Buying house - homeless outside

[Whatinthedoopla]

Hi,

I'm buying a house, and opposite the garden is the community car park. Area is lovely, people are lovely. However, I've noticed thpere has been a van parked right outside the garden (obviously in a parking space), and has been there for weeks. I thought nothing of it, then saw they they open the door and it looks like people live in it! And they look homeless, I saw they legs popping out of the van.

The house has now been emptied, and I'm worried that the homeless people are going into the garden to get water from the tap outside.

My partner isn't worried, but I am, or AIBU?

What should I do?

💯

If you want to ensure nobody can use your outside water tap except you, install a stopcock on the inside to specifically shut off the supply to that tap. Then someone outside turning it on will find no water comes out.

I wouldn't report them unless they're doing something antisocial. By "looks homeless" do you just mean scruffy? Because plenty of housed people look like that, and plenty of homeless people keep themselves clean and tidy such that you'd never know their circumstances just by looking at them.

They could be washing inside the van head to toe from a bowl of water or showering at motorway services and using toilets there. Using the toilets in parks, 24hr supermarkets, public libraries, pubs and cafés or places like McDonald's. They could be using a friend's address for vehicle registration, insurance and have tax and MOT on it. Washing clothes at a launderette. They're not necessarily filthy, shitting in your garden, stealing your apples and water or driving an unroadworthy vehicle. If someone has fallen on hard times why make their life harder for no reason?

I'd be more bothered about drug dealers doing their business in the car park after dark, myself. The petty theft and antisocial behaviour that can attract to an area. Some non-druggies living in a van right there is more likely to put people like that off.

You saw legs popping out and they looked homeless? I think you might do well not thinking so hard about this. If there is an issue once you live there, contact the council.

It's very easy to turn the outside tap off from inside, they all have a screw that you quarter turn as need to turn it off if it's below freezing outside, you don't need to turn the whole houses water off at the stop cock. Couple of bolts and padlock on gate will keep your kids secure👍I have similar set up with council carpark opposite.

There was a caravan on an industrial estate road that I used to pass, it probably didn't really bother anyone but I did think it was taking the piss a bit when an awning got put up over the grass verge. It did disappear some after so it was probably reported, the awning did make it look more obvious.

Our outsider tap has a corresponding tap on the inside so that we can turn it off in cold weather.

That was my first thought. They “looked homeless” from… their legs 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

That defeats the object of choosing van life which is (in most cases) a choice rather than necessity

I wouldn't buy anywhere with a garden opposite a car park. Too much potential for issues arising in general.

You won't pay for any water until you move in and there are easy solutions to lock the outside tap. The property should be insured, you could ask your conveyancer if the sellers have sny security set up.

They are not using your water!

The house isn’t yours yet so why are you paying for the water?

You can buy a locking device for external taps if you’re very concerned.

Why would they peer at you through the gate? They're not aliens, I'm sure they've seen a house before.

If you're worried about water theft, fit an internal stopcock.

It could well be harmless. My only worry would be that more van dwellers turn up- this has happened not far from where I live and some areas have real problems with water, sewage/toileting, waste disposal and ASB.

If it's just one couple, I can think of worse things that might happen in an unsecured car park though.

Oh for heavens sake.

Why would they peep through a gate any more than anyone else. Buy a solid gate

Well, it is. Whether I'd report it or not is another matter. You aren't allowed to just live in a van in a carpark

Yeah, I wouldn’t love this.

Yes, insert every way these could be lovely people who are just working on the cure for cancer while they work on their 12 point plan to end world hunger while simultaneously fixing global warming… or they could be the start of a homeless camp that attracts crime, drugs, and problems while simultaneously lowering your property value.

It sounds like you already bought so not a lot of choices except to make the area unattractive to them.

When I moved into my freshly bought property we had a lot of door to door sales and charity collections coming by. My city has an ordinance that anyone selling door to door must get a permit from the city. I spent the first 3 years calling the non-emergency police number to have the cops talk them and push them out of the neighborhood. It took awhile, but eventually the numbers dwindled to nothing.

Good Luck!

I'd leave them be, there are unlikely to cause trouble.

I disagree that all homeless people are there through no fault of their own - I've known very irresponsible people gamble away their earnings and squander opportunities, bit naive to think no one brought it on themselves.

Do you actually have any evidence that the legs are homeless, or belong to people who are plotting to steal your water and peep at you?

They don’t sound homeless, they sound like vanlifers. Vanlifers don’t become squatters, they already have a home, albeit on wheels. They might make use of the water tap while the house is empty but once occupied it’s very unlikely they’d enter your garden. Even then you’re probably taking about a bucket or two, not a bathful.

I don't think it's illegal to live in a van.

Well, if you are daft enough to buy a house with a water meter, I suppose so. I will not have one - they are tax on the old, the incontinent and those with large families.

This times a thousand. Thank you for showing me that there are still reasonable people out there.

I'd be wary too. Perhaps worth speaking to a taxi driver for info? They often know what's going on locally