Our buyers saying we didn't disclose neighbours.

[ihateconfrontation]

So we sold our house and exchanged and completed a few weeks ago.
Moving as we had to move area for work.
On solicitors forms it asked if we had any neighbourhood disputes, we answered no, which was true.
We were one of the middle houses in a terrace. One side had 4 teenage boys and parents and the other side is a multi occupancy let.
Both properties had noise coming from them which was to be expected, multi occupancy house had people smoking outside and chatting in normal volume voices until maybe 10pm, other side the teenage boys bickered occasionally and slammed doors when in a strop.
Both houses played music, but never past 10pm and not loud, just at music listening volume!
I've got noisy pre schoolers, so guessed that we made noise of our own.
Anyway, our buyers ended up with my email address and we've been getting constant emails saying we should have disclosed the neighbours and how loud they were on solicitors forms.
They are threatening to sue us and say that the noise is at an unacceptable level and I should have told them.
I feel awful as they've spend half a million pounds on a property that they clearly aren't happy in, but we lived there happily for 6 years and classed it just as neighbour noise.
What can I do? Can they sue?

@Handsoffisback

Madness isn’t it lampshadery !

Completely!

Maybe they’ve only ever lived in detached properties? I’ve spent most of my adulthood in flats with neighbours upstairs, and during the few years we spent in a detached bungalow while living abroad, I used to feel spooked by how quiet it was.

In our current flat we’re on the ground floor of a converted townhouse, so neighbours above and either side with adjoining walls, and tiny gardens which are back to back with the next street. Currently I can hear upstairs pottering about, some people chattering in their garden and someone practicing the oboe (clearly lots of night owls!) and none of it is bothering me or will keep me awake. What I mean to say is that you can become very accustomed to noise, and I can easily believe that the OP genuinely wasn’t bothered when she lived in the house. Hopefully the new owners will get used to it soon and realise they’ve been a bit silly to take it out on OP.

The problem with buying these days is you put in so much money you expect perfection. People don't realize that moving from a well noise-insulated flat to a Victorian terrace will create more noise not less. You've had no disputes because you had realistic expectations. It's annoying for you but they don't have a case.

I agree you’ve been VERY economical with the truth and that’s likely why you’re seeking reassurance now - you probably know it would have been reasonable to explain the noise level and feel bad for not. And saying one side is ‘let out’ when it’s clearly an HMO is unreasonable tbh, I hope for their sake it did come up in searches for them. I’m in a mid terrace and one side has LOUD shouting from parents to kids and back - I wouldn’t declare it as a dispute but I’d say ‘next door can be noise as they’re a young-ish family’, similarly it would have been reasonable to expect multiple shouting teenagers to be mentioned (even if not formally declared). And I agree with the comment about courtesy - wouldn’t have taken a lot to explain the postcode issue to them and if I moved into that noise plus no explanation of that I’d be frustrated to. I agree they probably don’t have any legal standing but I have a huge amount of sympathy for these buyers. And my brother has just bought in London, they viewed on Saturday and offers had been made at asking price that very day so they were in sealed bids on Monday. ‘Recon’ visits on different days and times aren’t possible in places like London or you’ll just lose the property. And that’s a (very nice) 2 bed flat in a town house for £500k. I’m from the north but come on, south east prices are not that bloody unknown!

@SarahFrances89

I agree you’ve been VERY economical with the truth and that’s likely why you’re seeking reassurance now - you probably know it would have been reasonable to explain the noise level and feel bad for not. And saying one side is ‘let out’ when it’s clearly an HMO is unreasonable tbh, I hope for their sake it did come up in searches for them. I’m in a mid terrace and one side has LOUD shouting from parents to kids and back - I wouldn’t declare it as a dispute but I’d say ‘next door can be noise as they’re a young-ish family’, similarly it would have been reasonable to expect multiple shouting teenagers to be mentioned (even if not formally declared). And I agree with the comment about courtesy - wouldn’t have taken a lot to explain the postcode issue to them and if I moved into that noise plus no explanation of that I’d be frustrated to. I agree they probably don’t have any legal standing but I have a huge amount of sympathy for these buyers. And my brother has just bought in London, they viewed on Saturday and offers had been made at asking price that very day so they were in sealed bids on Monday. ‘Recon’ visits on different days and times aren’t possible in places like London or you’ll just lose the property. And that’s a (very nice) 2 bed flat in a town house for £500k. I’m from the north but come on, south east prices are not that bloody unknown!

