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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to expect Estate Agent to disclose history of house we are buying?

139 replies

deltacogal · 10/06/2016 17:43

Found the house of our dreams and had the offer accepted but after a bit of googling we found out via online news articles that the husband committed suicide in the house last year.

AIBU to think that this is the sort of info it would have been nice to know before putting in the offer? I'm a bit woo woo about this stuff as are my kids.

Was under the impression this kind of stuff would have been disclosed?

OP posts:

fakenamefornow · 10/06/2016 18:10

I remember I looked at a house years ago that had a whole history written on the details. In the 1960s he house had been a famous meeting place and home of an ex clergyman who was a leading Satanist, he was buried standing upright in the garden. I think the house was quickly snapped up.

Original poster

deltacogal · 10/06/2016 18:11

Was just thinking more from a legal stand point if we resold, not from the POV of the poor family who have gone through it who I wouldn't expect to have to disclose personal information.

OP posts:

LunaLoveg00d · 10/06/2016 18:13

, just wondered if there was any legal obligation as I think in other countries there is if it's been a crime or suicide...

Don't think so. If you ask and they lie, that's a different matter.

Remember too that the Estate Agents are working for the sellers, not the buyers.

NewLife4Me · 10/06/2016 18:15

They are a business, it could put people off buying it, why would they tell you?
They aren't legally obliged to tell you anything about the house.
people do what you did and google, sometimes.

runningincircles12 · 10/06/2016 18:17

deltacogal I think on balance, a single suicide (especially one some time ago) would not be something that would stop an ordinary, reasonably person from buying the property, so I wouldn't worry too much about resale in the future.

But I do think if there had been multiple deaths (such as a series of murders) then it probably would be something that needs to be disclosed. For example, if you were buying Fred West's or Ian Huntley's house (both of which have been demolished by the way) you would want to know about it. One suicide, probably not so much.

NewIdeasToday · 10/06/2016 18:18

The estate agent is acting for, and being paid by, the sellers. Not by you. Why would he want to mention this, any more than he'd want to say that parking is a complete nightmare on school days or that the local teenagers hang out on the green opposite on Friday evenings.....

It's up to you to find out all these types of things.

specialsubject · 10/06/2016 18:20

I bought a house from a widow. For all I know the husband died here. I was hardly going to ask.

it makes no difference to you, and as mentioned any house apart from a brand new one will probably have had a death on the premises.

please teach your kids science, not superstition.

CruCru · 10/06/2016 18:25

Realistically, should one have to disclose all the deaths and their manner within a house, loads of houses couldn't be sold. I'm sure lots of people have died and been born in my house.

expatinscotland · 10/06/2016 18:29

'Was just thinking more from a legal stand point if we resold, not from the POV of the poor family who have gone through it who I wouldn't expect to have to disclose personal information.'

Nope, no legal obligation at all.

Again, up to you if you pull out. It does disturb some people, and people are free to do their own research.

missymayhemsmum · 10/06/2016 18:31

The estate agent works for the vendor, who is presumably the bereaved widow now trying to put her life back together somehow. Hallow the poor man's memory by making the sale as quick and straightforward for her as you can.

branofthemist · 10/06/2016 18:33

There is no legal obligation. If you ask they shouldn't lie and would imagine they would have to tell you then.

But no they don't legally have to tell you.

runningincircles12 · 10/06/2016 18:34

Well, actually, under the Regs I mentioned above, they would have to disclose things like if there is a significant problem with anti-social behaviour because that would be something that would reasonably stop someone from buying a property. Just because they act for the seller does not mean they can be unethical and the new regulations have made changes to the old position that it's up to the buyer to discover everything. If the teenagers were just gathering on the green, it's probably not an issue. However, if there has been police involvement, it would be relevant.

AddictedToCoYo · 10/06/2016 18:39

YABU.

It would be used as a way of driving the price down to rock bottom for a family who have been through enough already without having that shit to contend with.

Why should they disclose it? Logically, officially, legally, it is no different from a house where an old lady died in her sleep, or a house where nobody died at all. They don't owe anyone an explanation based on ...er......fear and superstition.

