My neighbours have disappeared

[poppetandmog]

This is really none of my business but it’s such an odd situation, I had to share. My garden backs on to two other houses. We don’t know these neighbours - they technically live around the corner from us on a different street but because of the way the houses are positioned and with our house being slightly elevated, we can see in to their gardens and to a lesser degree, in to their houses. One of the neighbours has 3 small boys (I’d guess ages 5-10) and we would often see them playing football all in the garden. We’d also see them coming and going to school/work etc as they tended to use their back door.

it suddenly occurred to me the other day that I hadn’t seen them in months. No cars on the driveway either. Being nosey, I checked to see if the house was for sale, thinking they’d moved somewhere else but it isn’t. I’m now kind of worried as it’s just really odd for a family to disappear, but as we don’t actually know them, i could be totally wrong. Should I report this to someone to check they’re okay? There’s probably a logical explanation but if something has happened to them, I’d feel terrible noticing and doing nothing. Thoughts?

Just let the police know: they have ways to check if someone’s safe. They won’t, however, tell you either way.

Maybe they moved house?

How did you know it wasn't rented ? And they moved and the landlord has not got new tenants.
Or they are planning to sell but it needs work.
Could be loads of reasons why its not for sale.
But seems like its very plausible that they moved out and you didnt notice .

Maybe, like us, they've lost their jobs in Britain and had to take jobs abroad during term time and don't want to sell the house or rent it out so they've somewhere to go for the summer to try and give their kids the normal life they wanted them to have? I really hope our neighbours don't stick their noses in when we disappear soon.

Could be anything, staying with family? Maybe they were renting and evicted, house not yet sorted for new tenants? I wouldn’t be reporting it personally, but maybe knock on their immediate neighbours and ask if you’re concerned

When my neighbour disappeared out of the blue a few years ago, it turned out that he'd gone to work in Thailand on a whim and just walked out of his old life, leaving all his belongings behind!
But obviously easier to do as a man with no family living with him.

if the children attended school you can be sure any sudden unexplained disappearance would be looked into
but as PPs say, many v ordinary explanations

I think if a whole family went missing months ago, someone would’ve noticed already and reported it!

Likely there’s an explanation which is none of your business so I would just leave it

I've just moved house and my old house is empty and not yet up for sale, my neighbours probably wonder where I have gone. Hopefully they won't report me to the police!

Thanks everyone. I’m probably being silly and will just mind my business. I know they own the house as it’s a new build estate and we all moved in around the same time. But you’re right, I’m sure there’s a logical explanation. Thanks.

Ask their immediate neighbours. It won't hurt to report it, but most likely they just moved.

Maybe they have won the lottery? I lived in a new build. Next door was bought by a landlord and rented out from the get go. So most likely this family were renting from an investor who bought the property new. The family have probably moved on.

Have they taken their stuff with them?

There's loads of reasons they could have gone. You know nothing about them.

There are near endless reasons why someone might move.

They might move for their job on a temporary basis.
They might have moved to live in and look after parents.
They might be in the process of divorce and putting the house up for sale.

There is a house who's garden backs on to ours which is rented. People often arrive and leave sometimes after a short time. I don't think you can assume a house is owned because it is a new build, they are low maintenance and easy to let.

I would probably go and ask a neighbour. I think it’s refreshing to read that someone actually cares about other peoples wellbeing.

You need to read Saltwater Mansions and then your imagination will really go into overdrive.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saltwater-Mansions-disappeared-untold-stories/dp/1399621971/ref=sr_1_1?crid=170ZMX4W745U&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.FNYVDQ_0nUzzBiastLCZGf8_azM0Y8L0RNQLeAka7zzeBiEwXjA4tAYjXDjOZHO1.KnMtFGxqZHzw5yLewzBh4woiFJ4vUDwS-fkKRaoeDQA&dib_tag=se&keywords=Saltwater+mansions&qid=1750787545&s=books&sprefix=saltwater+mansions%2Cstripbooks%2C78&sr=1-1

It’s a true story of a lady who vanished.

Walk past a few different times, particularly at night to see if any lights are on or curtains closed etc?
It is weird how we see our neighbours even ones we don’t interact with and still make up scenarios about their lives as if we know them

Could be lots of reasons, especially if they rent the house. If they've got kids in school they'll be well on the 'radar' so highly unlikely anything untoward has gone one.

Can you see into the house at all, to see if its still furnished, dying houseplants etc?

I would ask their next door neighbours. Surely they would know. Whole family would not disappear without someone raising alarm.

I moved out of a rented house last year. I kept having a nosy to see how much it would go back up to let for as we never had a rent increase in 10 years and it was way below market value. It took 6 months for it to go up for sale. It could be a similar situation with your old neighbours.

Just because it’s a new build doesn’t mean it’s the owner occupier. Every new housing estate has to have a percentage of social housing e.g Local Authority or Housing Association -
if they have got in to rent arrears they could have been served a notice quite quickly and been evicted.

My next door neighbours once upped and left one evening. No for sale signs etc and then new people moved in very quickly.

Then about a year later I did the same thing because it was nobody else’s business that I was moving.