House viewings - neighbour refuses to take down flag

[KayleighhMum]

Our house is up for sale and we have viewings commencing from tomorrow - 7 in total lined up over the course of the week.

Our neighbour hung a large England flag from his top window on Friday and it has remained up. DH saw him outside the front on Saturday and politely asked if he could take it down before Tuesday. He basically laughed and said if any prospective new neighbour dislikes the flag then they won’t be the sort of person he’d want living next to him. It remains up now.

I am concerned this would be off putting, but speaking to my mum earlier she thinks I am over thinking things and it wouldn’t make a difference if someone likes the house.

Do you think we should try and ask again or would you assume it shouldn’t put people off? We are semi detached so it will definitely be noticed.

No prior issues with this neighbour who has always been friendly etc.

I think you are over thinking to be honest, also I really don't think you should ask again, its a bit cheeky!

I get your concerns but I don't think you can insist he removes something from his house. You have asked him politely once which is fine, he has declined which is also his choice, that's the end of it. Asking again is unlikely to get a different response.

Leave it aaaaht OP.

Your neighbour can hoist a flag if he wants to!

It would put me off the house and I wouldn’t make an offer.

You have asked politely I wouldn’t bother asking again as I doubt they will change their mind.

It would put me off. It would make me wonder if I could fit in. I don't think you'll get him to take it down, though.

I think I’d REALLY have to love the house to overlook it. I’m not into sports and neither is my husband- is football on? I’d be worried it was a bit EDL or imply there was going to be lots of shouting at sports within earshot through the shared wall. It isn’t a helpful reply, but I just wanted to be honest! Also not worth upsetting the neighbours over.. they might put up more!

I’m sure it will put off some people (particularly ethnic minority prospective buyers).

But your neighbour has every right to hang an English flag on his own property, and he has made his feelings clear to you. It would be rude to ask him again.

A few years ago, we didn't look at houses in one particular area purely because there were a lot of England flags 🙈 We're Arab Jews and, rightly or wrongly, felt that particular double-whammy would probably not be appreciated. So while I completely get where you're coming from, I don't think there's anything you can do about it.

I would find this really chavvy and probably eye-roll, but I don’t think you can dictate what he does in his own house tbh. It will probably make him more pig-headed about it.

My neighbour has a flag pole in the garden, but he’s ex-military so we let him off! He’s currently flying the Italian flag to celebrate the reopening of the local trattoria. 😂

Who do you think you are, asking your neighbour to take down their national flag? I'm so fed up with people thinking that it's wrong to celebrate being English. Not everybody who has a flag up is racist, but that's obviously what you're trying to say without saying it! Any other flag is OK - people can put up what they like, but as soon as it's the English flag it's deemed to be a bad thing to do.
If I were your neighbour I'd be inclined to add another flag somewhere else noticeable too and I'd keep doing so until you gave up asking!
I'm not sure I entirely believe this is real, anyway.

Is this what we have become? How ridiculous.

I would find this really chavvy and probably eye-roll, but I don’t think you can dictate what he does in his own house tbh. It will probably make him more pig-headed about it.

My neighbour has a flag pole in the garden, but he’s ex-military so we let him off! He’s currently flying the Italian flag to celebrate the reopening of the local trattoria. 😂

Is he possibly a supporter of the Red Roses?

I wouldn't buy your house but I'm sure plenty of people would. Some would probably think it's a positive.
I don't think you can ask him to take it down again.

It would definitely put me off but I don’t think there’s any point asking him again.

I’m currently on holiday in Greece, and the Greek flag is proudly displayed in LOTS of locations. What a shame people get all weird about England flags being displayed in England.

Maybe your neighbour does want to put some people off. Not good for you though as it will limit potential buyers.

It would put me off a bit, yes. But it wouldn't put everyone off. I'm afraid he has every right to fly the flag so you'll just have it let it go. It's like you can't require the neighbours to tidy up their front garden etc. even though you might want to.

We didn’t ask for it to come down because we find it offensive, racist or any other similar reason. We are patriotic and love our country.

We were just thinking from a prospective buyer perspective and kerb appeal etc.

I think we will wait to see if it comes up in the initial feedback before approaching again.

You’ve asked.

He said no.

The end.

it’s a good advert for buyers about the sort of neighbour they can expect - given the comments on here sounds pretty balanced around who’d like it vs who’d avoid…
good luck with your own move!

He can do whatever he pleases in/on his own home.

He's the one who has to live next door to the person who buys your house.

So surely if it's someone who likes his flag, everyone's a winner!

I’m, if anything, overly patriotic and I still can’t ignore the connotations the flag has at the moment.

It would put me off.

Do not ask him again, it will annoy him (rightly so) and he will escalate it.

(From his response, I wouldn't be surprised if he already has something planned for Tuesday).