TwatbadgingCuntfuckery · 10/06/2016 18:44

It is becoming the norm that homes owned by notorious killers are knocked down. www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/april-jones-killers-cottage-demolished-4643168

though when it comes to other crimes and suicide I don't think it really impacts on the sale at all. As to any negativity lingering I think thats in peoples head not the property.

Petal40 · 10/06/2016 18:46

Personally,that would bother me an awful lot...I wouldn't be able to be alone in the house knowing that..both my houses were new builds...the house I grew up in was built on a graveyard...I had terrible nightmares....but I'm a sensitive soul...

IndridCold · 10/06/2016 18:47

If every previous owner of the house had committed suicide there, maybe (although that would be the plot of a crappy novel).

In RL it is likely to tie the poor widow, who has already suffered a terrible tragedy, to the house for years just because you like to dwell on the morbid aspects of its previous history.

My MIL, has just bought a house in our village to be near us (eeek), and we know the previous owner's wife took her own life there. So what? It is lovely house, and is not connected in any way with the crushing depression that led to her to take such a terrible step.

expatinscotland · 10/06/2016 18:47

With regards to your post, Twat, does anyone know how the owners of such homes are compensated? Does the council pay them off at market rate? Does insurance pay for it? It seems rather unfair for someone who rented a home in good faith to someone and that tenant went on to commit crimes on the property to lose that property due to someone else's actions.

RubbishMantra · 10/06/2016 18:49

I live in a little Victorian 2 up, 2 down. People died in their beds back then, not sterile hospices as is the norm today. I've never felt spooked, but I did in my last house (checking under bed, wardrobes) which was a relatively new build, (15years old).

As a PP said, burning sage incense can be a nice way of cleansing any negative stuff. And it smells nice. I use it to "cleanse" anything important to me.

Death is part of life, our culture doesn't embrace that, unlike Mexico, and their sugar skulls, honouring the dead on their Día de Muertos.

Suicide is not recognised as a "sin" anymore, by the modern church. And if the former owner committed suicide, he would have been in huge turmoil. He would have found peace at last.

Registeringisapain · 10/06/2016 18:57

Fortunately, when my brother bought the house that was my parents' he already knew that my sister had killed herself there. Phew.

I'm glad we didn't have to deal with ghoulish woo woo viewers who thought their ridiculous superstition was more important than our survival and privacy as a family.

ArcheryAnnie · 10/06/2016 19:05

Petal, if you are in the UK - well, we are not that big as an island, and we have been occupied by modern humans for at least 42,000 years. Chances are that even in a new build there's been someone die on the land, at some point.

I sleep in the room a beloved relative died in. It makes me no less a "sensitive soul" than you to be OK with this.

TwatbadgingCuntfuckery · 10/06/2016 19:09

expatinscotland I think in a couple of cases the killer owned them and the council took possession of the land.

One was on school grounds. One was council and one turned into a public building.

I don't know how they would be compensated tbh though I am wondering if the council would do a compulsory purchase order on the property. Especially if it had become a site for macabre serial killer fans and the like.

however, lots of properties have had people murdered in them and they are still standing so I think it depends on the nature of the crime. Crimes against children and homes of serial killers tend to attract groupies, trophy hunters so they are more likely to be demolished.

runningincircles12 · 10/06/2016 19:10

With regards to your post, Twat, does anyone know how the owners of such homes are compensated? Does the council pay them off at market rate?

If the owners are notorious serial killers, then no, they would not normally be compensated as the state can confiscate assets that someone has gained as a result of a criminal lifestyle. If it's a rental and the tenant was the murderer, then yes, the owner would be compensated because the council would request a compulsory purchase order in order to tear the property down.

runningincircles12 · 10/06/2016 19:11

x-post with Twat, sorry

RisforRavenclaw · 10/06/2016 19:14

I have a vague memory from my Conveyancing class of a seller who was found to be at fault for not disclosing that a murder had taken place at a property. It's a tough one to argue though - people die in houses all the time and the seller couldn't reasonably be expected to disclose every death. It would perhaps be different if the house had some notoriety as a result of the death. I would ask your solicitor whether there was a duty to disclose in this particular case as they'll likely be able to give you a more definite answer.

RubbishMantra · 10/06/2016 19:15

Well said Registering.

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