House overlooking a graveyard. Would you buy?

[StarintheMorning]

Looking at a house in a lovely village. It hasn’t sold and now seems to be v good value, although it needs a fair bit of work. The only reason we can see for it not selling is that it is almost on a graveyard.

The church is beautiful Grade 1 listed, the churchyard is very well looked after. There is a small path between the house and the graveyard, which goes to the front door of the house. The church is right across the other side of the churchyard, although obviously the bells will be loud on a Sunday morning, but we have lived close to church bells before and loved it.

We would like it be our forever home, but there is a small possibility that we will need to move at retirement and I don’t want to buy something that will be difficult to sell.

As my son said, the neighbours will be quiet!

I absolutely wouldn't. Even the thought made a shiver run down my spine.

Definitely, I love graveyards.

Grew up next to one (but without bells). One place you can generally be co Fife t won't be bulldozed and built on.

No I wouldn't. I've been walking in a lot of churchyards recently as I've exhausted all the parks, and they are really pretty, but I wouldn't want to be near one after dark.

I'd definitely go for it. Peaceful, pretty and the bonus of church bells.

Since lockdown started we have spent a lot of time in the small cemetery just down our road - it’s wonderfully peaceful, full of wildlife/insects which my daughter has found fascinating and we never met anyone else in there! Having a house overlooking a cemetery wouldn’t put me off in the slightest.

Graveyard wouldn't bother me
Church bells wouldn't bother me

But I'd definitely check out what else the church hosts.

There was a poster on here a while ago who was driven demented by the church next door -continually full of people making loads of noise (& loads of traffic, blocking her driveway).

The living, not the dead, being the problem!!

I’m interested to know why those few PP who are saying ‘no’ feel so strongly about it. I don’t mean this in a judgemental way at all...I’m merely wondering what it is that you think might actually happen. Is it that you believe in ghosts? Or is it just ‘the thought’ of being near dead people? Or something else...church bells or an aversion to anything religious (that would have been my dad 😂)

Yes I would.

I would if it was a quiet church with no bells because I bet you’d see loads of wildlife, foxes, badgers and hedgehogs!

If the graveyard is full, then yes.
I find graveyards quite peaceful.

It's not the dead you have to watch out for, after all.

but I wouldn't want to be near one after dark.

I'm pretty sure they all stay in their graves after dark.

Like a shot.

No I wouldn't. Because someone I know used to live next to a graveyard. She said there were local youth hanging around in the graveyard possibly doing drugs or smoking whatever, and also she couldn't bear the sounds of sobbing and crying each time a new neighbour was moved in. She should have thought of the latter before they went ahead and bought the place in the first instance. Also for me personally, I wouldn't like seeing so many funeral processions. I also have a young DC and I wouldn't want to have to tell her to stop playing music or stop making noise outside (she is always singing in our back garden) as a mark of respect to the bereaved.

It would be a massive plus for me. No chance of it being built on!

I think a little village graveyard is very different to a large corporation cemetery.
We don’t have any local ‘youths’ who ‘ hang around’. Most youngsters will be busy doing more constructive things like studying, playing tennis or working.
We don’t have lots of funeral processions either. No processing at all. Only the odd much loved elderly villager being laid to rest. We’d be at the funeral, of course. Only one every couple of years, and we know whose going where already.
No sobbing or crying hereabouts. The odd person popping in to do a bit of gardening a couple of times a year but we’d know them too usually. We’d probably make a cup of tea for them.

I think anyone playing music outside sufficient to disturb others is inconsiderate. It’s OK for a party everyone is invited to, but generally not acceptable anywhere.

Definitely wouldn't put me off, you should be more scared of the living than the dead

Just to clarify - my friend used to live near a graveyard in a village and not near a "corporate" graveyard. But I suppose as long as OP is satisfied there are no youths hanging around there, and hopefully the youth in that particular village are doing more constructive things like playing tennis and studying that shouldn't be a problem.

@StarintheMorning if you are serious make sure you check chancel rights.
You need to make sure the church doesn’t have any rights for you to help pay towards costs if the church needs repair.
I live opposite a church and we have insurance against this, we are selling at the moment and it came up in the sale and we had to prove that we are insured and have never been asked to pay towards the church.

Solasum

Good point. Get chancel repair liability insurance if you do go ahead - you don’t want to be liable to replace the church roof!

It would be a selling point to me

Graveyard would not bother me. All our local ones seem to be managed as mini nature reserves and quiet neighbours!
Things I would check is
Chancel repair tax
Parking
What else happens at church (noise)
Rights of way
Privacy

I wouldn't be put off by the graveyard but a listed property is a pain if yours currently isn't and you're not used to it. We've had to get lengthy permission for lots of things, including replacing the roof and windows (even down to the type of insulation and paint colour, we weren't allowed solid oak windows) and it took 3 years to build an annexe because of all the red tape. And we can't knock a wall down between the kitchen and dining room because there are old beams we mustn't remove. It can be a real pain, so at the least just make sure you're confident you wouldn't want to change it much, ever.

Oh sorry, just seem that it's the church that's listed. Maybe when brings are 'back to normal' 😬 you could pop along to the pub on a Saturday night and see how noisy it is.

[quote Itscoldouthere]@StarintheMorning if you are serious make sure you check chancel rights.
You need to make sure the church doesn’t have any rights for you to help pay towards costs if the church needs repair.
I live opposite a church and we have insurance against this, we are selling at the moment and it came up in the sale and we had to prove that we are insured and have never been asked to pay towards the church.[/quote]
Thank you, and everyone else that has mentioned this. I remember watching a programme about 20 years ago, on this subject, it was horrific for the homeowners who had been issued bills for more than their properties were worth! That has stayed with me, and was the first thing I mentioned to DH.

I thought that legislation had been enacted to stop this, but obviously not. Is the insurance expensive and how have potential buyers reacted?