Would this garden next door put you off buying the house?

[twiddlingthumbs69]

As you can see it’s completely overgrown. The front garden is a little neater, but not by much.

would this be a deal breaker for you?

house that’s for sale needs work to bring up to date, new bathroom etc but is liveable although only night storage heaters and needs new windows. It’ll obvs need a fair amount of work but the house itself is a good size.

so, if you were viewing and wanted the house how much of an impact would the neighbours garden have on your decision

It looks like the current owners have coped well with preventing next doors garden encroaching so that’s a good sign. I would assume the neighbour is elderly and unable to maintain it but I would probably ask more questions about that situation.

No, wouldnt concern me at all.

If there are residents it would put me off because it will only get worse. If it's empty then there might be options. Be careful in case it's a HMO.

Mildly concerning and I would investigate who the neighbours are, how long term they are likely to be there etc. Also who owns the left hand fence.

Depends. Is it maybe an elderly person who can't get out there, is it a family of slobs who cause other issues such as noise problems, is it student housing. I would make me think about it.

It would put me off because it looks like it could be a good place for rats to live.

This. I would want to know about any disputes. A friend of mine purchased a similar house and the next door neighbour was disabled and negotiated a sale of the back half of the garden which they made into an allotment patch and part of the condition of the sale was helping her strim and put decking down on her neighbours side, it really was win win for everyone and they are still neighbours!

I'd be worried about rats and about the house next door starting to deteriorate and become an eye sore as well as the garden. It's happened next door to us, boarded up and rotting windows, guttering falling down. I wouldn't buy it.

Yeah I think so, is the fence also starting to lean towards the back?

It would put me off yes.

The fence belongs to the house being sold but I gather that the neighbours have been there decades and their house is shared ownership.

Unless the house we were considering was a rare unicorn, that garden would be enough to make us pass.

there will be pests in that garden. It is also a sign, though not proof, of neighbors who will cause other problems.

How long do you intend to stay, it’s likely to only get worse, I believe there are some sort of orders councils can undertake if vermin, damage is suspected but tricky when selling as you’ll potentially have to declare it. Can you do some digging or even knock on the door and introduce yourself as think of buying, thoughts on area (are you going to sort the garden 🤣) chat.

Not if I loved the house, but I would make sure it was very clearly established who owned the fence (it isn't always clear on deeds) and I'd have a contingency plan for dealing with the neighbours in the back of my mind.

It would definitely put me off.
Aside from the garden being a magnet for rats, the fence at the bottom of the garden is already bowing towards you.
And once one panel collapses, the rest will follow.
My neighbour has a similar garden, but with the added bonus of split bin bags.
It irritates me every time I look out of the window.

Doesn't matter who owns the fence. Either way if there's a problem with it, you will be the one paying to sort it out based on that photo.

My first thought

Rats.

It doesn't look dirty, just overgrown, so it wouldn't bother me at all. It's no different to if the garden backed onto woodland.

My first thought too

Look on the bright side - they won't be out there in their hot tub or partying until all hours

No. I'd be more put off by a garden that looks like an extension of a living room. Loads of shed looking things, outdoor bar, outdoor sofas, pizza oven, hot tub etc.

That garden clearly never gets used. So it won't cause noise nuisance. Until someone might decide to clear it up. I guess potentially rats etc. but I have cats and a garden a bit like that next to me and nothing bad has ever happened.

I was going to say rats too.

Are the two houses attached? If so, would put me off.

Looks exactly like the view from my window. Neighbours house is now empty and before that was occupied by an elderly couple who were eventually too frail to look after the garden . apart from having to weed the border more often to keep ivy out, it doesn’t cause a problem … and there is no noise to disturb us at all