AIBU if I disclose to the Estate Agents what is living in the house's roof?

[PropertyQuestions]

A house in our road has gone up for sale after the resident very sadly passed. I've seen bats going in and out of the roof at dusk for at least the last 6 years.

The resident knew about them (I used to chat to them and pointed them out) but they had dementia and lived alone so I doubt the people selling are aware of their presence.

WIBU if I let the estate agents selling this house know that there are bats in the roof so they can let prospective buyers know / so they can check a bat survey has been done?

The property is in a bad state so would generally be the type that would need to be gutted from the ground up to bring it up to modern standards, something that is hard to do if bats are present as they are protected. I worry for the bats coming to harm as well as for anyone buying the house with plans to renovate without knowing about them.

YABU - stay out of it
YANBU - let estate agents know

I bet they didn't!

I would tell whoever looks after bat welfare, the EA won't really want to know and may just fail to pass the information on to buyers, you aren't the owner. But someone will want to know about the bat colony. Maybe this:

www.bats.org.uk/support-bats/bat-groups

But any sensible buyer would have the appropriate surveys/checks done and find this out themselves.

Honestly? If I was buying this house ans got told "a neighbour mentioned" I would think they are a nosey parker and that would concern me more. Thats just me though!

A survey is not obligatory.

@PropertyQuestions
How many bats are we talking about?
I mean we have had one bat, and then a second one in a different place on the outside of our house for around 10 years. They leave in the winter and come for the summer months.

I am well aware the people buying my house didnt get one.

Im very much still in the camp of staying out of this though.

Excellent information thank you .

If you were buying and didn't find out you had bats till after you had bought you might be thrilled or more likely realise the property value just dropped like a brick. Since they only fly at night and the area they roost may not be accessible they may well not be found in routine inspections.

@corkscissorschalk I’ve counted at least 40 leaving at dusk at a time from the same spot in the roof. They leave each night at dusk so it is definitely after viewing hours.

Report to the bat people.

If you tell the estate agent do so via email. That way there is a paper trail.

Oh the naivety. The house sounds ripe for development/refurbishment. Lots of people don't have a survey and very many developers aren't going to have a survey done that means works to protect the bats are required, not unless there's a planning requirement to make them.

There's no point reporting to the EA, or potential buyers, but if you want to protect the bats, it must be reported.

Is the EA obliged to pass information like this on to potential buyers?

Ai overview says yes.

Any planning permission granted for renovation of a property will list the actions required by the council’s ecology officer. They will be aware of local wildlife habitats and properties likely to be inhabited. There is the very good possibility that they will be actually overzealous in their requirements (this is certainly my experience, having just been obliged to carry out a newt survey despite never having seen one here in the 20 years I’ve lived here - and if I did I would have rolled out the red carpet for them anyway and made a newt habitat!) But any requirements to carry out a survey and take action on it will only be made when any work is planned that may disturb the bats. The act of selling a house does not require it to have a wildlife survey carried out on it. For those suggesting ‘tell the bat people’ - firstly, which bat people. Secondly, what do you expect to happen as a result?

And to whoever said this “there's a good chance they will cull the colony and hope not to get found out.” On what evidence are you making that rather assumptive statement?

Because i know someone who did it.

Bats carry rabies so YANBU

I don't know why people think they are "cute and harmless"

The estate agent only gets their fee when the house is sold, so they are not going to be in the slightest bit interested in passing this info on to prospective buyers. Even if they are obliged to I'm sure they will conveniently manage to 'forget'.

Definitely report to a Bat Protection organisation. If a developer buys the property, they will simply erase the Bat colony and nothing but hand wringing will be done afterwards.

I've seen developers encourage protected wildlife to move out before planning applications go in/ envuronmental surveys are done. E.g. by tidying a garden and keeping grass short, or cleaning out a pond.

I posted a link to local bat organisations by post code as a starting point and hopefully they would have some sort of register and keep an eye out for any unapproved work being carried out. Repeated below:
www.bats.org.uk/support-bats/bat-groups

YANBU. Please report. The bats need all the help they can get.

I say "think of the little guys!" I'd tell them about the bats. I like bats. Wouldn't bother me one jot that people thought I was sticking my nose in.

I'm team Bat - so please report to Bat protection ASAP.

The bats are also fairly unlikely to be buying a house.

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