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AIBU?

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Original poster

To withdraw offer on house because of crazy neighbour?

193 replies

inapropertyquandry · 15/10/2023 16:31

Perfect position - amazing views.
Knock down and rebuild project.
All Proceeding beautifully until last week when we learn one of the neighbours had had a visit from the police because he was caught armed with chainsaw and weed killer on the property cutting down a tree and killing a hedge. Our solicitors informed us because the buyers' solicitor had contacted him.
Seems the neighbour (whose property overlooks the one we want to buy) felt the trees and hedge were obscuring his view. So he took the path of trespass and criminal damage by chopping down a tree and pouring weed killer over extensive areas of the garden.
Now clearly a visit from the police may put him back in his box. Bit would you buy this property now? We are seriously out off given we'd have to Apply for planning permission and he overlooks us. I don't mind being overlooked by a decent person. But that's crazy behavior isn't it?
Just want a sense check on all this!

OP posts:
Zigza · 15/10/2023 18:39

I’d strongly consider pulling out, wish somone had told us about our crazy neighbours when we bought 4 years ago. Batshit crazy, neighbours from hell there isn’t a day that they don’t cause us stress. Would love to move but prices now too high in our area

SaturdayGiraffe · 15/10/2023 18:40

Pull out. Plenty of land in the country.
This is the type of person who will block you at every turn, make your life hell, and then burn the house down.

EvilElsa · 15/10/2023 18:40

Fuck no, I'd pull out immediately. Good neighbours are priceless.

YireosDodeAver · 15/10/2023 18:40

Crazy is as crazy does. You will regret it if you willingly go in with this person as your neighbour.

However if you buy a different property the neighbours there coukd be just as crazy but better at hiding the fact until it's too late.

Totalwasteofpaper · 15/10/2023 18:40

inapropertyquandry · 15/10/2023 16:40

The irony is we were going to build a single story extension on the site of the trees/hedge which would have been lower! And replanted elsewhere on the property.

Yep
I think he's unhinged. The property is empty bc it's going through probate. The owners are many miles away. He thought he could get away with it but another neighbour caught him!

He could be nuts but he could just be a chancer.

Personally if i LOVED the plot I'd go over and have a chat. Explain your plans and see what the response is.

More crazy.... Pull out.
If he is delighted with your plans and was just "having a go" while there was a window of opportunity and you can find common ground... Crack on.

RandomButtons · 15/10/2023 18:43

Run a mile.

Popetthetreehugger · 15/10/2023 18:45

run a mile . Declaring this when you sell will put most people off , those who do buy will except a big discount . Good luck 🤞

Zigzagga · 15/10/2023 18:46

You need to specifically ask via your solicitor if the current owners have had any other issues with the neighbour. You need to talk to your solicitor about how to word it carefully, you don't just the 'we only have to tell them if we complained formally' you want all disagreement knowledge.

Coming from someone who lived next to a nightmare neighbour (slum landlord, big bed ridden, pimps and drug dealers operating from there) it's the most stressful experience of my life, that and then trying to sell the place and ensure we couldn't get sued down the line by deceiving anyone...which can happen if you don't declare complaints etc!.....RUN RUN RUN

qwerty123454 · 15/10/2023 18:49

I read about something similar that happened in Sandbanks once

Zigzagga · 15/10/2023 18:51

*bed bug

Goingtroppo · 15/10/2023 18:55

I'm going to go against everyone else as we found out after we had moved in our neighbour had done this. Turned out they did us a massive favour. Very similar circumstances: stunning view being blocked by a hedge and the property was empty.
They cut the 100m long hedge down from 20ft to 10ft. This gives them light and a view. Makes no difference to our property as can't see them. Has meant we can now cut the hedge easily!

It may be worth finding out if the neighbour had ever approached the old neighbour about this before and been refused? If probate was the owner struggling to keep hedge under control? You were going to remove the hedge anyway!

topnoddy · 15/10/2023 18:56

anon0007 · 15/10/2023 18:36

@spookehtooth sellers are given a questionnaire to fill out.

Thing is if the sellers have inherited the house and not lived there themselves they wouldn't have any idea about any neighbour disputes

daffodilandtulip · 15/10/2023 18:56

Why are there so many mad neighbours

TimetoPour · 15/10/2023 18:58

PULL. OUT.

