To not disclose neighbour dispute when selling

[Bonnieisadiva]

This is a genuine question.

From my neighbours point of view I'm the problem neighbour. Over the last 20 years they have made numerous complaints about me and my family over noise to both social services and environmental health.

It all started over parking. I inadvertently parked in front of their house on a public road 20 years ago and went to Spain for 2 weeks. My bad.

I'm really sorry this is long but I think it's relevant information.

From this point we noticed hostilities. NDN parking his car and van spaced out to take up as possible.

Around 2007 he met his wife who was only to happy to add her own car to the "parking wars". Between them they were now using 3 vehicles to take up 4-5 spaces.

November 2007 I gave birth to my youngest child.

2008: They complained to to Social services over my baby crying. They contacted me and my health visitor and the complaint was dismissed. My NDN then announced herself as a Police Officer to Environmental Health and made another complaint which was referred to Social Services again. Because it was a complaint from another government agency this time they were duty bound to investigate further. Which they did. They spoke to my 6 year old twins school, my babies childminder, my health visitor, did a home visit and spoke to me and my twins separately. The social worker wrote a report saying "no concerns" the children were all well cared for, lived in a home that was "maintained to an excellent high standard" there was evidence of age appropriate craft equipment, toys, books etc and if any more complaints were to come from the same source they should be dismissed as malicious. The social worker sent me a copy of this report which included the initial source of the complaint with the NDN "announcing" herself on duty as a police officer. I used this report to complain about her to IPCC who found in my favour and disciplined her.

2009: NDN decided to create off road parking. I could see exactly how this was going to go if I didn't do the same. NDN just needed a bit of tarmac and a dropped kerb. Our front though needed about 8 tons of soil moving, the services dropping which involved the gas pipe moving by British gas, the front brickwork that was previously underground needed refacing, we needed rails putting up around the steps to prevent people falling down a now 8 foot drop. But we did the work anyway and gained 2 off road spots whereas no NDN only gained 1. Plus we didn't get an H bar put in front of our double width dropped kerb unlike NDN. So we gained 2 spaces off road and 2 spaces along the dropped kerb to our drive. NDN only gained 1 space because no-one can park on an H bar, not even the owners of the space behind the H bar. So this resolved our parking issues. Not so much no NDN who had previously been taking up 4/5 spaces with their 3 cars but now only had 1.

After all this drama I spent YEARS walking on eggshells. "Sushing" visitors to my home. Turning music down, turning the tv down to avoid any more complaints from NDN

2017/8 - a whole month of INSANE noise when NDN were getting ties put in place around the time they put up their extension right up to the boundary. I did not object and even allowed scaffolding on my property and overlooked the lack of a party wall agreement.
Around this time no NDN also moved their rear and side boundary to claim adverse possession of the shared back lane and some land at the side that I believe is owned by Council.

2020 - MONTHS AND MONTHS of NDN grinding stones for his patio every single weekend. This was during lockdown so we couldn't even get out of the house to escape this incessant noise. The dust went everywhere. All over mine and the neighbours cars, our washing, inside our homes. Again I did not complain.

2023 - repeated complaints from NDN over "darts noise". Literally every time anyone played darts in the basement she was straight round hammering on the door. We built an oche to stop the complaints.

February 2025 - we adopted a Poochon dog. I do accept that the noise from her barking was a noise nuisance and a valid complaint. NDN have obviously gone straight to the council and raised a noise complaint. The council are taking it seriously and 100% on their side which I'm not challenging. My dog cannot be left alone, I accept that. In response I've arranged doggy daycare 2 days per week, one day she's with my mum and the other 2 days I WFH. I'm not challenging this complaint, I accept it's valid and I've taken steps to prevent the barking and believe this matter now resolved. I installed cameras and could see that even leaving her alone for half an hour was distrssing for her. I 100% am not challenging this and have made this clear to the council and have taken responsibility for resolving this situation.

