Hate my area - should I move house?

[juneq]

I bought a home 7 years ago in what is commonly (and correctly, lol) regarded as a rough area. I chose it as it was the only place locally that I could afford. It’s not a pleasant area - lots of litter everywhere, traffic and fumes, drug dealers, beggars, junkies and dodgy people hanging about - but the house itself and the street is nice and I have nice, very quiet immediate neighbours, so I was prepared to tolerate the bad bits.

However, in the last year or two things have been getting more intolerable. There seem to be more properties getting bought up, ripped out and turned into student flats or HMO’s with noisy and sometimes downright dodgy people moving in - whilst with my kids I’ve witnessed two drug deals recently on my road in broad daylight, someone trying to take drugs in my front garden (also in broad daylight and in front of my kids) and more music and partying late at night. I’ve not had any of these problems before, which suggests to me things are going downhill.

A number of local businesses have closed down recently too and the local high street feels really desolate - there are no shops worth visiting anymore and it seems to be increasingly populated by street drinkers and beggars, who hassle passers-by for money. Coming home at night on my own it’s quite intimidating. A local coffee shop I used to visit a lot has gone because they say the rents are too high, the area is dodgy and there’s not enough custom.

One reason I want to stay where I am is that it’s convenient for work and near a big city which I like to visit. If I were to move it would have to be somewhere far away as I can’t afford to upgrade in the current region that I live in. As I say, I also like the property itself and I have nice immediate neighbours. I also have several friends and relatives close by. However, the area seems like it’s very much on a downward spiral and I find it an ordeal and exhausting to navigate at times. I’m wondering how much more I can take and it’s starting to get me down. I work remotely so that’s not an issue.

I have two kids (twins) due to start primary school next year so that could be a factor in when to move, if I do.

Any advice?

Well, just for comparison, I live (not UK) in an inner suburb v close to the centre of a small city. The area is extremely prestigious, with lots of Georgian and Victorian houses selling for upwards of 4 million euro, populated by a lot of senior medics because of proximity to hospitals, and we still have a fair bit of drug dealing and some anti-social behaviour. For me it’s worth it to be so close to the city centre, but for you it may not be. Good luck deciding.

You have a choice really : move.
Or, and this is a lot of work but if you can gather enough people it won't be too onerous: gather your nice neighbours before they leave & do some things to improve the area, and force the druggies/bad elements out.
eg create a community FB page that cares about the locality.
local neighbourhood watch, involve the local community police office
litter picking
local planting of derelict areas
Anywhere for allotments/community orchard?
campaigning for the landlords of the local shops to allow a community cafe in an empty shop at a cheap rent
campaigning for the sort of businesses you'd like to open in the empty shops that would attract additional footfall - see if you can engage the parish council and the landlords to talk. Even just painting the hoardings/shutters pleasantly hiding the graffiti could help in the short term & attract the nice businesses you want.
encourage activities for pre-teens eg local football club etc, activities at the local school, get the younger element involved

I moved a couple of years ago from a house I absolutely adored (our "forever" home, as it were) to a house that fits our needs but I wouldn't care if it burned down. I did it because of the neighborhood - it's close to where a notorious crime took place a couple of years ago and the aftermath of that has been tragic. Carjackings and robberies went through the roof and there is very little policing political will to get a handle on it. The quality of the schools is diminishing by the day. Previously it had been one of the "posh" places in the city.

It broke my heart to leave and as much as I miss my house (I still have dreams about it) and my neighborhood as it used to be, it was absolutely the right decision for us, and particularly for the children. Our schools are excellent and my kids are able to be much more "free range" than they would had we stayed in our old 'hood.

We had the same concerns about new neighbors, as our old place was a particularly tight community. Neighborhood parties, etc. Our new neighborhood is less friendly but we can live with it. If my children were being exposed to open drug dealing I'd be gone like a shot.

You need to remove your children from this environment .
Why you needed to even ask I don't know,get you and dc out and stop worrying about future neighbours.

The drug dealing I’ve only seen on a few occasions. It’s not like it’s a daily occurrence. Worryingly though those occasions have all occurred in recent months. There was nothing as blatant as that (as far as I know) when we moved here. I’m sure it did go on as it does everywhere, but I never saw it.

