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.

Our previous next door neighbour was a right wing reform voting idiot. 100% he's got a flag out wherever he's living now. Kept his garden immaculate though and would take our bins out if he noticed we were away overnight on bin day. We just didn't socialise with him. New neighbours are nice and no extremist views I'm aware of, still don't socialise with them so it really makes no difference in neighbour terms.

People don't get weird about unless there's a reason. Currently it's got nothing to do with proudly flying your flag and everything to do with hate and racism.

In Scotland the Scottish flag has become associated with nationalists (posh racist) bigots too, ever since the Indy ref.

And no, there’s no way I’d buy next door to a flag flyer.

Really?!!! There’s no way I’d buy a house next to a neighbour who has hung up an England flag in the current situation.

Imagine asking an Englishman to take down an English flag. How ridiculous. Some people really don't have any back bone left.

I really doubt its anything to do with sports….

All the posters who are like

WhY Is OuR fLaG RaCiSt? No oThEr CoUnTrIeS ArE aShAmEd Of ThEir FlAg?!?!

Are they purposely being thick or do they never turn on the news?

I'm sorry, I’m trying to sell my house at the moment and I’d hate this. If I was coming to view a house and saw this outside I wouldn’t even continue viewing as it’d waste everyone’s time.

As a mixed race family we wouldn’t even through your front door - the flag and it’s current use, we’d re think the area.

Was talking about this flag stuff with DH today , I pointed out it's interesting that these same people weren't flying them proudly during the euros to support the women's squad. Racism and misogyny have some heavy crossover.

I have no issue with a flag for a jubilee, sports tournament etc but that's not what the current campaign is.

I must admit I would be put off by "progress" flags or Palestine flags next door more than the England flag? Would you have asked your neighbours to take other flags down?

I don’t think they’re purposely being thick

The facts of an edited post. Ok you're right and I'm wrong. You're clearly working hard to try and enforce that stereotype of anyone who doesn't want to burn people who fly flags at the stake as being narrow minded, un educated idiots so I'll let you run with it seeing as I'm in a good mood.

I’m married to an immigrant - of the kind that everyone wants, white, English as a first language, highly skilled, worked for the NHS before retiring, yada, yada - and we wouldn’t even view.

I would find it extremely off putting and think people are Reform voters, look elsewhere

It would put me off. Before I wouldn’t think anything of it. But I wouldn’t expect many to have the flag up for women’s rugby World Cup currently on and I would think there are racist connotations behind it. But unfortunately you can’t ask them to take it down.

Wow, that's a bit of a stretch. It's a flag. It's a shame it's associated with racists, it's our flag and we should be able to fly one if we want to.

In the current climate I would assume that anyone flying an England flag is racist UNLESS it was obviously supporting the rugby team.
It's not nice to feel that way but we can thank Farage and his friends for that.
It would definitely put me off viewing the house but I assume, if the news is to be believed, the flag will actually attract some people.

I wouldn’t even bother looking in the house if I saw that. Sorrry OP
Maybe someone far right will buy it.

Gosh, I live in France and there are French Flags bloody everywhere.

It is only in England where you are ashamed of yourselves so much that you think flying your own flag is racist. You are aware that non white people are also English. So saying that flying the England flag is racist, is in itself racist.

Doh!

To be fair I wouldn’t buy a house across from someone with a big saltire in the garden either. Not my kind of people, the mad Nats.

We had exactly the same problem and we couldn’t sell our house because of it. All the feedback from viewings was that the house was great but they were worried about the neighbours. We had to rent the house out instead, which was a massive hassle. Eventually sold it in part-exchange for a new build.

Then you haven’t been paying attention.

The current wave of flag waving is 100% driven by the far right with a combined anti-migrant anti-Muslim agenda,

I wouldn’t get further than my car door to view that house as my Ds is half Asian and extended family are Asian.

It is entirely disingenuous of pp on this thread to claim that there is no issue with the current flag campaign.

Crikey what are you like if you’re offended then?

You know it’s almost like you’re saying think like I think, don’t have a view that racists fly the England flag for the wrong reason. Do you believe that racists don’t fly the England flag? Do you think it’s for the “right” reasons?