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.

That's just it, isn't it? I'm proud of my country and like the flag, but I wouldn't suddenly put one up this week as it's clear what it's all about.
"Claiming are country back" and "immigrants"
I'm not aligning myself with the kind of vile racist arseholes I see on my local FB page. (of which their comments make perfectly clear they are)

Of course the flag isn't intrinsically racist and there's nothing wrong with being patriotic. But nobody can deny that the flag has connotations. That is unfair but blame the racists for that.

As the lesbian mother of mixed race daughters I'm obviously going to be looking for clues on how safe a community is, and Im obviously going to look at that flag and think: patriot or knuckle-headed racist? Football fan or Reform supporter? Wouldnt you in my shoes?

It creates a bad impression of the neighbourhood but you can't really ask him to take it down

I don’t think I’d even view the house - would completely put me off the neighbourhood. Putting a flag up this week is a horribly antagonistic thing to do and I would assume he would be an antagonistic neighbour. More practically I’d worry about resale!

Exactly. It's all about intent. Which people are deliberately ignoring.

He has probably put it up because he wants the new neighbours to be like him and wants to deter anyone from an ethnic minority or anyone who considers it downmarket to put flags up.

The racists are precisely the anti - flag leftists, champagne swivling upper class wannabes.

Since when has the English flag represented exclusively white people….I am an English ethnic minority and I will proudly display the English flag.

These racist lefties are totally out of date and out of touch and precisely the ones who create divisions.

Oh I'm terribly sorry, I didn't realise you had told me to leave. You could say thd same about you as you keep replying wanting me to accept your point of view. Which frankly isn't going to happen. Neither am I being told to leave a thread by a self righteous snob. Its far to funny watching the pearl clutching as I sit in my garden drinking cheap supermarket cider, eating reduced bbq meat, listening to excessively loud music surrounded by vest wearing tattooed hooligans. Hope I've ticked all stereotype boxes for you there. Have the rest of the day you deserve!

Same, it's getting beyond pathetic.
The last thread that just finished shows that people do get it, they're just pretending not to or just don't care.

Get your neighbours on the other side a Palestine flag to hang from the top window to even things out!

Wow thats a new stereotype box ticked. What have football fans got to do with how safe an area is?

It would absolutely put me off. Reform voters.

There’s a reason England flags and Union Jacks are being put up in certain parts of the country at the moment and it has nothing to do with patriotism. Anyone with half a brain knows this.
It would put me off buying your house. I wouldn’t even go inside to view it.

I would be massively put off... as your neighbor said I can return the sentiment that I don't want to live next to someone like him either. Would suck if you had a lovely house to have to walk away though.

If it was a union jack during a jubilee type event or maybe car flags during the world cup or Olympics etc... I might give the benefit of the doubt but in general it doesn't speak it screams about they kind of person and I have had the hell of that personality type neighbor before.

Unfortunately you cannot control your neighbors although you have my sympathy, maybe another farage lover 'Patriot' might buy it off you (would be good if they all grouped themselves together somewhere and only defaced their own 'like minded' street instead of forcing it on everyone else).

2 things: 1) I think it’s sad that the flag is associated with racism but that now seems to be embedded and there’s not much we can do 2) I’m white British but I’d worry rightly or wrongly about the associated behaviours some flag displayers might have. Eg loud parties, loud dogs, shouting etc. I can understand your concern but there isn’t much you can do.

So we can fly the Pride, Irish, Welsh, Ukranian, Palestinian, Pakistani, Indian, infact any world flag or made up flag…but we cannot fly the English flag. The English are not allowed a flag.

Wow.

No one is saying you’re not allowed to, but people will make assumptions 🤷🏻‍♀️ rightly or wrongly.

You said you were leaving because you were in a good mood! Some sort of flounce, to retain your mood in thought? Where did I tell you to leave?

You’ve labelled the racists as you view them, you’ve stereotyped.

But personally I don’t think those are the ones you view as typical racists (although extremely interesting that you think that’s the stereotype), are the ones we need to be very wary of.

Again, I’ve not said all flag flyers are racist.

Enjoy your cheap cider, I’m glad it’s having the desired effect for a low cost.. 🍻

I think it depends on the area.

I just drove up to our local co-op. It’s on a council estate and yes, I saw some flags draped from windows. If I were viewing a house there, I’d think it came with the territory. It would definitely put me off elsewhere, however.

Nonsense. The English have a flag, so what do you mean they’re “not allowed one.”

How dramatic.

You can fly what you like on your own property, and other people can think whatever they think about your choice to do so, and decide whether they want to live next door to
your flag.

Freedom of choice does work both ways.

I think this is what you must say to the viewers - our neighbour is a HUGE Red Roses and rugby fan (if they ask)

You asked and he said no, but as a buyer I’d absolutely be put off. Having read some recent rants on our local facebook
group about flying a flag from their home, I would assume they’d be nightmare neighbours!

Of course you can fly the England flag, but if you only started doing this very recently you would be a racist dickhead. I would make instant assumptions, and I would be correct.

Sorry @KayleighhMum but I wouldn’t buy your house , even if it were perfect in every other way because I wouldn’t knowingly want to live next door to the types of people who are putting up flags at the moment . It is a shame , I love being British and have no problem with the flag but nowadays you see a flag and my brain automatically says Reform / heritage / old NF ,

No one has issues with flying a flag but when people are being encouraged to do it to ‘take our country back’ by billionaires stirring up trouble then it isn’t about patriotism is it.