point

OP posts:

hiddenhome · 17/10/2011 12:39

My dh has just become a landlord and 6 month contracts are usual, esp. in the beginning when people are just finding their way - that goes for tenant and landlords alike

You neighbour sounds like a pain tbh. Ignore him.

AKMD · 17/10/2011 12:40

Clarify with your LL and then ignore. Your neighbour sounds very lonely though, what a shame :(

ElizabethDarcy · 17/10/2011 12:41

I would ignore the neighbour completely... he has NOTHING to do with your lease. I would however get onto the landlord re their intentions to renew the lease or not... let them know you are keen.

ElizabethDarcy · 17/10/2011 12:41

(speaking as a tenant and a landlord myself!)

ChippingInToThePumpkinLantern · 17/10/2011 12:42

I would actually err on the side of caution. Some LL will tell you whatever they need to, to get you to rent the house & stay there while it suits them .

Some neighbours know what's what - some are just trouble makers.

You have no idea.

When can you sign a longer term agreement?

When you do, see if you can get a longer notice period put in the agreement - just bear in mind you'd need to give that notice too - unless he's a lovely landlord and would let you give a shorter notice period than he would give you.

slartybartfast · 17/10/2011 12:43

i would be prepared, he may well be right.

Original poster

SardineJam · 17/10/2011 12:49

The six month's run out on 15 December, so if they wanted us out, I guess by 15 November they wouldnt need to serve notice to us, so it is quite soon

I just think that the neighbour's character is that of a busybody, he knows everything about everyone on the street, so thats why I am unsure where to believe him or not

I think we should put in a call to the landlord for peace of mind, and see if they will have a longer lease agreement set up - they seemed all up for doing that once this one expired, so...

OP posts:

fedupofnamechanging · 17/10/2011 12:55

I doubt if your neighbour would know more about it than you. Why would a landlord discuss it with him? It's true that a LL will tell you what they want you to know, but if they were planning on selling the house, I doubt they'd discuss it with your neighbour.

Even if it happened, you are under no obligation to discuss future plans with a nosy neighbour anyway.

You could call your LL and ask about signing a longer term lease, so at least you know where you stand.

roadkillbunny · 17/10/2011 13:05

The last property we lived at we found out that the owners planed to relocate and come and live in the property (which they had inherited) themselves from the heating engineer. Was not a pleasant way to find out, he told us this a couple of times yet when we had taken out the lease we had made clear we were looking for our extremely long term home and hoped to stay there for the foreseeable future. We found out from the engineer that moving to the house themselves had always been their plan so we were very put out as we would have never ever have taken the house had we known (they probabably didn't tell us because of this), we were relocating hundreds of miles with a small child, starting from scratch socially and although having found out by word of mouth four months before the initial 12 month contract was up helped us brace for it I was still devastated when they wrote to us 3 months before we were due to renew (no one seems to do rolling contracts in these parts, was a shock to my system), I had worked so hard to start putting down roots in the village and making friends, there were no other houses remotely suitable (affordable) in the small village or surrounding villages so we were forced to start over again.
The landlord did make it as easy as possible for us, letting us out of contract early when we found a house and five years on I am so glad it all happened as we are now in a village I never plan to leave, my children are so happy here, we have so many friends and we are part of the community, the village we started in just didn't have half of the community we have now and we lucked out to stumble into catchment for one of the best schools in the country.
It was a spectacularly crap way to find out but fate often had a few tricks in store! Your neighbour does sound lonely though, wonder if there is anyway you can help him with that.

Original poster

SardineJam · 17/10/2011 13:35

roadkillbunny I really hope that we dont have to go through all the upheaval like you did, but then yours did turn out for the best. I had a look on Rightmove earlier and the choice in the area is dire, which is worrying!
We got the house through an estate agency so nothing was said by us/landlords to sway any decisions on taking the house, it was only about a month or so into to contract that DP called them and posed the 'why 6 months only' question

OP posts:

Original poster

SardineJam · 27/10/2011 06:53

Just an update - DP phoned the landlord and laughed at the the idea that he was putting the house on the market, and doesnt know where the curtain twitching neighbour got his facts from! He is quite happy to sign a new, longer term lease once this one expires, phew!

OP posts:

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