Since then, however they have now made a separate complaint through Environmental Health about "amplified noise". I genuinely do not know what they are referring to. I've asked the Council but they can't be arsed to reply either. Is my tv on too loud? Is it my daughter's weekly guitar lesson? Is it when I listen to music whilst cleaning? I'm actually hearing impaired so most of the time I rely on sub titles when watching TV or have ear phones in when listening to music. I can't believe really that I'm louder than them.

I just can't stand living next door to them anymore. It's constant. They have no consideration of the fact noise travels both ways. The husband constantly shouts, bangs, screams at their kids (who incidentally also cried as babies), they bang about, drill, play their music, CONSTANT diy, and yet I'm the one walking on eggshells worried about every single sound. Maybe I am a noisy bastard I don't know? I can't live here anymore though.

Anyway if you've got through all that amazing!

My question though is, given I'm the source of all the complaints, would I need to disclose this if I sell?

That's not my question though. I'm not asking if I'm being a dick or not. I'm asking if I need to disclose a dispute if I'm the one being accused of being a dick?

I know you were, which is why I said that when the time comes your solicitor should advise you.

Check with a conveyancing solicitor. You don’t want to be sued for misrepresentation if you don’t declare complaints.

“Haha oh yeah the NDNs are so lovely. Im actually quite sad to be leaving them in all honesty!” Just blag it

Yeah thanks for the advice.

I think really I shouldn't be asking on mumsnet. Now I've taken the time to write out a detailed timeline it will at least be easy to show this to a solicitor!

Yeah, but the point is, you don't need to be detailed, and for what solicitors charge per hour, it is far better to be as concise as possible.

You ask them to tell you what constitutes a dispute. They tell you. That is it.

It's up to you then to go away and decide if any or all or none of what you have said here fits into the category of a dispute as defined by your solicitor, and to note it down or not accordingly.

Thing is if you are buying a house it is highly relevant - if the neighbours are ultra sensitive, as in this case. It means there will be trouble for the new people.

Thank you - good point.

I think I'm worrying about something unnecessarily because I'm generally over anxious right now.

This has helped.

You can get advice and clarity in advance to save yourself a lot of anxiety and make a decision about selling. What you need to do is write out a chronological account giving dates for each of the events and incidents and encounters with neighbours and their complaints and the result or the current status of each one - you have more or less done that here already but it may not be complete and may need to be tidied up and organised in bullet point or numbered paragraphs with sub headings and dates for each type of issue or incident. Be as clear, factual and precise as you can: who said or did what, any other parties involved or actions taken and when and how it ended or was left hanging. That's the main thing.

Make an appointment to take it to a conveyancing solicitor - with a copy for you and one for solicitor - and ask whether and what you would need to disclose and what you'd not, and most important, how you should word and frame anything you may have to disclose.

Solicitors are very good at the how - and it is well worth getting that advice because it will give you a proper informed perspective and relieve you of endless fruitless worry about a lot of stuff that you may not even need to bother about when it eventually comes to selling.

They would be yeah, but the rest of the neighbours are genuinely amazing. Excluding the arseholes next door, the rest of the neighbours get on really well. That's the reason I've not moved despite the fact I'm living in a house way too big for my needs (or my budget). So I wouldn't feel bad about not disclosing my personal issues with NDN because new owners may be super quiet and not have an issue.

Doubt it tbh. I think new owners will be way more noisy tbh. My house is a 5 bed semi with separate "granny flat/teenager basement suite" that is currently occupied by just me and my teenage daughter. And noisy dog that goes to day care.

When I last showed it to estate agents I was told it would be snapped up straight away by a multi generational family. I hope it is. The house with just me and my last fledgling is empty. I'd love to sell it to a big family, a big noisy family, who will occupy all 5 bedrooms, and put their parents in the converted cellar. And I hope the grandparents/teenagers are deaf and listen to their tv at maximum volume just so NDN fucking appreciate just how many concessions I made in an attempt to be silent. Something that was NOT reciprocal.

