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.

As an immigrant, I’d be wary. I’m not against flag flying, but there is certainly a lot of anti immigration sentiment flag flying and flag painting on the roads etc at the moment. I’d want to know more details. There’s a guy across from me who loves to fly a flag but it’s always timed to royal and nationalist celebrations so fair enough. I don’t think he’s going to drive me out with a pitchfork.

I’ve lived here since I was ten and have been a definite net contributor to taxes but the wind is blowing all sorts of nasty directions at the moment.

We all know why these oiks are hanging flags.

They aren't patriotic, they are right wing rascists who have been emboldened by Trump worshipping Farage. A liar who already did untold amounts of damage to the UK with his Brexit lies and now continues to try and drive a once liberal tolerant nation towards extremism.

There's no way I willingly live next to someone like that. Someone so hate filled, ill educated and mentally frail that when power and money hungry old white men tell them what to think, they just do because they already hate those who are different and are looking for a scapegoat.

It’s very unfortunate that the England flag is associated with racism.

In other countries, they fly their flags proudly. Even just across the borders in wales and Scotland, they love their flags. In England, we essentially have no flag - unless we want to risk being accused of racism. Something very wrong.

Womens rugby world cup started a few days ago.. could be that?

Either way, his house. His choice.. he really likes womens rugby though 😊

Well, I would actually prefer that he leaves it where it is, to be honest, because it at least would alert me to the type of person who might be living nextdoor - and it could put me off buying the house.

I think if I really loved the house, I'd want to speak to the neighbours in person, to find out what motivated them to hang a flag out of their window. I would then need to make a character assessment and decide whether I would want to live next door to them or not.

I dont mind flags generally but if I pulled up to view your house i.wouldnt put an offer in.
Im finding this current rush of 'patriotism. ' to be quite sick and scary for what could come!

Don't think you'll change the minds of people who've jumped on this bandwagon!

So specifically an English flag then? What about people with Welsh, Irish or Scottish flags up? That would be OK would it? I’m Welsh, but wouldn’t give 2 f@cks about viewing a house with a flag up, even if it is English. I’d be more concerned about general noise and the amount of parked cars myself.

Are your neighbours doing something illegal? No. They’re perfectly entitled to fly a flag on their own property if they so wish. It’s nothing to do with you.

Really? You’d chap the door and ask them?

It would put me off, but not much you can do about it as they’ve already said no

Don’t be silly! I said in my post of 16.17 it wasn’t a sweeping assumption, no edits on that post!

You just trying to be “you’ve called everyone that flies the England flag a racist”, which I haven’t, but don’t worry about the actual facts in front of you

I live in a an area that’s covered with the bloody things now.

The dickheads round here probably couldn’t tell you who Trump is. They are just thick as mince and bored out of their tiny minds.

I would assume anyone flying an obviously new flag of St George on any structure other than a flagpole at the moment to be doing so in response to the racist / anti-immigrant calls from certain politicians and influencers.

I would, on the other hand, see a well-worn flag flying from a permanent flagpole, especially on an official building or on a specific day such as a sporting final or St George’s day, as being harmlessly patriotic. Especially if the flag is one if a rotation- Union Jack; Welsh Dragon; county flag etc etc - displayed according to the event. My great uncle used to fly signal flags for our initials when we visited, for example.

On a recent visit to France, it was interesting to see how often the EU flag and a range of the EU country flags were displayed alongside the tricoloure.,.. though also interesting to see which countries were omitted when there were a limited number of flagpoles!

Any chance it’s a recent build in a development? There may well be covenants restricting it if so.

Sorry OP - it would absolutely put me off.

As pp have said, you have asked once, asking again could spark a dispute which could escalate. Plus, it is entirely his business.

Hopefully someone will see past it and focus on your house.

Is it meant to be some sort of political gesture or just in support of some sporting event (like the rugby world cup)? But his house so up to him really whatever the reason.

You can’t police how other people decorate the outside of their homes. Sorry, but that’s majorly controlling.

It's pretty clear he won't be taking it down.

Ask again and he sounds like the type that would put up more flags. It doesn't matter if you try to dress it up as "kerb appeal" ... he clearly likes his flag and thinks its adding to his home's "kerb appeal" so probably finds your request rude.

There is nothing you can do about it.

It would certainly put me off, especially if it's just gone up meaning the intent isn't a good one.

But you also can't make him take it down, your local council might have it's own rules about flags but I general it's perfectly legal to fly a flag outside your house.

I know this because my Jewish neighbours reported me for having a Palestinian flag, they even tried claiming I'm antisemitic and did it to get at them. The council told them I was doing nothing wrong so they called the police and reported it as a hate crime!

I have the flag in support of innocent people, not to have a sly dig at other people.
But the police came and realised pretty fast that I was couldn't give a toss which god my neighbours worship and that I'm not racist or anything else. They told me so long as the flag wasn't causing an obstruction then there was no problem whatsoever.

So if I'm allowed to have a flag of another country then your neighbour can have an English flag.
Lol you'll just have to hope any prospective buyers either don't care about living next door to a racist or they're racist themselves.

Oh it's meant to be 'nationalism'. Which is really posh sounding racism.

Not in Germany.

If you go to a private home in Germany displaying the national flag you’d (a) be surprised as it is an unusual thing to see and (b) leave asap as it’s usually a sign of far right extremists.

The Germans have a sensitive relationship with their flag but it seems they do have some public discourse acknowledging this and to find ways not to let their flag be appropriated.

I wouldn’t live next to someone with a flag like this. Sadly, the England flag has been co-opted by meathead racists.

It would absolutely put me off and I understand why you’d ask. Odds are though that there will be at least one reform voter amongst the viewers so you should be fine

I've said you're unreasonable but only to consider asking again. That sort of person won't help you. Hopefully your property won't suffer to the detriment of a sale.

At least you're moving out and away.

He's definitely a lot EDL/BF/UKIP/Reform.