Our garden is not the cause for the lack of sale

[maoiBYRD]

Neighbours have just blamed me because our garden is a mess. That’s why they can’t get their sale for the flat upstairs.

They are selling for 10 grand over the asking price. You can get a three bed in the next road for 5 grand less, they are going with an online estate agent and you have to do viewings yourself. We are in the middle of a pandemic and no one is buying at the moment.

I’m currently clearing the flower bed of the “jungle” of wild flowers, potatoes and garlic that I created with my little girl, and trying to find a scrap man to take away the bikes and scooters and wondering how how I “shape” a bush that we really want to keep because my mother planted it.

Would a neighbours garden really influence your purchase of a property?

Im digging up the unsightly veg bushes. I will clear the garden. We don’t have any rotting cars or rat nests. It was just a bit overgrown with wild flowers and veg. :(

The reason why I have to hide the children is because they are not disclosing the fact that there are children in our flat to buyers.

They are CFs!!!!

How many children do you have then, OP?

Anything that comes on the market here is snapped up within days, even properties that have been for sale for a year or two. An unsightly garden is very off putting. Do you have a FB free page locally? Say bikes and scooters going free. Might need some work. First come, first served. It works brilliantly round here.

How do you know that they aren’t disclosing your children to potential buyers?

Are you a noisy neighbour? can’t see how it’s a problem / comes up in conversation!

It’s really weird that they’re hiding the fact that you have children.

OP, I’ve regularly seen sheds for free on local online advertising sites.

The amount of time you spend on here making excuses, you could have been out in the garden tidying up - not specifically for your neighbours benefit. You may then see an improvement and feel inclined to do more and keep it tidier. Maybe just half an hour a day and you will get on top of it.

What a very strange tale... 🤔. You won't clear your midden of a garden even though you've been told it's impacting on their ability to sell, but you'll willingly collude in "hiding" your children because they're pretending there aren't any in the building.
I don't believe a word of it.

If your children use the bikes and scooters then don’t throw them away!

Aren’t they a bit of a giveaway for the presence of children?

Don’t prune the bush, it’ll be flowering and that type doesn’t look better all neat. Unless it’s completely out of control? But they don’t grow that big. This is all really odd.

Please share a photo so we can see if your neighbours are bullying you.

If this is true Op you're bloody mad. Hiding your children? Really? Digging up perfectly good flowers and veg and chucking away toys that work... you're mad. We haven't even see a picture of this garden of yours, people are saying it would put them off as buyers without even seeing what they are talking about.

[quote GruffaIo]@SchadenfreudePersonified Clover is a really obvious and easy choice, and there are varieties beyond the standard white. It's great for bees. Also field speedwell (delicate blue flowers). Buttercups too - whilst they're more conventionally seen as weeds, if you've got swathes of different ground cover, it's looks done by design. I'm sure there are lots more interesting ideas - it would make a good question for GQT.

You can also add some herbs, but my experience is that they can really take over (beware mint!) so I wouldn't recommend it.[/quote]
Thanks' Gruffalo - I'd been thinking of a camomile lawn, but didn't know how much work was involved, or how delicate it is (we have dogs).

@LioneIRichTea, when I was clearing out my late mother's house, I put her (broken) washing machine at the bottom of the drive for the council to collect. Within about 10 minutes, a man had knocked at the door, offering to take it away for me for £10. I kept explaining that the council were going to take it free of charge, he got as low as £3 before he gave up.

We went to the tip and were out for 30 mins, max. When we came back, the washing machine had gone!

Houses are selling super fast at the minute. We just sold ours in two days so there are many people buying. The neighbours having a bad garden would put me off a house.

@Thisismytimetoshine I agree with you

The bushes and plants were mentioned as a problem, so I am putting (most of) them back to soil. I’ll probably plant more garlic and make it look regimented

Maybe plant it so it spells "nice and neat now, so shut the fuck up" when viewed from the upstairs window.

@Mildmanneredmum @dyrne

Could do with these metal pixies around here, save us a trip to the tip 😃

I am picturing Star Wars type scavengers for some reason 😆

TBH, if I were you OP, I would get rid of old bikes etc, purely for safety reasons - you don't want your children falling and splitting their head open on anything like that. Tidy the other parts TO SUIT YOURSELF - and leave the rest.

I agree that rubbish needs to be got rid of, but general "children's gardens" need to start - they have to play somewhere.

And don't keep them in when there are viewings. If they want to play outside, let them play outside. Stuff your neighbour in this respect - children aren't something you "tidy up."

*stay, not start

OP, are these neighbours your landlords or your employer or do they know some awful secret about you?

I'm struggling to understand why you're running scared of them, talking about throwing out bikes that your children still use and hiding the fact that you even have children?

Absolutely bonkers.

Yes it would bother me. Why OP hadn't addressed all the issues before is a concern.

@LakieLady I’m jealous. In lockdown some well meaning neighbours put some basics like pasta and toilet roll out for people to take. I think one pasta went but everything else stayed there for days. Someone in the street put books out and arranged them like a mini library, I don’t think many went. A board game appeared which was probably someone else’s but they were still there for days.

Why won’t people take things when you want them to

As someone who does look at gardens during house hunting, I think you are going about this the wrong way.

Bikes and scooters that are the right size for your household and in usable shape are not junk, they just need to be lined up neatly or organized in some fashion to keep them actually usable.
A 40 year old bush just needs a trim.

Tomatoes are perfectly reasonable to grow.

Remove trash, obvious weeds, and make sure you mow the grass before it has seeds. Trim bushes occasionally. You don’t have to take it all back to the ground.

Don’t hide your children. You don’t want neighbors who will be upset at having children in the building.

Don’t hide your children. You don’t want neighbors who will be upset at having children in the building.

This ^

Remember you're the one who is going to be living with the new neighbours - you don't want to get stuck with child-haters who wouldn't have moved in if they knew you were there.

I think the fact that it is a council estate may put some buyers off (as you mentioned in a post).

I don't think there is anything wrong with living there. But when you are buying a flat, a big consideration is service charges/maintenance and if its a flat on council estate, I would presume that it is managed by the council and councils don't have a good track record for maintenance i.e. grenfell and some council flats near me also caught fire. I would rather buy a private flat that has share of freehold.

People say that flats without gardens don't sell but even post covid, i know that flats without gardens in muswell hill near me are selling at asking price or even above asking price. However, those are not council flats or even ex council flats. The location is still very hot for reasons I don't fully understand.

I think your neighbour is just taking it out on you. flats were originally designed for central areas where land is in short supply. Hence, a flat that isn't in the 'right location' is a hard sell,esp in these times. This is independent of how the neighbour's garden looks like. I am an owner of a flat and love apartment living but I wouldn't buy a flat that isn't in London (z1 to z3) or Edinburgh or a similar space starved city for example.

It’s absolutely none of the neighbour’s business what you do with your garden unless you’re doing something illegal. So carry on growing and nurturing your plants.

Your garden sounds great and productive. A strip of grass with a border at the sides is so unimaginative.

I have 8 chickens, a poly tunnel and 2 large log piles but no near neighbours, thankfully as we’re surrounded by fields with occasional sheep or cows in them.

If the neighbour can’t sell her house, that’s her problem to solve, not yours. Next time she complains, just nod, smile and say nothing.

Why on Earth are you hiding your children? This is insane!

There are bikes and scooters in the garden which clearly indicate young children. But you are 'hiding' your kids as the neighhbour hasn't disclosed that children live there - is this even a thing? Either way, it's totally batshit.