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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

What’s going on in this situation?

137 replies

Thestormishere · 09/01/2026 06:43

Name change because of possibly very recognisable location.

Live just off one of the most expensive areas in London. Houses between £20 and £40mil.

Go for walks daily.

There’s always a car with someone inside, outside of a specific house. The house is not on the road with the very expensive ones, just off it, so not an ambassador/Middle Eastern royalty one, more like a £5/6mil one.

Lots of private security guards around with high viz jackets and marked cars patrolling by car or on foot.

‘They’, instead, have normal cars with always someone inside looking utterly bored, checking phones, listening to music. Never outside of the car, not even in summer. So cars and people inside change, but car with person inside there day and night, always in front of this house.

From the outside, you can see that inside the house there’s a tv showing cctv camera feeds. It feels like the tv was positioned so as to make it clear to outsiders that there are plenty of cameras in and around the house.

And a man often sitting by the window facing the road in an office/library room. Neither the man nor the room look fancy, but also not a guard.

What’s the deal?

(I know it sounds like the beginning of a badly-written short story, but it’s all real, I’ve been discussing this with my husband and I just can’t understand what’s going on but I pass in front of it every day so it’s hard to not think about it)

OP posts:
Agapornis · 09/01/2026 19:06

Cantheowneroftheredcorsapleasemovetheircar · 09/01/2026 18:39

I definitely don't define the Netherlands by it's lack of curtains. I love everything it as to offer
But I'll never forget floating serenely on a barge, looking up at the the beautiful architecture in Amsterdam and being able to see everyone just living their lives in their flats, for everyone to just SEE them! Including one guy in a state of undress. I saw bumcheek!
My Dutch friend was like "so? It's just a body, you have one too, don't you?" 😆

I've lived in the UK for nearly two decades, but yes I rarely close the curtains during the day 🙈 If someone catches an eyeful, they should have looked the other way! The neighbour's across always keep theirs closed, I wonder why...

mindutopia · 09/01/2026 19:13

It will be private security. Where I used to live in Asia, it was very normal for wealthy people to have a guard in a little security hut at the street at the front of the property. Probably can’t get planning for such a building here! 😂 So they sit in an ordinary sort of car instead. The ones where I lived also spent a lot of time on their phones, chatting with each other, eating and drinking tea. They didn’t look like they’d be massively effective in an actual security situation!

Alternatively, it’s a minder of some sort, someone who is following whoever lives in the house for reasons that they very much want the person in the house to know. Think the daughters of Sheikh Mohammed - they lived freely in London, etc but under watch and were eventually kidnapped back to Dubai. I knew someone who worked in a diplomatic role in China and he had a minder who tailed him everywhere. Different guys, but always the same white car. It was the government keeping an eye on him because he worked in a politically sensitive area. I doubt it would be the UK government, not so conspicuously, but I wouldn’t doubt that other governments might keep an eye on certain people in ways that constantly remind them they are watched.

VWT7 · 09/01/2026 19:13

Agapornis · 09/01/2026 12:46

Haha slight cross post, love how we're defined by the lack of (net) curtains.

Lack of net curtains - and don’t forget cacti on the windowsill 😃
(I’ve proudly adopted the same)

HayceeDeeCee · 09/01/2026 19:19

Download the the Title plan from the Land Registry, will give details of the who owns Freehold... will cost you 7 quid but they are publicly available documents. My money is on Foreign Royal or Diplomat.

Thestormishere · 09/01/2026 19:43

Cantheowneroftheredcorsapleasemovetheircar · 09/01/2026 18:40

OP, I think you might be the reason they're there

This is hilarious

OP posts:
BullshitometerCalibrator · 09/01/2026 19:52

HayceeDeeCee · 09/01/2026 19:19

Download the the Title plan from the Land Registry, will give details of the who owns Freehold... will cost you 7 quid but they are publicly available documents. My money is on Foreign Royal or Diplomat.

But would the owners then not be alerted that the OP had searched their deeds information?

Anyway OP I'm guessing it's a writer not wanting distractions from the sterile environment.

HayceeDeeCee · 09/01/2026 20:09

BullshitometerCalibrator · 09/01/2026 19:52

But would the owners then not be alerted that the OP had searched their deeds information?

Anyway OP I'm guessing it's a writer not wanting distractions from the sterile environment.

Nope....you can access the title plan of just about any property in the UK if registered on the Land Registry and the owner or Freeholder will not be alerted.

Butyourenotastrangermadaleine · 09/01/2026 20:16

This is weird!

herefortheclicks · 09/01/2026 20:20

I am always amazed people pay that amount of money to live in Central London...

herefortheclicks · 09/01/2026 20:22

Thestormishere · 09/01/2026 11:56

I know! Though no dog unfortunately. And it's starting to piss me off because I am second guessing myself and going out at different times of the day to make sure that they don't think I do it on purpose to pass in front always at the same time!

are you the mrs of your house or the nanny?

