declaring problems with neighbours

[tara738]

Hi,

I'm thinking about putting my property on the market. During lockdown I had a lot of involvement with the council and the police for my upstairs neighbour who was mentally unwell and needed to be hospitalised. This neighbour caused quite a lot of commotion at the time. However they have since been hospitalised and hopefully are getting the help they needed.

Does anyone know, would I need to declare this on the sale forms (and therefore should be upfront with viewers from the start) Or is it just issues with current neighbours?

I don't want to be dishonest but equally it could sound very dramatic if I went into detail about what happened at the time, and I have been told by the property management company that tenant is definitely not ever returning to the property

Thanks for any advice

Personally no, I wouldn’t say anything as the person has moved on and is no longer your neighbour. I am in no way an expert but I always thought that you had to disclose any conflicts but only if the problem/conflict could arise again in the future which isn’t the case here. I will stress that is only my understanding and I’m no expert. FWIW I did have to disclose a conflict I’d had on a property I was selling, but it didn’t effect the sale going through in the end.

Sorry if that’s not so helpful, I’m sure someone will be along with more knowledge soon

No need to declare. The neighbour is gone. Good luck!

Thanks both! It feels dishonest as it was such a big deal to me at the time but I can honestly say it's HIGHLY unlikely that exact situation would arise again! perhaps it shows that the property management company aren't that fussy about their choice of tenant but there's not much I can do about that

Nah. Don't feel dishonest. It was that neighbour and that's it. You can get that 1 bad person anywhere, that's just a normal risk. As long as they are really not coming back you are absolutely ok not to disclose.

You don't need to go into lots of detail but it's better to declare it and explain (briefly) that it isn't an issue. You could just say something along the lines of "I had contact with the local authority about a tenant of another flat who had medical issues at the time but that tenant has now moved out" (if the other person definitely has moved on.

I think it depends on whether there is any chance of them coming back? If the hospitalisation is temporary and the flat remains their home then yes you absolutely should declare it, if they have moved out and someone else is in the property I wouldn't

no they definitely aren't coming back, for various reasons they can't. thanks for the advice everyone I think it's safe to say I won't have to but I might just check in with the solicitor if it gets that far

No, it’s disputes you would need to declare, any legal action etc.

I have some dreadful neighbours over the garden & along a few houses. They don’t bother us very much but they smoke weed constantly (thankfully never wafts our way), are drunk half the time, screaming rows, proper off their heads. I vaguely know their next door neighbours & they say it’s miserable living by them. They’ve just sold their house & haven’t said word to their buyers 🙈 I feel so sorry for whoever has bought that house!

I have had a super similar issue! Had a neighbour in the downstairs flat to me who was extremely vulnerable mentally. Had to call the police and the council multiple times and now I believe he has moved somewhere more appropriate. Have been really worried about declaring it even though he no longer lives here, but this forum has been good to read!

My problems with a particular group of students lasted a year and had taken place many years before I was selling a house and many years after they had left. I still had to declare it and it caused many queries back and forth between the conveyancers despite it being clearly in the past. I was asked for lots of further information with regards to the contact I had had with police, local authority and the university ( none of which I could remember the exact details of)
I was clear that there had been no other issues with any other neighbours in the twenty years I'd lived there

@juneisbustingout

My problems with a particular group of students lasted a year and had taken place many years before I was selling a house and many years after they had left. I still had to declare it and it caused many queries back and forth between the conveyancers despite it being clearly in the past. I was asked for lots of further information with regards to the contact I had had with police, local authority and the university ( none of which I could remember the exact details of) I was clear that there had been no other issues with any other neighbours in the twenty years I'd lived there

Did the sale proceed in the end?

Yes

I wouldn’t declare that. Not sure if that’s the strictly legal course or not.