Have you ever actually sold a house? Because I think if you did your solicitor would talk to you about putting irrelevant and subjective commentary in answer to factual questions. 'Have you ever made a complaint or raised a dispute with a neighbour' is a yes/no question, it's not intended that you answer it by listing anything that could possibly annoy anybody that has ever happened in your neighborhood.

I honestly don't even know what the buyer is expecting from OP? 'Oh right, if you find the house too noisy shall we all just go back to our original properties and write it off, like a mattress with a 30 day return policy?'

Our solicitor told us to investigate our property ourselves in addition to what they could find. The whole 'buyer beware' thing. We were told to check the property at different times, look out for noisy neighbours and to search for any issue relating to the property or street via a search engine.

Legally the disclosure is about a dispute which needs a paper trail for the new buyers to have a leg to stand on.

Personally if the continue to email you, id ignore unless you get threats at which point id simply be contacting the police over harassment and not say a word to them.

They have nothing - you haven’t got a dispute opened. Just reply that you’ve always found the neighbours charming and have never had any concerns or disputes. And then block them.

I guarantee that if they find the noise too much and decide to sell - they won’t mention it to the next buyers - no dispute, no case.
Forget it.

Reply telling them it was their responsibility to check that the neighbourhood suited them at all times and they should have visited it and parked nearby to be sure, then block them and have your solicitor contact them saying you are considering their constant contact as harassment.

"". 'Have you ever made a complaint or raised a dispute with a neighbour' is a yes/no question, it's not intended that you answer it by listing anything that could possibly annoy anybody that has ever happened in your neighborhood."

And she should have said yes, because she REPORTED HER NEIGHBOUR TO THE POLICE.

Anonymously, apparently, although I don't know how that works because mobile phones give location, name and address to the police automatically when you call them, its a legal requirement for mobile phones.

I sold a property once where I had lived for 20 years. The semi next door was a student rented house for six people at a time. Fifteen years before I sold I had had an issue with one group of students for one year. This involved the police, council and University.
When I came to sell I did declare this and thought no more of it as the students had been gone for 15 years and I'd never had any issue with any others. However it did become a big issue with questions back and forth about what exactly had happened, who had been contacted and what dates etc. I only had a vague recollection and this very nearly resulted in the sale falling through even though it had involved people who didn't currently live there. All very bizarre

And she should have said yes, because she REPORTED HER NEIGHBOUR TO THE POLICE.

THAT NEIGHBOUR DOESNT BLOODY LIVE THERE ANY MORE! The question is regarding the prospective buyers new neighbours. The person that was complained about will not be their neighbour because they moved away ages ago.
Ffs.
If the question was “have you ever complained about a neighbour who moved away and is no longer relevant to this scenario because they no longer reside next door” you’d have a point. But it doesn’t.

@SarahFrances89

I agree you’ve been VERY economical with the truth and that’s likely why you’re seeking reassurance now - you probably know it would have been reasonable to explain the noise level and feel bad for not. And saying one side is ‘let out’ when it’s clearly an HMO is unreasonable tbh, I hope for their sake it did come up in searches for them. I’m in a mid terrace and one side has LOUD shouting from parents to kids and back - I wouldn’t declare it as a dispute but I’d say ‘next door can be noise as they’re a young-ish family’, similarly it would have been reasonable to expect multiple shouting teenagers to be mentioned (even if not formally declared). And I agree with the comment about courtesy - wouldn’t have taken a lot to explain the postcode issue to them and if I moved into that noise plus no explanation of that I’d be frustrated to. I agree they probably don’t have any legal standing but I have a huge amount of sympathy for these buyers. And my brother has just bought in London, they viewed on Saturday and offers had been made at asking price that very day so they were in sealed bids on Monday. ‘Recon’ visits on different days and times aren’t possible in places like London or you’ll just lose the property. And that’s a (very nice) 2 bed flat in a town house for £500k. I’m from the north but come on, south east prices are not that bloody unknown!

This! I think you were economical with the truth when they asked you about the neighbours during the viewing. I don’t blame you. You wanted to move and sell your house and it’s probably what most people would do which is why there’s so little point asking these questions knowing you’d get a bull version of events. But family home & a let is different to 4 rowdy teenagers and HMO. It’s unfortunate they’re upset about the situation, I would be too.

@Hardbackwriter I explicitly said I wouldn’t formally declare it as of course it’s not relevant on solicitor’s forms but I’d also tell them that if asked on a viewing. I also wouldn’t just say one side was ‘rented’ when it was renter continuously as an HMO. That is what I would consider honest behaviour and would give the buyer a chance to judge the house accurately. But hey, as long as OP can sell her £500k terrace quickly screw the buyers eh? (I mention the price as if it’s that for a terrace it’s likely in a high demand area so likely pretty easy to find someone like her who was apparently fine with night music, shouting and slamming doors constantly, which I also doubt is completely truthful - ignored as not living there permanently and wanted no paper trail to alert future buyers, I suspect)

It wasn’t a dispute for you, as the noise level was acceptable to you. Therefore there was nothing to disclose.