Thank you for your advice.

The post I made here was based on a summarised version of notes I already had. Which I compiled because someone as wise as you gave me that advice. It's difficult though because there will be a lot I've missed out because I wasn't keeping a running record of it all. I wish I'd met you/the other you 20 years ago!

You must declare it. This reflects badly on the neighbour who keeps complaining and the potential buyer needs to know.

Do NOT check with ChatGPT for legal advice at all.

As pps said, speak to conveyancers, provide them with all info and see what they say.

@Bonnieisadiva I don't think you have to declare it but the things you have said about their extension and land grab etc might put off a potential buyer. If I was buying a property and saw that the house next door had extended onto the property I was buying I would 100% pull out, no question about it.

It should come up In solicitor searches anyway if the council has been involved multiple times.
If you don’t declare and it comes up, you can get into the sort of trouble that would make it very difficult to sell your home in the future.

How does "building an oche" reduce darts playing noise? Just curious

The neighbour dispute would be relevant if your neighbour was the one you had made a complained against but it is the other way around. When you leave, the dispute leaves. It is very different if you had complained about them. It is also not a dispute in relation to the property itself. Personally, I would say don’t mention it to the estate agent or a conveyancer as it will muddy the waters. If you indicate there are problems with the neighbours and then a prospective buyer asks, they may feel that they need to be honest and give a watered down version (ie that you haven’t been getting along).

If you do feel compelled to say something I wouldn’t go into the minutiae, I would just keep it at there were some minor noise complaints and you took measures to address them. It sounds like these are problems that have occurred on and off over the years. It isn’t like they are nuisance neighbours or have ASBOs or like you’re arguing over boundaries etc.

Genuinely curious, how would this come up in solicitor’s searches? They check the Land Registry, as far as I am aware they don’t contact the council to investigate whether potential disputes have occurred. If I am wrong on this, please do correct me as this is for OP’s benefit! Also just to add, the previous owner of my home apparently was subject to lots of complaints for various forms of antisocial behaviour and I never knew about it until after the purchase. I really don’t think it is relevant unless the nextdoor neighbour of the property you are living in is regarded as the problem. I appreciate that from the OP’s perspective the neighbours are vile but from a a strict legal perspective, OP has been labelled as the neighbour with issues.

I'm asking if I need to disclose a dispute if I'm the one being accused of being a dick?

As so many have said you need to check this with a legal professional, which I'm not, but I honestly thought the declaration was needed if you've been "party to a dispute" ... in other words both if you're the complainer or the one being complained about

It is against building regulations to build an extension over a boundary line. Could have it pulled down. Should have in fact

You parked outside their house and then buggered off to Spain for a fortnight? That would have made you deeply unpopular on our estate ( it may be a public road but no one on our street would do this ). Your neighbours have held a very long grudge by the sounds of it. I agree with other posters who have advised checking with a solicitor about whether you need to declare a dispute.

I had terrible neighbours some years back with a lot of issues. Absolutely awful. I’ve never had anything like that happen to me before or since. They sold up and I had no idea as it was a private sale. New neighbours were wonderful and had realised themselves that they were difficult. There had been no mention of the disputes at all. They just didn’t disclose anything to the buyers.

I genuinely think that you have problem neighbours. Their behaviour towards you has been vindictive as well as persistently annoying and there is a legal record (your IPCC complaint) of their harassment of you. If you don’t disclose it and it turns out that these peaches go on to harass the new occupants who then decide to challenge your disclosures, I do think a court could reasonably decide against you.
in fact, your current neighbours could be called as witnesses. Do you think they would pass up the opportunity to add to your troubles?
All this to say, I think you should disclose these details to any solicitor you consult, or you may not get best advice.

I would have been reporting them to SS for 'screaming' at the kids and leaving them crying for long periods for starters!