I cannot reiterate this enough. We had a dispute flagged in our deeds. We foolishly went round and spoke to the neighbours before buying, they were pleasant, reasonable and explained away the issue.

18 months later- fucking nutters. We had the police out on numerous occasions, they harassed us as well as other neighbours, tried filming us and our children in our private back garden- It was hell. They well out with all neighbours in our vicinity and we would never have been able to sell due to all the ongoing problems.

After 8 years, they finally moved. It was 8 long years that almost broke us.

Please reconsider before going ahead.

Changingeveryth · 15/10/2023 18:58

So many questions!

Is this your first rebuild?
Are you developing or planning to live there a long time?
Any other issue on site that you would rely on them to help with (access/wires crossing land/joint drainage/party wall agreement needed)
What is your appetite for risk on this project?

I did a knock down and rebuild (complicated for lots of reasons).
The neighbours went a bit nuts half way through - turns out they were xenophobic. They loved the British groundworkers but the Polish guys doing the rest left them v annoyed.

I made sure I knew the law inside out and am good at reading people. Ultimately we knew they wanted to sell shortly and couldn’t afford to have a formal dispute.

I would go round and have the conversation with them. Be open about your plans and see what reaction you get. I wouldn’t be apologetic or nice or understanding about the incident. You need to show no weakness.

Just very blunt that you will probably be pulling out given their behaviour. That you planned to remove the trees anyway so thought you would give them one opportunity to explain themselves.

It will be pretty easy to tell if they are really embarrassed and open to your plans. Or he is a nutter and you can run!

Tryingmybestadhd · 15/10/2023 19:11

Withdraw and move on . Nothing worse than bad neighbors. Honestly not worth the risk

bonzaitree · 15/10/2023 19:24

Hard pass!

Viviennemary · 15/10/2023 19:34

Tbh I wouldnt want you as a neighbour. You are going to knock a house down and yet you are complaining about a tree. Who wants that happening next door.

Moveoverdarlin · 15/10/2023 19:36

Before pulling the plug completely, I would go and check him out. Is his property up together? Is he dressed well? Could you knock on his door and just ask if he’s seen your dog and make up a random story just to get a feel. Do you know his name? Do a bit of Googling, knock on another neighbours door and tell them the story, ask if he’s a nutter with a chainsaw or was there beef with the previous owners. If it’s your dream house I would do a bit of digging before ditching it completely.

Sugargliderwombat · 15/10/2023 19:36

topnoddy · 15/10/2023 18:23

Just make sure his chainsaw is well out of the way

Show quote history

Haha, yeah maybe play that bit by ear...

Todaysproblem · 15/10/2023 19:37

We bought an absolute dream of a property - our friends encouraged us to use it as a wedding venue and offer it as a filming location and make money from it. Our neighbours - a couple or retired solicitors on one side and a successful writer on the other were unusual enough that we sold and left after only 2 years. These days I still think of our home and immense garden and sigh. I also remember our neighbours turning up at my door and saying racist things and sigh. I think of the very old writer watching me daily through his binoculars and calling my mobile incessantly and sigh some more.

Pull out!

IncompleteSenten · 15/10/2023 19:37

I'd run a bloody mile.

EvilElsa · 15/10/2023 19:40

Viviennemary · 15/10/2023 19:34

Tbh I wouldnt want you as a neighbour. You are going to knock a house down and yet you are complaining about a tree. Who wants that happening next door.

The OP wasn't complaining about the tree. They were going to remove it anyway. They are concerned that the neighbour had illegally trespassed and started hacking away at the garden with a chainsaw without permission. Massive red flag.

AcrossthePond55 · 15/10/2023 19:47

My worry would be that even if he did nothing else I still have to disclose the incident to any future buyer should I decide to sell (assuming he's still there). I'd also have a concern as to the amount and type of weedkiller he poured all over the ground and how it might affect future plant or tree growth, to say nothing about a health hazard to you or your family.

I live in the US, in an agricultural area that is starting to see residential growth. There have been people who've bought acreage to built their 'dream home' on who have had to pay HUGE amounts to have contaminated soil trucked away and 'clean' topsoil brought in due to agricultural pesticide contamination. I realize that the UK may have stricter laws on pesticides or regulation around who can buy 'agricultural strength' pesticides, but it may be something to think about.

Palmasailor · 15/10/2023 19:51

Knock on his door and ask.

he may have been driven to the edge by arsehole neighbours