Butyourenotastrangermadaleine · 09/01/2026 20:23

Are you this wealthy op? (Soz just being nosey!)

ThisIsAGlobalPlayerOriginalPodcast · 09/01/2026 20:24

They sound like the speedboat salesmen in Matilda

DeathBanana · 09/01/2026 20:26

It’s a mumsnetter maintaining constant vigilance against dogs slobbering and pooing on their hydrangea or neighbours popping by to ask an innocuous question

herefortheclicks · 09/01/2026 20:39

two questions: what kind of a house it is that you can see in the front window, aren't they quite within the front yard and behind walls and gates? and 2. how do they heat these massive ball rooms or halls etc

Lizziespring · 09/01/2026 20:58

There's a security guard on my street sitting in his umarked car looking bored as I write. I wish the rich neighbour who for some weird reason pays a fortune for him, would give me the.money to curtain twitch instead. But hey.

Thestormishere · 09/01/2026 22:13

Mmm, the most likely option then is that he's a person who could easily not need a private guard stationed outside of his house 24/7 but due to work-related reasons he has one.

Still not sure about the very obvious and many camera feeds but I will have to let that go until I am able to find the courage to knock on their door and ask for direct questions about issues that have absolutely nothing to do with me.

For the pp asking, if you go on google maps and check out Wildwood road, where the houses are, not where it cuts through the extension, you will see that they are way too far from the road to see what's going on inside. On Ingram avenue, instead, they are very close to the road. At this time of the year, if you go for a walk after 4 you can see everything that is going on inside those houses because the lights are on and the rooms facing the road are very visible. I don't like walking in the Heath that much, I always go along the main roads, so there's plenty to see!

PS, remarkably few curtains too...

OP posts:
GlasgowGal2014 · 09/01/2026 23:36

Could it be the home of someone important, but not massively rich, like a current or former member of government? Former PMs get protection, but I'm not sure whether it's as incognito or not. I have heard Gordon Brown is followed round the sleepy little town he lives in by a number of security guards in when he goes for his daily stroll.

Missstified · 10/01/2026 00:03

Noel and Liam Gallagher had to hire 24-hour security for their mum and her former council house during the run-up to their tour. This could be something similar.

Oricolt · 10/01/2026 00:14

I reckon it's just someone who has a reason to spend money on personal protection. Maybe they wrote books or articles that pissed off a demographic. Or maybe they have a stalker or a violent ex. If I could afford a 5k house, and I had reason to believe that a particular person might come for me at some point, I could probably find the money to pay for 24hr security. And I'd still just be a normal wealthy person with a normal car and a nice house and a bodyguard that I prioritised in the budget above upgrading my car.

Oricolt · 10/01/2026 00:19

Could be a CEO of a company that does something controversial?

Could be a social media influencer? They attract stalkers.

Could be a whistleblower or an activist? Someone who has made enemies?

Could be a lottery winner who went public? Though that doesn't fit the CCTV set up and the man at his desk.

Someone involved in a legal case? A key witness? Or a lawyer or judge who sent some big crime boss down?

Just an ordinary person with a stalker?

mummygranny · 10/01/2026 00:33

I have given this some thought ….Could the 4-5 million pound house , with the security cameras off the road of the 20-40 million houses be a security hub for these other houses . The cameras are at the bigger houses and are watched on the screens at the other house . The guy outside ready to move to whichever house if required
if there not already doing this maybe we could pitch it
I only found Mumsnet last week I’m loving it

EmeraldRoulette · 10/01/2026 00:33

Am I the only person who wouldn't think anything of it?! Lots of people have security and it makes sense for them to work from the front window, surely?

@Thestormishere I left London a couple of years ago. The only place I actually miss is Hampstead. Love Hampstead. (then again, I could get there in a couple of hours so I guess I don't miss it that much as I haven't gone back yet)

I didn't used to walk around that side much though.

ZenZazie · 10/01/2026 00:37

HelenaWaiting · 09/01/2026 06:57

Some of the smaller countries do have their embassies in fairly unremarkable buildings.

Things may have changed but IIRC the Eritrean embassy used to be near Sainsburys in Angel and the diplomatic vehicle was a Fiat.

ThisIsAGlobalPlayerOriginalPodcast · 10/01/2026 00:42

EmeraldRoulette · 10/01/2026 00:33

Am I the only person who wouldn't think anything of it?! Lots of people have security and it makes sense for them to work from the front window, surely?

@Thestormishere I left London a couple of years ago. The only place I actually miss is Hampstead. Love Hampstead. (then again, I could get there in a couple of hours so I guess I don't miss it that much as I haven't gone back yet)

I didn't used to walk around that side much though.

Honestly I could walk past every single day for ten years and I wouldn’t notice it 😬

Katflapkit · 10/01/2026 01:44

I reckon a 24hr chauffeur or car service.