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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU moving into house with a cat in no-cats neighbourhood

308 replies

museumsandgalleries666 · 19/04/2021 18:42

Asking for a friend :-)
Buying a house (freehold) in a newly-built (20 years old) neighbourhood and have received a letter from the resident's association advising no cats are allowed.
AIBU to continue my purchase and move in anyway? Do the Res Assoc have any legal right to stop anyone owning a cat?
Looking for advice as nearing completion and purchase chain will be affected.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
alreadytaken · 19/04/2021 19:56

Your solicitor will deal with the legal rights and wrongs. If the letter is genuine cancel the purchase, who wants to live near people like that.

procrastinationexpert · 19/04/2021 19:56

Bugger that

The RA sounds like curtain-twitching pains in the arse (pain in the arses?). I bet they like sending officious letters to residents who've not pulled their curtains, haven't cut their grass properly, cut their grass after 7pm, have noisy normal kids, have a non-regulation gnome, leave their bins out a minute longer than allowed, haven't trimmed their bush recently Wink etc

BrilliantBetty · 19/04/2021 19:56

Nope.
They sound nuts.

They might harm the cat!

WingBingo · 19/04/2021 19:56

I need to know if dogs are allowed?

I am also wondering about neighbouring cats. Is there a boundary line they are not supposed to cross?

Thiscantreallybehappening · 19/04/2021 19:57

Unless your (friend’s) cat is strictly kept indoors then yes, it’s unreasonable to move into a cat free area with a cat.

Who decides whether an area is "cat free". Is this just the residents association deciding that they don't want cats in the area? I don't think this is legal and I don't think anyone has the right to tell you that no cats are allowed in an area. I've heard of landlords stating no animals in a rental property but a residents association stating that an area is "cat free" cannot be legal, surely. I would speak to your solicitor as I don't think anyone can make that decision about an area. Unfortunately, though I wouldn't feel my cat would be safe to go out and I would probably pull out of the house move. However, I would take this up legally first, unless there is some law that I have never heard of, they shouldn't be allowed to get away with this.

SisterAgatha · 19/04/2021 19:58

I am in a group on FB where lots of people in the US have this kind of restrictive HA.

The lawn must be mowed and kept to a set layout.
No decorations unless preapproved.

One lady had been spoken harshly to as she had put up an autumn wreath and as it wasn’t considered a religious event it was not allowed.

Who wants to live like that. Get the cat. Live in a cunt free zone instead.

denverRegina · 19/04/2021 19:59

"a) people who don't like cats are always cunts"

Thanks to my new neighbour I've now got 3 cats using my garden as a sunbathing spot, one that has made its toilet spot on my driveway. We get less birds too because one likes to pounce at them.

Not enjoying the new set up makes me a cunt does it? Ok Hmm

rosiejaune · 19/04/2021 20:00

@TheBullfinch

My deeds say ' no livestock to be kept'.

My neighbours have chickens and someone down the lane has a goat.

Having said that though, who'd want to live on a cat-less estate?

People who care about wildlife, and/or don't want cat faeces in their gardens?
SisterAgatha · 19/04/2021 20:06

Not much can be done about cats at large tho. Unless everyone in the neighbourhood takes turns guarding the parameter, full camo, hats with a little bush on, binoculars and cat nip Molotov’s. And that does sound like a fun place to live tbh.

Does it say what time your cat prevention duty is, in the deeds?

Ericaequites · 19/04/2021 20:07

Don’t buy this house. Homeowners’’ associations can make your life miserable.

Hockeyboysmum · 19/04/2021 20:08

We lived in a house that said one cat and one dog only. We had 3 cats and no one bothered. Also rules about not parking cars anywhere that went in front of the line of the house. All the neighbours were fine so it worked out but could have been very different.

MrsLangOnionsMcWeetabix · 19/04/2021 20:10

If you do want to move there you can get cat-proof fencing to keep the cat in your garden. Although if you do make sure the wee buggers can’t tunnel underneath it as one of mine has done Hmm

aiwblam · 19/04/2021 20:14

A residents association sounds like it is a bunch of people trying to make the estate/neighbourhood better or whatever. Doesn’t sound like they have any legal powers. However you’d have to check with your solicitor.

Even if they can’t legally stop you, they clearly hate cats. I’d be very worried about moving a beloved pet into a place where I knew everyone else hated him and he was actively unwanted. One of them might “accidentally” run him over having “not seen him” (I know of a place where this actually happened). It would be pretty easy.

The type of person who has enough time to send such a letter is the type of person who’s going to be curtain twitching and making your life a misery. A twat round here bollocked me for having my bin not closing by 2 fucking inches 😱🤣. And I live in a 20yo new build. There’s snobbery about who has owned “from new” and who is an interloper (me!).

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 19/04/2021 20:16

Is it just cats you can't have?
Can you have a lion?
Confused

rothbury · 19/04/2021 20:17

I would pull out of the sale and complain that you were not given this information until such a late stage. I would want any costs I had incurred to be repaid to me by the vendors estate agents or solicitors.

Original poster
museumsandgalleries666 · 19/04/2021 20:18

@Mamamia456

Is this for real? Are you in the UK? As others have said how do they know you are buying the property and your current address to send you a letter.
Friend received letter, its really not me, but presume via EA or solicitor. Very late in the process though.
OP posts:
gelatodipistacchio · 19/04/2021 20:20

The owners should have disclosed this to you. How annoying.

Unsure33 · 19/04/2021 20:21

I have never heard of this with a freehold house in the uk . And sounds like breach of GDPR. How did they get her address.

It’s a shame the seller did not tell her .

What a dilema . I don’t think it’s legally enforceable , but to move in worrying about that will be awful .

Rowl · 19/04/2021 20:29

There might be a protected species on the estate being protected from the cats?

Notaroadrunner · 19/04/2021 20:29

@procrastinationexpert

Bugger that

The RA sounds like curtain-twitching pains in the arse (pain in the arses?). I bet they like sending officious letters to residents who've not pulled their curtains, haven't cut their grass properly, cut their grass after 7pm, have noisy normal kids, have a non-regulation gnome, leave their bins out a minute longer than allowed, haven't trimmed their bush recently Wink etc

And I'd say not trimmed their personal bush either as it seems these people will know everything about you!!
gah2teenagers · 19/04/2021 20:29

Definitely sound like a bunch of busy bodies, probably keen gardener types. I’d pull out sounds like a curtain twitcher nightmare. Sadly I would worry for the cats safety. How sad.

Chocoqueen · 19/04/2021 20:41

WTF? I don't have cats, and no intention of getting any, but I'd pull out of the purchase if I received a letter like that and make it very clear why! Couldn't be doing with the hassle of having neighbours like that.

Catlover77 · 19/04/2021 20:43

@denverRegina

"a) people who don't like cats are always cunts"

Thanks to my new neighbour I've now got 3 cats using my garden as a sunbathing spot, one that has made its toilet spot on my driveway. We get less birds too because one likes to pounce at them.

Not enjoying the new set up makes me a cunt does it? Ok Hmm

Err ... yep
Original poster
museumsandgalleries666 · 19/04/2021 20:44

@sadpapercourtesan

I would run a mile.

a) people who don't like cats are always cunts

b) a residents' association as virulent as this one will make your life a misery

Agree
OP posts:
saraclara · 19/04/2021 20:44

I have never heard of a residents' association having this kind of power in the UK, if that's where she is. And if this is legal it should have been disclosed way before now.

So yep, solicitor, and fast.