My worry is that I’ll move somewhere else like a village or a smaller town and it will still happen there too. Isn’t it everywhere?

Drug dealing happens in posh areas too - that’s where the customers are.

but sadly with this government the uk isn’t going to suddenly start investing in local areas so if prob won’t get better for a couple of years. You could get involved in local politics and see if you can help improve your area?

Def report it to police they might do some local patrols

I really wish I could but I’m too scared of reprisals. I don’t trust the police to keep my identity safe.

You're being rather unusual about this. Look at the crime stats - available online broken down by street - you will see where crime happens.

You know that there are areas with lower crime than others.

I moved 1.5 miles up the road. Totally different atmosphere.

I think you really need to investigate what is holding you back.

I’d move, it sounds awful. I wouldn’t want my DC growing up in that environment.

@WhereshallIwander the only downside with Heylo if it's not a new build is its25% cash deposit on the total value.

If you can move now then do it! I was brought up in an area like you describe, we never witnessed drug deals as far as I remember but lots of other unsociable behaviour.
We moved an hour awat when I was 13, i didnt want to move at the time but it was the best thing our parents could have done for us.
I still like the city I grew up in and go back there from time to time but I love coming home afterwards to my nice house in a lovely, safe area. I've brought my own children up here and they can play out without me being worried, the schools are good.... its a lovely place to live and I'm forever grateful that my parents made that choice when they did

sell now before u don't have a choice. your house may be on the market for long enough.

OP you can research crime stats by location very easily as PP have said. What sort of reprisals do you think you would get over a drug deal that you have seen taking place in public? Anyone in the street could see it? It doesn’t really work in that way.

No it's not everywhere, at all. Perhaps hidden but not openly. I lived in London after university for a couple of years and saw it regularly in my dodgy area (wouldn't live in a shithole like that again for all the money in the world), but I haven't seen it once since I moved back to my nice hometown.

It will get harder to move when they're in school and have put down more roots. Better to go now before that happens and before it gets worse there - the spiral has clearly started and it's never been great from what you're saying. Easier to do nothing of course, but sounds like you'll regret that down the line. Course there are unknowns about neighbours etc, but the knowns where you are sound worth the gamble. Get to a better area and raise your kids there - there'll be plenty more happy memories to be made with fewer worrying risks.

So looking on the bright side you’ve got a lot going for you with a house you like, good neighbours, easy access to city, friends, family and good schools. I doubt you can guarantee anywhere is free of dealing. Although I’d discourage people coming into my own garden, I wouldn’t report dealing myself. You can ask your local councillors to look at restricting the HMOs if it’s changing the area.

Where would you go? I know you say you can't afford to stay locally, but do you have an idea of the areas you could live in?

I would100% move.

I moved from a big cottage in a not so nice (nowhere near as bad as yours) area into a tiny house in a lovely area. I feel so happy here & I live alone with my 7yr old DD & I feel really safe.

Things rarely improve & only get worse.

Definitely!

When buying a place, it's always wise to think about whether you'd be able to sell it easily. I'd rather have a doer-upper or a small house in a pleasant area, than a nice house in a rough place.

When you list all those things, it could almost be a description of my street, yet I live in what is a fairly 'desirable' and relatively prosperous and expensive area with good location, amenities, schools and transport. It's rated low crime in general but attracts beggars around the busy station and High Street and people smoking drugs here and there and even drug dealing in quiet corners or streets, of which mine is one. And there have been some shops closing, litter, dogs, rubbish dumping and spates of graffiti and so on. We try to keep a lid on things like that, pick up litter in our street ourselves or get the council to do it and they do paint over graffiti promptly.

It's not the case that the police won't do anything. Recently they did act on reports here and charge some drug dealers. It doesn't mean you won't still get some young people openly smoking in the street but you have to try to keep it in proportion despite the anxiety, which I know only too well. I do think about moving but is there anywhere that is free of it nowadays? It helps if you get a few people together and maybe have a neighbourhood watch scheme, which we have. It takes someone to make a start on things like that and then you find other people come forward and join in.