Neighbour lied they owned the house

[Fluffywalrus]

I need to share this somewhere because my partner keeps saying there could be some other explanation.. but I'm just flabbergasted!

I bought and moved into my home more than THREE YEARS ago. Because of the structure of the properties there's one neighbour whose home is very entwined with mine and whose property shares a lot of structural things with mine.

I made a point to knock on their door a few days after moving in to introduce myself and I remember we had a long chat and I came away with the understanding that she had bought that property several years before. I can't remember the exact words used but I remember being pleasantly surprised because I'd assumed it would be rented rather than the owner living there, which made things much simpler.

Since then we've had countless long friendly chats about work, partners, pets, holidays etc. and probably see her and exchange pleasantries a few times a week in the street. We also got to know her partner who moved in later.

A few days ago we bumped into her partner out and about and he told us they had moved out and bought somewhere. I was surprised that she wouldn't have said goodbye or mention they were leaving. We'd had various chats about plans for the summer and this was never mentioned. But most shockingly, when I asked about their plans for the property he said they just rent it and the lease was coming to an end. She didn't actually own it at all !!

Over the years I've consulted with her on various things I've done to the property renovation-wise, which might impact her and asked various questions regarding the property (due to her living there longer) and most recently got permission for some work that is due to happen in a few weeks. I'm at a complete loss of what to do now. At no point did she say anything to suggest she wasn't the owner e.g. 'I don't know as I'm just renting. I'll have to check with my landlord / the owner.' etc.

My partner thinks I must have just assumed wrongly. But surely even if she hadn't lied and it was a misunderstanding at some point in all these discussions she would have pointed out she didn't own this place?!

AIBU to think they're been misleading?

The point of the thread is that the OP believed the neighbour could give permission for building work to be done (including erecting scaffolding). The neighbour is not the property owner so their "permission" is not valid/legal.

No it’s not leasehold and she doesn’t own it. I think the partner just used the term lease to mean rental agreement

She’s an arse and has deliberately deceived you out of vanity. It’s annoying and potentially disrupts the work you’ve organised. I’d be pissed off too.

No estate agent sign.

I've got the name of the owner from the Land Registry but it's basically Michael Smith in terms of how common it is.

Good shout about the Electoral Roll!

I know I mean maybe she IS the Michael Smith who bought the house in 2009 according to the Land Registry.

She's since had a secret sex change that her partner doesn't know about and that's why she can't explain that the house is actually hers and they're not renting from Michael Smith!

Oh and she also secretly won the lottery and that's how she's been able to buy a second house without selling this one on the wages of a part time health care worker!

Do the other neighbours know the owner?

In the meantime, I'd also do what other posters have suggested. Put a letter through the door addressed to the owner. It does sound like they'll be along anon.

You realise you've done it now and they'll be berating you for implying a part time health care worker can't afford a house without a lottery win 😂

There are several genuine reasons I can think of eg a previous partner owned it and she was allowed to live there for a certain length of time or her parents/relative owned it and it was hers in all but name whilst living there. But Occam's razor suggests she was just completely lying to you. Perhaps she picked up on your apprehension about the house being rented and felt embarrassed.

You sound a bit snobby tbh Would you not have become friends with her if she was 'only a renter?'

For goodness sake. lol. Just crack on and do your work.

For crying out loud..

what difference does it make? i rent, but i don't tell people i rent becasue i am sick of people looking down their noses at me because i don't own my own house.

mind your own business..

i wonder if you knew it was rented would you have been as nice and neighbourly as you were?

i guess now you have the pleasure of getting new neighbours who might not suit you

Your neighbour bought a lease on her house, it expired as leases do, and she moved on. You see all those flats over there? Leasehold as is much of the property in the 'posher' areas of central London. What's the problem?

It makes a difference when structural issues are being discussed.

there will be very rare circumstances when you need to talk to the landlord. My parents had an elderly neighbour who rented. My dad talked to the landlord a few times repairing fences, overgrown trees and a dangerous garage. I have said upstream I have spoken to a neighbours landlord about his team dumping tree sittings in my garden.

No one thought less of the neighbours less of the lovely neighbours. To be honest I couldn’t afford to pay the rent some of my neighbours pay on my street🤯. It’s three times my mortgage!

That made no difference to anything.

i was closer to the person living on the other side who I always knew was renting.

Where are you even getting snobby from?!

That’s not what it was…

For clarity, he used the term lease but he meant rental agreement / tenancy

It makes a difference because I now don’t have permission from the owner of the house for the structural work happening next week.

yes I would have been just as nice had I known she was renting… as I am to every single other neighbour on the street, all of whom rent.

Honestly just do one.

We had this. Moved in a few years ago and just assumed that next door were owners. Can’t tell you why, just didn’t give it a second thought. We asked for permission (and were given it!) to paint our side of the fence and our side of their extension wall then attach trellis to it, which we did. We only ever really saw the husband so it was him we spoke to.

When we got work done on the roof we discovered that the chimney was falling apart. We got various different quotes and sent them over to him with little to no response. At the start of this we had discussed the chimney in the street and he had said we should just remove the stack altogether as they didn’t use their side and it made more sense/ was cheaper.

I was treading very delicately as it was pre Christmas and within weeks of Liz Truss being PM, so I was obviously aware that it was a large sum of money to magic up at a hard time, but equally the chimney was in poor condition. About three months in to sending him quotes/ reminders his wife caught me and gave me the name of their rental company, saying that her husband was an unusual man and that he meant well.

The actual owner agreed within a week, but I can’t believe he gave us permission to knock the chimney down 😲😲 None of the other stuff is great either, but in the grand scheme of things… 😂

I don't blame you for being furious. Either the woman is utterly dim and doesn't understand property rights, or she is mildly sociopathic.

It is one thing to choose to keep private your housing status but quite another to airily allow your neighbour to commit to having serious work done when you know you have no right to do so.

What you could do, OP is carry on regardless. I mean, for 3 years she gave you the impression she owned it. If you hadn't happened to bump into her partner, you would still believe that.

You might have wondered why your neighbours were away from home for so long but you would have continued with the building work you had already arranged.

OP (not read full thread) I’d ring around the local letting agents, you might find your next door LL via one of them.

OP might discover if the home is being re-let but GDPR makes getting the LL's
name impossible.

The proprietor register section on the £3 electronic title deeds extract provides the owner's current name and current address, assuming they have updated Land Registry with any changes, as we should all be doing to guard against fraud.

The difference it makes is £1500 of lost deposit for Op who may have to cancel structural works because she doesn't have the property owner's permission like she thought she did...

If OP finds a letting agent dealing with the property they won't give her the landlord's details but I'd be surprised if they wouldn't agree to send OP's contact details to them with a brief message about needing to discuss access/structural issues.