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AIBU?

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Original poster

To buy a dream house with a crazy neighbour next door?

193 replies

Friedeggs9876 · 13/05/2025 19:51

Would you buy the house of your dreams if there was an ongoing issue with the neighbour? The house is in the cotswolds, lovely garden in a beautiful area with great community, schools and shops. The only issue is that the house apparently has a neighbour that has harassed the owners in the past, instances like putting up notices around their property boundary about “around the clock 24hr surveillance” and “trespassers will be prosecuted” I’ve heard the neighbour also seems to think the owners are Russian spies and working with Putin. Would this be enough to put you off buying an otherwise lovely home?

OP posts:
Annascaul · 13/05/2025 20:14

Friedeggs9876 · 13/05/2025 20:09

There has also been a few episodes with police involvement where community officers have had to visit the neighbour. Apparently the neighbour can sometimes scream at the owners accusing them of endangering their life and that the owners are trying to cause them harm.

Well, maybe you should have led with that, op! Quite the drip feed.

Velmy · 13/05/2025 20:15

It'd be very tempting purely to wind the nutter up beyond belief.

purpleme12 · 13/05/2025 20:15

Annascaul · 13/05/2025 20:14

Well, maybe you should have led with that, op! Quite the drip feed.

Show quote history

Isn't it!

Lovemycat2023 · 13/05/2025 20:16

Does the price take it into account? It must reduce the value and it would impact any sale on.

Rapunzel91 · 13/05/2025 20:20

I wouldn’t. Our next door neighbours are awful. It’s made me miss our lovely neighbours in our old house so much

babystarsandmoon · 13/05/2025 20:22

No, not when it has the potential to very quickly become the house of your nightmares.

ImaginedCorners · 13/05/2025 20:23

Friedeggs9876 · 13/05/2025 20:09

There has also been a few episodes with police involvement where community officers have had to visit the neighbour. Apparently the neighbour can sometimes scream at the owners accusing them of endangering their life and that the owners are trying to cause them harm.

OK, well that’s a completely different situation to what you said in your OP! No, I think you’d be crazy. We looked at a lovely house about five years ago, on our ideal street, then the estate agent mentioned a dispute over ownership of a garage (at the end of the cul de sac, with our potential house and one neighbour beside it). As we looked around the garden, DH nudged me. Next door, standing at the French window, stood the elderly neighbour, stark naked and pounding something in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon like something she was trying to kill, staring at us with an expression of concentrated rage. We said ‘You know what, there’s too much crazy in the air…’

SnippySnappy · 13/05/2025 20:24

Don't do it. We did. Loved the house. Turned a wilful blind eye to what it was next to. DON'T DO IT.
I repeat.
DON'T DO IT!

nahthatsnotforme · 13/05/2025 20:26

I would have to know if this neighbour was genuinely malicious (in which case it’s a def no) or an eccentric with possibly some mental health issues, which would bother me less

zenai · 13/05/2025 20:27

I'd say one of you will be sectioned, and it probably won't be the neighbour, although it should be.

I'd like to rent it and have a bit of a neighbour war, which I'd try to win lol, but that's unrealistic. As for buying it, have you actual proof that this neighbour is bonkers?

Gattopardo · 13/05/2025 20:29

How old are they? If younger than around 83, then absolutely not. If older then maybe depending on whether the property is significantly cheaper than you’d otherwise expect.

I lived next door to a paranoid schizophrenic for most of my childhood. She really wasn’t much of a danger to anyone but herself and the police were frequently called and NFA was the usual outcome. If there is an actual neighbour dispute going on involving the council etc, absolutely not.

Glitchymn1 · 13/05/2025 20:30

Wasywasydoodah · 13/05/2025 19:56

I think I could cope with that kind of crazy. Id struggle more with loud music/cannabis/sweary type neighbours. But you really have to decide for yourself

I agree.

PraisebetoGod · 13/05/2025 20:31

It could never be a dream home, to me, if I had bad neighbours. So no.

godmum56 · 13/05/2025 20:32

Wasywasydoodah · 13/05/2025 19:56

I think I could cope with that kind of crazy. Id struggle more with loud music/cannabis/sweary type neighbours. But you really have to decide for yourself

this. BUT I'd not do it if I had children who might be frightened or pets who could be attacked or poisoned.

SeaShellsSanctuary1 · 13/05/2025 20:32

You may be their dream buyer but it's not a home.

You'd be crazier than the neighbour to buy it then be subjected to years of misery.To top it off you'll struggle to sell it in the future

What more could you wish for

ImaginedCorners · 13/05/2025 20:32

nahthatsnotforme · 13/05/2025 20:26

I would have to know if this neighbour was genuinely malicious (in which case it’s a def no) or an eccentric with possibly some mental health issues, which would bother me less

Well, surely if the police have had to come out multiple times to deal with the neighbour believing the people next door have threatened his or her life, it doesn’t much matter whether the motivation is malice or MH problems , does it?

JohnMajorsChicken · 13/05/2025 20:34

Wasywasydoodah · 13/05/2025 19:56

I think I could cope with that kind of crazy. Id struggle more with loud music/cannabis/sweary type neighbours. But you really have to decide for yourself

This is my thoughts. If someone accused me of being a Russian spy I'd laugh at the ridiculousness!

Gattopardo · 13/05/2025 20:34

It really does depend on the reasons for the behaviour: putin conspiracies etc makes me think it’s mental health related which isn’t to be trifled with but is not the same as a simply vindictive, antisocial nutcase hell bent on causing problems. Not least because people with paranoid conditions aren’t normally like that all or even most of the time, unless they resist intervention.

purpleme12 · 13/05/2025 20:34

Have these PPs saying it sounds ok read all OP's posts?

Just wondering

Munnygirl · 13/05/2025 20:35

Not in a million years

UseNailOil · 13/05/2025 20:35

Can I urge you not to. I my neighbours are awful and I’d probably move if we could afford to.

Honestly, don’t do it.

kwetu · 13/05/2025 20:36

Sounds like the neighbour needs some kind of help.
If they were elderly I’d probably risk it if you were looking to live there long term.

EvilNextDoor · 13/05/2025 20:38

Oddly enough we looked at a house in the Cotswolds and had a very similar conversation with people who lived around the area, the person next door was ‘crazy’ (not my words) next door neighbour, police involvement and all sorts going on, and the house was very £££ for that kind of hassle..

We decided against putting an offer in as much as we loved the house/garden/location.

I don’t want the hassle of annoying next door people.

RainbowZebraWarrior · 13/05/2025 20:38

nahthatsnotforme · 13/05/2025 20:26

I would have to know if this neighbour was genuinely malicious (in which case it’s a def no) or an eccentric with possibly some mental health issues, which would bother me less

Either way, surely the behaviour is erratic and would disrupt your life?

No way would be my thoughts. There is more than one dream home. This isn't it.

RainbowZebraWarrior · 13/05/2025 20:38

nahthatsnotforme · 13/05/2025 20:26

I would have to know if this neighbour was genuinely malicious (in which case it’s a def no) or an eccentric with possibly some mental health issues, which would bother me less

Either way, surely the behaviour is erratic and would disrupt your life?

No way would be my thoughts. There is more than one dream home. This isn't it.