To be concerned about buying a house near a travellers camp?

[drawohamme]

Before anyone gets the flame thrower out - I am asking about the effect it has on house prices etc, not about whether they should / shouldn't be there etc.

I am moving out of London (where I have been perfectly happy living with a huge great mix of different communities) and hopefully into a commuter belt village. DH came home tonight and said that a colleague of his had heard about where we were looking and 'warned' us about a big travelling camp in the area.

Was this person being an idiot or am I being naive thinking that we wouldn't be affected whilst we live there or long term financially when we eventually want to sell up?

[CerealMom]

I know Redbourne very well. It is a sought after place to live and the site barely registers.

Why Redbourne OP? We might be able to find you other lovely local places if you're still concerned about the site.

[DomesticDisgrace]

I was in your exact position a year and a half ago.
I'm usually very liberal etc but I'll be totally honest, my dad is a taxi driver and any experience I had ever had of travellers were bad.

With a heavy heart I bought the place anyway because I couldn't afford anything else and other than the travellers it was ideal. Well it was the best move I've ever made, I haven't regretted it for a second. They keep to themselves, there's never been any trouble at all, we don't even see them.

[Ubik1]

I've lived near settled traveller sites for years without knowing they were there.

You'll only know if it's an issue if you ask around the local area.

[elastamum]

My friends DC wander around the village and get buses into Harpenden or St Albans all the time. Seems very safe to me

[elastamum]

I know lots of people who live in Redbourn. The site has been there for years, so not really temporary and is likely to be there forever.

As far as I am aware the site isnt a problem. The children go to the local schools and the site is well run. Most of the people I know in Redbourn are very happy there and have been there a long time. The place has a good community feel, some good play space and nice pubs!

Property in Redbourn is a fair bit cheaper than Harpenden or St Albans, but not far from both, so has access to great shops, resturants, schools and transport to london.

But do your homework if you have school age children. Depending on where you buy in the village you might get secondary places in Harpenden (wonderful) or Hemel Hempstead (not so wonderful)

[brettgirl2]

I dunno we had a traveller site about a mile from our house. It didn't seem to negatively affect prices while they were here. It was an eyesore and is but you only found it if you looked for it. We never had any trouble. Schools point is just racist imo.

We have a planning application now for a much small site up the road, not bovvered tbh.

[MadIsTheNewNormal]

I don't think this country has a 'tradition' of having any Roma - they are very much a new phenomenon here. I think you are probably referring to British Romany people. They are the ones who are often well integrated, fairly well regarded in the local community on the whole, usually law abiding, and sometimes well educated.

I doubt you'll find very many Irish travellers who are even in secondary education until 16, never mind further education, and even less higher education. They don't tend to integrate well and frankly given the experiences of most people who have lived around them for even the shortest time, it's no wonder people think twice before buying a house near one of their camps.

[Marcipex]

My Inlaws have a traveller camp on the route between their home and the railway station.
My teenage nieces can not walk to or from the station alone as the girls from the camp ambush passers-by to beat them up. Even little traveller girls join in with the older ones.
I wouldn't go there. My Inlaws want to move but can't afford to.

[OTheHugeManatee]

I don't think you can generalise. We have a traveller site on the edge of our small town, and a fair few pass through doing seasonal farm work, following the harvest up the country. Apart from very occasional scuffles between local lads and travellers passing through there is zero trouble and everyone rubs along very happily.

I'm aware that in other areas it's not necessarily like that and there is more conflict between settled and traveller communities. I think you need to find out as much as possible about the specific situation in that area before making your decision.

[LayMeDown]

The issue is not the house value. If the site is well established it will already be priced into the value. The issue is the ease of resale. You will probably find it harder to sell than another house even if competitively priced, so you will take a while to sell it.
IME though unless you are actually overlooking the site it shouldn't impact you that much in terms of value or resale. Certainly one the other side of the town wouldn't bother me at all.

[Damnautocorrect]

I live in a town with a few traveller sites, the kids attend the local school with my son. In fact a lot of BFGW has been filmed here. Honestly say, so far no problems at all and I don't expect to have. Schools lovely, kids happy. But the sites been here a long time so everyone's integrated around and with them. I can imagine a new site would hit values and could cause problems (on both sides).

[SapphireMoon]

Our school is full but does suffer from snobbery type avoidance by some.
Hope their children grow up more forward thinking and less narrow.
Some attitudes make me cross.

[trampstamp]

If you have children it will be a issue some schools near traveller sites are half empty and because of the constant coming a goings of children it can be very disruptive also the schools tend not to perform well as it's well know children from these coummites have lots of educational issues

[SapphireMoon]

The community is stable but some do travel for work and the school is as supportive as it can be.
I like the diversity of our school which seems to produce children who accept and treat all as equal as of course we all should.

[vestandknickers]

It depends how stable the traveller community is Sapphire. If a high percentage of children move on it can be very disruptive for a school.

[SapphireMoon]

What is your concern about schools vestandknickers? My children attend a primary with a high percentage of children from the traveller community.
Not an issue with us. Lovely inclusive school.
There are some unpleasant people who avoid the school because of the traveller community.

[Homebirthquestion]

It'll probably be fine but as a pp said, I wouldn't buy a property which will discount a large number of buyers from your future potential market.

We've done it, it's a pita and so we 've discounted any future houses if there's any kind of shortfall about them.

Ours was a very quiet but ex-council block of flats next to our terrace. They were all privately owned but lots of people told the agents they wouldn't consider our property even though they knew they were now privately owned.

[vestandknickers]

Do you have children? If so, my main worry would be the impact on local schools.

[YellowDinosaur]

Shoe? Site thanks dyac!

[YellowDinosaur]

We had friends who used to live in Redbourn. They moved a few years ago but only because they couldn't afford a house the size they wanted in Redbourn and from how they talked about it I think they would have stayed if they could afford it. I've never heard them mention a travellers shoe and they certainly didn't have any issues selling.

But yes, do your homework as suggested.

[CMOTDibbler]

The area where I live is traditionally somewhere there are a lot of Roma, and I can immediately think of 7 privately owned sites within a few miles of where I am. You never hear of any trouble from these sites.

We also have some new age type travellers who come through at certain times of year with traditional (but much dirtier than the roma would ever consider) horse drawn caravans who camp on the side of the road. They cause a bit of a mess, but never go on private land.

[drawohamme]

Thanks again everyone. I think I need to do my homework.

I'm very much live and let live and I know where ever we go there will be dangers for my son. TBH my biggest concern is road traffic safety whilst he's little.

I grew up in a small town where everyone was afraid of anything different and when I moved to te big bad city I realised ninety percent of the concern was nonsense. I just thought it might be the same thing again.

However now I'm potentially sinking money into a place I realise people's perceptions are as important as the reality.

[DarlingGrace]

It depends on the site and the sort of Travellers they are. Roma are very different to Irish. The Irish are very well integrated into our society now, and really don't conform to media stereotype; their children are well educated, go to college, and frequently university. They really aren't as they are portrayed on 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding'. Well the ones round here aren't.

They do keep themselves to themselves. They aren't likely to come round rustling your chickens and nicking bikes from your dive.

But also people often don't move on from past gossip. There was a large site in the next town, the children all went to the local comp, until they dropped out in Y8/9, which used to be quite common. Most of that camp has dispersed, there are two families left, if there are any children in that comprehensive, they aren't immediately noticeable. But people still talk about the 'pikey school' . So gossip can be 20 years old and still have an effect on an area.