Need a handhold - neighbour issues and selling house

[wawawawaterloo]

I'm planning on moving towards the end of the year. We have neighbours with incredibly messy and rubbish filled gardens and a previous (resolved) issue of their teens/early 20's kids being loud during the summer a few years ago.

I know I need to declare a dispute, but I don't believe anyone would buy it - I wouldn't? Landlords aren't buying locally at present, so I don't think that's an option, and I cant afford to part ex for a new build.

Do you think if we market for less than market value we'd sell? I'm thinking taking the hit and marketing at around 20-30K less just to get rid.

I will obviously talk to an EA, but at present I just need reassurance that doing something like that, at worst case, will work - as I just want to start again elsewhere.

I'm not asking if you'd buy it, as I know most (so please don't put that as it will make my anxiety worse) but it will appeal to someone relatively quickly wont it if it's under market value - or am I doomed to live here upset forever?

Depends if any action was taken. GDPR they can only hold records for six years.

Try an auction - find out fees etc and go for oe with a big coverage - be aware of all fees, and if not sold and PUT a RESERVE price - but look out for the fees.

At the right price everything sells, trust me.

Good luck and I hope your next door end up with like-minded lot but I do feel sorry for others in your area that live near you

It really doesn’t matter whether you care about the issue or not. The point is, failing to disclose a dispute leaves the seller open to legal action if there’s a problem after the buyer moves in and they discover that there is non disclosure of a previous dispute - resolved or not.

@ButterBastardBeans - I think a dispute to be declared if it is your neighboring property or attached to yours. You seem to be making a complaint about how land you don't own is being used and the treatment of the animals. That isn't a dispute that would affect your home if you were to sell.

I did think you had to declare any issues you’ve had that are official?

my brain isn’t working tonight so if this doesn’t make any sense then I apologise
😂

Like a dispute? If the authorities like council had to get involved? Like noise disputes etc?

I might be totally wrong tho….

Councils have an Anti Social Behaviour Unit and a Neighbourhood Anti Social Behaviour Unit. One deals with council tenants and the other with private tenants and owners. So if a seller has had a previous dispute with a neighbour and has lodged a complaint with the council at any time, there will be a record. If the seller doesn’t declare the dispute and there are problems with neighbours after the buyer has moved in, it’s a simple matter for them to contact the local authority and enquire as to whether there have been any neighbour disputes lodged at the address. The then have six years in which to take action against the seller for non disclosure.

Pay the neighbours a grand under the agreement they keep the garden spotless for a certain period of time??

Less money than you would lose otherwise!

@ButterBastardBeans This is quoted from a help and advice site and seems to sum it up best:
The most common types of disputes that would need to be declared on the SPIF are anything that involves shared house maintenance (this is usually to do with repairs to shared facilities like drains or gutters) or boundary disputes (disputes involving land or fence/hedges).

It’s also important to remember that action can be taken by buyers for years after the sale of your property has gone through.

So, even once you’ve moved out, the problem could come back to bite you if you’re not upfront and honest with buyers from the start.

On the other side of the coin, there are issues that you needn’t mention. For instance, you might have a neighbour who was once a regular holder of noisy, raucous parties, but this is now no longer a problem.

In this case, your buyer would not need to be informed. Similarly, if an issue has been dealt with amicably between you and your neighbour, there is no need to mention this to prospective buyers.

Other issues such as noise, children and pets tend to be very subjective – so, just because you’ve been driven crazy by the neighbour’s dog barking, doesn’t mean your buyers (who may have pets themselves) will think the same. In other words, you are under no obligation to inform would-be buyers of things like this.
It’s best to check with your solicitor or estate agent if you are unsure about any of this, what constitutes a dispute and what, if anything, you need to declare.

The SPIF is a legal part of the contract between you and your buyer, so it’s important to get this right to prevent any issues occurring at a later date.

I rang my council in a rage over my ndn years ago- an argument about noise. Nothing ever formal came of it, didn’t even get a log number would I have to disclose that?

Important to remember that the advice in paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 doesn’t apply if the dispute has gone beyond a private matter between neighbours. Once a dispute has been reported to the authorities it has to be disclosed, regardless of whether it has been settled or not.

Our LA keeps records of disputes filed for six years after the resolution or closure of the dispute. But when we had a problem we were able to access information beyond that because they don’t destroy the records, they archive them.

Councils have a duty to investigate all complaints and they would have contacted your neighbour without disclosing who has made the complaint. You wouldn’t necessarily be advised of the outcome, as if there isn’t enough evidence to warrant further action they would close the complaint but a record would still be on file and referred back to if you made any further complaint.

