Comments re young family buying house

[Vintagejazzing]

My friend, who is single and doesn't have children, has just sold her late elderly mother's house.. The buyers are a couple with 2 young children. She has been taken aback by the number of neighbours who have made comments like 'Oh it's great a young family are moving in'. 'Oh that will be good for the area'. 'Ah that's good. I was hoping it would be a couple with kids'.
There is a good mix of age groups in the area, including couples with small children. These comments have upset her a bit a) because it's as if they're saying her mother as an elderly widow wouldn't have been their choice of neighbour and b) because as she herself is single with no children she wouldn't have been someone they wanted to buy the house.

AIBU to think she has a point?

Landlords want reliable long-term tenants too - and they are the ones it really affects.

Tell that to the slumlord who bought an upper flat above one of my family members, floored it with laminate, and turned it into a HMO for those working on short-term contracts.

The fact is, if a home is owner occupied, the residents are more likely to stay longer than those who rent.

When I sold my late father's house it was a bit shabby and needed cosmetic updating. It was bought by someone who did that with a view to selling it on. I had to go there to pick up something left in the loft and she showed me round. They had done a good job and I thought what a lovely home it would make for a young couple or family. That wasn't any disrespect to my own parents.

This is something that some people say. People with kids aren’t my preference and I have a kid.

I agree it's just something people say. In reality I would much prefer older or in general quiet people, as some, not all, families make lots more noise then older people. I wonder if your friend's neighbours are saying what they're saying but really hoping they're not going to be subjected to lots of noise.

Agree with this. It gets annoying.

Why would you care how long someone is staying in someone else’s home - or what was on the floor?

Children bring joy and happiness in a way adults don’t. That’s why.

😆😆😆

Depends on the children quite frankly

And the adults for that matter

You might be imagining two darling little toddlers playing outside and being adorable

They could actually be weed smoking teenagers having loud parties every time their parents are away and driving cars with loud exhausts around the streets all night

Frankly my single neighbour who brings me cake when she bakes brings me as much joy and happiness as the two little girls next door who come round at the weekends for crafting activities

So true. We've had three young families move onto our road in recent years. One are absolutely lovely, friendly parents and chirpy well behaved kids who sometimes knock on my door to give me the latest update on their dog or show me their costume for World Book Day etc.
Another are driving their immediate neighbours mad, screaming non stop out in the garden, kicking balls over the wall several times a day, ringing on bells and running away, damaging people's flower beds, taunting their neighbour's cat still out shouting and yelling at 10pm and generally being a pita while their parents protest theyre just being kids. They're now notorious on the road.

The third family I honestly wouldn't recognise if I tripped over them. Theyre all out at work/school/creche during the week and busy doing their own stuff at weekends.
Young families come in all different shapes.

There was a thread not so long ago where posters were falling over themselves to say that single childless people shouldn't buy houses because they're for families, and they won't use them properly whereas families will etc. etc. etc. There's already been one on this thread.

I was told by several people - not my neighbours! - when I bought my house that it was such a shame I'd "trumped" a young family in getting it. Two young families had tried to purchase it and it had fallen through both times because the seller was a complete nightmare. And even if they hadn't, and I'd managed to get there first, why is that ethically wrong? Am I somehow obligated to live in a cramped flat forever so as to ensure that the more important family units get to live where they want?

Anyway. Point being - yes, she's projecting a bit onto what was said but let's not pretend that this kind of thinking isn't utterly prevalent in our society.

I suspect the poster of the current running thread about 5 daily balls coming over and breaking her property/hitting her in her pregnant belly might just disagree with you on that one...

People like the idea of it being a family home rather than sold to developers.

I think it’s probably a bit of this.

I think though that realistically a family moving in means for people that they plan to stay there until the children grow up, so there is longevity implied. Obviously, that isn’t always the case in practice. But at least unlikely to plague them with drunken student antics.

My goodness, I know she's grieving but it's really quite insane the things people can decide to take umbrage against these days.
It's literally just something to say in an awkward conversation. Small talk. Encourage her to focus on things that matter when she's vulnerable in grief and completely put to one side pointless things like this.

And this!

She's not taking umbrage. She just commented on it to me in a sort of slightly sad way.

I agree it's just one of those things people say without really thinking about why they're saying it. When we lived on a large estate overrun with young families we were delighted when some downsizers started to move in and add a bit of variety to the homogenous feel of the place. I can understand people on a road with no young families at all being pleased that some children are moving in. In general, a mix of demographics usually creates a nicer community feel that having a road full of elderly people or young families or twenty somethings renting for a while before moving on.

That very much depends on the children and how they are parented.

You are deliberately missing the point I suspect.

Laminate flooring on a two bed upper flat with 10 people living within it, those 10 people changing on a weekly/fortnightly basis, keeping all other residents awake due to the high noise levels. They never knew the neighbours, who shared communal areas with my family members, which was obviously a security risk for someone living alone like my family member. There was no way to verify who was meant to be there or who wasn’t.

If you think HMO’s are a good thing, give your head a wobble.