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.

Put up a Union flag.

Your original question wasn’t “what are you trying to indicate by putting a flag up?”. Your original question was asking “what you’re proud of”.

I can only speak for myself but a few things that make me proud to be British:

• our national sense of humour; it can’t be beaten.
• our beautiful countryside, beaches and amazing cities.
• our stiff upper lip and love for queuing,
• fish and chips and proper British pubs.
• Shakespeare, Fleming and loads of other Brits.
• the Royals (I know not everyone agrees but that’s another thread).
• our armed forces.

I’m so sick of people suggesting it’s in some way wrong to be proud to be English (or British). When I go abroad I see so much national pride but we just love to hate the UK in the UK.

If I want to support my country’s flag as a small way to show my love for my country then I don’t see anything wrong with that.

You can't ask again, he has done nothing wrong! - if you are not careful you will have a neighbour dispute on your hands and that will be far more off putting than a flag.

It will be raining and windy soon and it will be taken in I would think.

And to be honest more than just stop the boats. The usual racists are jumping on the band wagon and yes they may say they’re worried about the boats but they also don’t want your Asian or black neighbour or colleague who’s lived here all their life!

I found a beautiful home in the perfect neighbourhood. Did a drive past before viewing - MAGA posters in the window next door (small village in England).

Unfortunately, you just have to accept you live in a "flag" neighborhood next to a "flag" house. But there are plenty of "flag" people who would feel right at home, so it will sell to one of them.

Living in a ‘big manor house’ with actual flagpoles is a little different to plastering the front window with England flags on a terrace house tho, isn’t it?

It would put me off, but there are a lot of people who would love it, and all it's attached connotations. Just ask the estate agent to only send people who like that sort of thing.

So seeing as you’re so proud have you flown a flag for many years?

would you fly the Union flag or the St George’s Cross. I assume the former as a royalist?

Is it, is national pride a preserve of the upper classes, my god are we a nation of racists and classists, say it ain't so.

I’ve flown both flags over the years to be honest 🤷‍♀️

To be fair, it’s entirely possible the “noise” they make, and how it seems to dominate my news feeds etc makes it feel like more of a majority than it actually is.

Not saying those bullet points aren't nice things. But who is your flag directed at? Who specifically do you think needs to be made aware that you're British and proud of being so?

A flag is raised for an audience, that's literally what it's for - so who is your audience? Are you trying to attract other British people? Or deter/compete with non-British people? Do you not see how either of those motivations is problematic?

Also...where are you seeing all these flag-wavers abroad? I've lived in many countries and never had a neighbour with a national flag over their house.

I'm also proud that we are, in the main, a VERY tolerant, liberal, easy going country. lots of cretinous toads have had a bash at setting up racist politics in the UK and none have really gained any traction or taken hold - we are just not wired up that way.

Reginald D. Hunter said it best in one of his comedy routines comparing the UK to the US and making the point that the UK was really bad at racism.

Racism exists everywhere, I'd rather live somewhere where it is purely practiced at an amateur level.

Why? Does it suddenly switch from racism to patriotism once somebody can afford a flagpole?

I wouldn't fly a flag in front of my house either, but there are some sweeping generalisations going on.

Why does it need to be directed “at” anyone? I can put flowers up outside my house - they’re not directed “at” anyone, they’re there because I want them there.

I’m surprised you’ve not seen flags abroad if you’ve lived in “many” countries. Off the top of my head, the last time I’ve travelled in Spain, Thailand, Turkey and the US I’ve seen flags all over the place.

Anything you put on display outside your house is for others, whether you admit it to yourself or not.

Ok, in that case it seems you know me better than I know myself. I hope you enjoy my flag 🙂

Fit in? Not a Rugby fan then! Well done Red Roses, hope to see you at Twickenham in September!

OP, in case you're still reading, you could offer the house to your local council, they may buy for social housing, and less likely to be bothered by the flag.

Get three quotes so you can go to them with a reasonable price. If they buy, there's no chain.

The Royal Family.
Beautiful countryside.
The fact that fundamentally, we are a country who are tolerant and kind.
We look after the less able and poor amongst us via a Welfare system, which is something very few other countries have.
Our sporting achievements over the decades.
Our history,
Our music - some of the best music in the world has come out of the UK.
English literature - amazing authors in the UK.
Free press.
We are respected by many world leaders.

Is that enough??

I’m sure you will try to pick apart the above, because you don’t feel pride, and there might be some things we still need to work on, but I believe that the UK is generally a good place to live.

We sold one of our houses to social housing, it still took an age even though there was no chain.

Sadly, on MN and among a lot of the intelligentsia, being anti-English is the accepted face of racism. I realise that some elements have been allowed to hi-jack our flag, but many of the comments on this site are as racist as the yobs' ideas. I would find it racist to be asked to remove a flag were I displaying one.

Because the poster is too dim to see them in Tesco etc, left overs from the Euros and being repurposed for the World Cup.