Try not to panic , there is almost always at least one person willing to buy a house. Market it far and wide. You’ve already realised it’s sensible to price it realistically (most sellers do not ) It’s unlikely to not sell at all but you need patience and resolve.

Most people cannot afford to tick all their house buying boxes so have to compromise and you will find your buyers that are willing to overlook messy gardens in favour of location etc

This is a great idea. It might also inspire them to turn over a new leaf too. No pun intended.

Yes, I wouldn’t rely on just hoping that it doesn’t come out. When we had our NDN issues someone from the council anti-social behaviour team came out to our house and the very first thing they said was that they’d never heard of any problems with our street before. Imagine how easy it would have been for them to comment that it wasn’t the first time they’d been there if that had instead been the case!

We’ll never know if the previous owner had problems, but we know without having formally asked that he hadn’t involved the council. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of us.

What area are you. Around here you'd have to take off alot more than 30k. That's a pretty serious dispute if it's gone through formal council channels.
You could try 30k but to be honest any potential buyer will be advised to knock you down a lot further.

You said the dispute was resolved- resolved disputes do NOT need to be declared, especially if a few years old.
As for the rest, try not to be too down about it, and don't mention the mess to prospective buyers- there are honestly people who will not care much.
Go on the market for the market price, do not start out at a discount, this will lose you thousands.
Good Luck!

Im guessing you’re not in London ? Anti social behaviour and neighbour disputes are fairly common here and do not equate to discounted house prices.

Sorry but this is not correct. If neighbours have resolved disputes amicably between themselves, then it doesn’t need to be disclosed, but neighbour disputes which have been reported to the authorities have to be disclosed, resolved or not. Buyers have six years from the date of sale in which to bring legal action against a seller if non disclosure causes a problem.

I would normally suggest to check out all the other houses in the area, i.e. 3 bed 1 bath, garden, driveway parking, and then pitch yours lower than all the competitor houses. You can do this fairly quickly providing the agents have listed the houses correctly.

How long ago did you complain? It might not look so bad if it was a while ago, the longer it was the better I think, have things improved at all? Point out the positives.
I have a similar situation & are considering selling but I've complained about neighbours parking being inconsiderate, but they aren't so inconsiderate with parking now (still very annoying people but you can't have everything), I'm thinking that as it's actually been resolved I'd say we had an issue but it's now resolved. Could you say that your position was that your dd was unwell & it was partially this that was making the neighbours untenable? That wouldn't be dishonest from what you've said.

Get a couple of estate agents around, be honest, and see what they say about the impact on the value. They are the experts. You might be pleasantly surprised, but if not you know and you don't have to use them if you do sell.

Otherwise as others have said, auction the house and set the lowest you would accept. You will still have to be honest of course.

I know you are worried about selling "below market value" but I think you need to accept that the market value for your house may be less than the market value would have been without your neighbours, just as it would be lower if you were next to the sewage works, or it would be higher if you had a sea view. The market value for a house has to take into account its location and its neighbours.

What I think you mean is the average market value for a house like yours in your neighbourhood, but not everyone gets that. That's why it's an average.

I know you are suffering from anxiety and I don't mean to be unkind. I just think it will be healthier for you in the long run to be realistic, rather than feel stressed about not being able to achieve (possibly) unrealistic goals. That way you may actually be nicely surprised by the outcome.

And good luck! My heart goes out to you.

Sorry you are in this situation. Hopefully my experience offers some hope. I had a dreadful downstairs messy neighbour who was incredibly noisy, drank heavily and regularly fell asleep with cigarettes alight or the cooker on so fire engines were often called out. A kind of older, male Vicky Pollard. The only reason I didn’t make an official complaint was because I knew I wanted to sell.

On the day our EA arranged a series of viewings in our flat my heart sank as the neighbour was unfortunately hanging around making lots of noise and drinking cans of beer outside. Meanwhile another neighbour’s car, parked outside my property, had been set alight by rival drug dealers a few days before and the burnt out carcass obviously made a very poor impression. The flat had been marketed as in a ‘quiet, beautifully maintained building’😭

All of this obviously didn’t put people off as I received multiple offers that day and sold within a week. You really never know what will or won’t put people off if the price, location etc is right.

I sold due to horrific neighbours who had been interviewed under caution for harassing me. After the interview, they quietened down for a couple of months. I put the house on the market, said dispute had been resolved since the police involvement on said date. I couldn’t believe someone still wanted my house but it sold for close to what we wanted. People will believe they won’t have the same problems as you. Good luck.