We are semidetached with an HMO have been for years rarely heard a peep it’s young professionals they never seem to use their garden.

It seems to be really hard for those very sensitive to noise to imagine not being, but some of really just do have a higher tolerance for it. The things that people find to be annoyed about on MN amaze me - the one I find weirdest, though, isn't noise, it's caring if someone else parks outside your house which I just find unfathomable. I really, honestly wouldn't care if someone played music until 10pm or if people talked near the house (which they do near mine, a lot). Like OP, I also think that if you have a young family, as I do, there has to be some give and take as trying to enforce silence on others when you're pretty likely to be the source of some noise yourself is wildly unfair. You might not be able to tolerate anything other than silence (in which case don't buy a terraced house!) but that doesn't mean that OP is lying or deceitful to say that it didn't bother her.

[quote SarahFrances89]@Hardbackwriter I explicitly said I wouldn’t formally declare it as of course it’s not relevant on solicitor’s forms but I’d also tell them that if asked on a viewing. I also wouldn’t just say one side was ‘rented’ when it was renter continuously as an HMO. That is what I would consider honest behaviour and would give the buyer a chance to judge the house accurately. But hey, as long as OP can sell her £500k terrace quickly screw the buyers eh? (I mention the price as if it’s that for a terrace it’s likely in a high demand area so likely pretty easy to find someone like her who was apparently fine with night music, shouting and slamming doors constantly, which I also doubt is completely truthful - ignored as not living there permanently and wanted no paper trail to alert future buyers, I suspect)[/quote]
Again, have you ever actually sold a house? If you intend to start wittering on that your neighbours sometimes shout from one room to another at each viewing then I suspect the estate agent will try and keep you well out the way; not because people will actually be put off by such normal living noise but because it'll make you look quite weird.

I wouldnt worry at all - there is a legal term called "buyer beware" and i am afraid unless there is a glaring omission such as a known legal dispute with your neighbour. Even then it is very difficult to bring a successful claim.

@Hardbackwriter yes I’ve sold 2 thanks, and don’t appreciate the dismissive ‘wittering on’. I said IF ASKED about noise, I would answer more clearly than OP did. People are sensitive to different things and it would allow people who wouldn’t want that level to have at least an idea. I’m not super bothered about noise - I mentioned my neighbours shouting a fair bit as an example, they’re generally very nice and I certainly wouldn’t consider it excessive. But some people might, just as you’re fine with people talking outside late at night and music late and others wouldn’t be. All are fine, just different. And it’s not as easy as ‘don’t buy a terrace’ - they’re FTB buying at £500k, they’ve clearly saved up for that and want to be on the property ladder, just as we all did. I’m sure they’ll be out of a terrace as soon as they can, but that doesn’t make me feel any less sympathy for them.

They didn't even ask OP specifically about noise!

We were present during one of their viewings, and they asked us about the neighbours.
We just said that one side was a family home and the other side was let out.
They asked if we had any issues and we said no, as we haven't.

I wouldn’t worry too much. When we bought our house the seller failed to declare that there was an ongoing fight to stop a development happening behind the garden. When we found out about it, our solicitors said it would be hard to challenge ( even though there was proof the sellers knew) ..
in your case it’s even debatable if execessjve noise counts as a neighbour dispute given you never complained to the council. Just ignore them ...

I think its a bit naive to ask a seller about noise levels and treat the answer as definitive. We all have different tolerance levels.

We live next to a school...at play times its noisy. Doesn't bother me in the slightest. My previous neighbour lived between us and another neighbour all with young children. She claimed she never heard a thing...I was round there a few times and can confirm the walls were thin! We had a great relationship, she passed away and I miss her a lot. She was on her own and I think she liked being surrounded by family noise.

Mind you it always surprises me how little research people do when buying a property. My current neighbour doesn't know which side his boundary is on. "You mean I need to maintain this fence and the one at the bottom of the garden?" Um Yes!

How can they sue you? You had no neighbour disputes. No reason to call police or complain to council / housing associations.. no environmental health issues, no restraining orders... a there’s nothing to report. Contact the solicitor who dealt with the sale and send one email back to buyers politely telling them in future to contact the solicitor if they have anything they wish to raise, them email block them.