To declare or not over a dispute with neighbours

[justagirl007]

Hi everyone i'm feeling a little concerned at the moment over which step to take next. Recently sold my house for financial reasons. However in the past i have had a dispute withe neighbours over excessive diying and slamming doors which was recorded with our local council but no evidence was found and nothing was done. Also i received a solicitors letter from another neighbour after there was a dispute over my hedge i wanted my side high and he wanted my side low :/ I explained to him that i owned the hedge as it was clearly marked on my deeds. The letter that was sent to me stated that he thought he owned it from past sellers and wished to cut just his side which is fine. I am desperate to move and have already filled the spih form in which i didn't really pay that much attention to as the question did not mention neighbours just property and i ticked no to most things :-o i'm a first time seller and since speaking to a friend they have said i must declare :/ what to do what to do???

What country are you in? If you're in England the form asks a question about disputes and letters received. You need to tell your solicitor. The issues you've mentioned sound quite trivial though. Do the neighbours that you had issues with still live there?

Yea i'm in UK and yes the neighbours are still next door with no problems lol but now we are close to signing and i don't know what to do :/

Yes, you must declare them, they are documented so there's no doubt about if they actually count as a dispute.

www.problemneighbours.co.uk/what-you-have-declare-about-neighbours-when-selling.html

"Buyers could potentially take action against you for years after the sale of the property has been agreed, so don?t just assume that once you?ve moved out, the problem has gone away if you haven?t told them."

Just be honest - it could bite you in the arse if you don't either by holding things up or by causing the whole deal to fall through. Better to get it out in the open.

The people who owned our house previously didn't declare the issues with our neighbours. We've subsequently discovered that we're the 4th of 5 sets of neighbours who've had problems caused by this one person (the 5th set moved the other side after us). Now our situation is a lot worse in that this neighbour and family have threatened to kill our children. But we are in the midst of gathering evidence to sue the previous owners for their lack of disclosure.

OTOH the neighbours the other side who had similar issues discovered the mad woman left them alone after our previous owners moved in. They were upfront with their solicitors who advised them that no issues had arisen in a long period (over 7yrs) so not to declare them. You should really take the advice of your solicitors over that.

No don't declare it.
I know from experience, there is not much you can do about it afterwards even if you can prove seller deliberately lied.
RElevant disputes anyway tend to be more about boundaries and easements rather than door slamming and DIY

I think you need to talk to your solicitor OP. IF there's been a dispute raised but no evidence found at all then I'm not sure you have to declare because it can be viewed as being untrue. Check with your solicitor

My friend moved next to the neighbour from hell, previous peeps didn't declare. She could do nothing unless she spent a whole lot of her own money taking them to court and may not have won. She's not declaring but that's because said neighbour was evicted.

If your desperate to sell and the neighbour wants the hedge low, why not just cut it low? Dispute solved, buyers see a low hedge, you'll eventually sell, no problem?

Am I missing something?

If you don't declare it, the buyer of your house will be well within their legal rights to sue you when he finds out. Take that chance at your own risk

You would be mad not to declare it. You may be desperate to get out right now, but try to imagine how you'll feel spending the next few years thinking you might be sued and end up possibly losing your next home to pay the costs of that.

The point is, if the dispute came to nothing, with a lack of evidence of anything which breached bylaws, then that information will go to the prospective buyer, so they'll know exactly what the situation is. It's not like you're just ticking a box and they won't know whether they're moving next to the neighbours from hell. You need to state the date of any correspondence and outline what the issue was and how it was resolved. If someone is keen to buy, they won't be put off by a years old declaration about something which is no longer a current problem. On the other hand, if a buyer gets an inkling from anyone that a declaration wasnt made, they are more likely to be seething and go after compensation.

Those who are suggesting you just keep quiet are giving you really bad advice

You need to declare it. Apart from any legal problems that you could face because of lying, it's just morally wrong to allow someone to make the biggest purchase of their lives without telling them the truth in answer to a standard question.

If the problems are now resolved or don't exist any more, it's highly unlikely to put your buyer off making the purchase so owning up won't do any harm to your sale.

As you are wanting to leave anyway are you prepared to give more ground?

Rather than have to declare a problem, which is absolutely right and proper, it may well ease things to solve the problem thus giving nothing to declare.

If i'm being honest i can't see there being a problem with my neighbours we didnt get on since i divorced my ex and they turned funny then but have been o.k well since i put the house up for sale, i'v had problems with most people round here since next door is a busy body and lived round here all her life and plus i'm a single mum on my own and i hate to say it but i feel like i'm an easy target. My kids hate it and i'm struggling financially but on the same note i understand what you are all saying about being honest and having a free conscience

If it is recorded with your local Council then it may well show up when the buyer's solicitors do a search !

I understand too well the issues of non disclosure by previous owner.
Bought a end of terrace house with a parking space. After a few renovations...removal of a shed to create a courtyard garden and new bathroom, neighbours came around saying he had ‘washing rights’ and we couldn’t park our car on our driveway. It turns out that their was a conveyance missing off our deeds that were attached to neighbours. We instructed solicitors to resolve and found that the conveyance has to go on our deeds. We then tried to address a resolution with them about us having parking and then using area for washing but he won’t be resasonable about it and keeps hanging a washing line across my driveway...he’s never used it as his house is filthy! We found out during that process that he had been having the same issue with the previous vendor. Our solicitor wrote to them asking them to agree our reasonable terms, (there access apparently can not stop our enjoyment of the land) and ended the letter by saying if you don’t reply we will assume your agreeable. 18mthd later we put up a For Sale sign as this has been so distressing in a day to day basis, and they write to the Edtate Agents saying we are in dispute and please pass this on to the potential vendors! As such no sale....not sure if it is linked but still. Even tried to part ex but property older than 1930’s. Can anyone help me here. I am reasonable and understand they have rights but also to take previous owner to court will cost £20,000 and it’s such a simple resolution. 😩

Talk yourself into not declaring it all you want but you would be a massive arse if you don’t. It sucks that you are having a difficult time financially but that isn’t your buyer’s problem.

Pitwomen, I’d probably start by sueing the solicitor for negligence in finishing that letter with “if we don’t hear from you we’ll assume it’s ok” silence is not deemed consent.

So the issue isn’t resolved and the neighbour is correct to state that there is a dispute.

What do you mean by washing rights?

Also maybe start a new thread, you’ll get more help 😄

Banjostarz
Thanks for reply. ‘Washing Rights’ is a covenant added to Victorian properties that have no gardens as such, to provide the householder the ability to dry their washing. This was when the out buildings were used as wash houses. He has converted his to an office and we made ours a courtyard garden.....it’s the driveway they have access too for these rights. We don’t dispute that but just the right to use all of it, therefore stopping our rights to park.
As for selling it’s not! So non disclosure isn’t an issue and I would always disclose as it’s gone too far.
I’m off to report the neighbours abusive behaviour towards me, to the Police and get them to remove the line. Taking all the documents with me and maybe they can help mediate.
How do I start thread? Not very techno! 😬