Buy house where there has been boundary dispute?

[Onandoff]

Near to exchange we’ve received a copy of a solicitors letter about a boundary dispute 5 years ago with a NDN. They accused our vendor of trying to pinch a bit of their land with his fence, he asserted he hadn’t and that they’d destroyed his plants and some shared areas with sledgehammers doing work on their side. A surveyor was employed by the NDN, the solicitor on vendors side ended up proving the vendor was in the right. Apparently they then withdrew their assertion. There the trail goes cold and he is saying no further disputes or conflicts.
It’s a small road of a handful of houses, this is the attached side (one half of a semi).
We’ve driven past and pretty sure the vendor isn’t living there (his mail is also going to a different place) although he asserts he is.

He’s in his 70s and a professional and seems quite mild mannered, lived there 30 years. They are a big family, multiple cars and vans.
I’m nervous that such a big dispute might have left problems. And spidey senses that these might be nightmare neighbours.

What would you want to see? Or would you walk away.

Wow. Glad you found out. Sorry you need to find somewhere else now, but it’s for the best in the long run.

Good luck with finding somewhere else- with nice normal quiet neighbours!

(Also, poor man selling the house. He shouldn’t have lied on the form, and tried to pass the issue onto you, but I can only imagine how much he wants shot of the place and to have nothing to do with those people anymore!)

Either way the legal dispute clearly ain’t over and he’s lied on the Seller’s forms. Walking away...

I agree to walking away but if the neighbours are not actively pursuing any further action then the matter is closed. She might be pissed off that matters didn't go in her favour and still holds a grudge. I am sure she would have been more than eager to show you paperwork or provide you with a crime reference number if there was any after the initial issue.

I will be completely honest and say we had a boundary dispute and won. The neighbours were unhinged, whilst it was all taking place they were verbally abusive, swearing at my children, being hostile to anyone who dared visit my house. Surveyor came out, told them they were wrong and it just stopped. They just ignored us which was fine by us.

4 years later we went to sell and oh my God she could not let us leave, wanted to play the victim, rang our estate agent dozens of times telling them about the previous dispute (we had declared it all, copies of all the correspondence) why on earth would she want us to stay living next door to her?

Luckily we sold to a builder who saw the potential to extend the property (corner plot) and make a tidy profit. Ex neighbour was as lovely as anything to the builder according to other neighbours in the street, told him she was so glad we had left as we had caused her nothing but heartache. He knew about her phone calls to the estate agent clearly trying to stop the sale! Ex neighbour died a few months after we moved. The house was sold by her children to the same builder.

Seller now saying the neighbours have had a campaign of harassment towards him and that it should be resolved when he moves out. In my view if this is true they’re clearly nutters and the risk is they will likely switch their focus to us. Especially as they haven’t got what they want.

Dodged that bullet, OP...

I sold my house with a previous boundary dispute declared on the forms.

I said the neighbours actions were personal to me, which they were. The neighbour hated me because he wanted part of my garden to build an extension, despite the fence being in the same position gor over 30 years.

In the end we gave in because our solicitor advised us that even though we were right our costs to take the matter to court would be over 30k, and you don't always get all your costs back.

It was horrendous and we ended up moving because he had built a huge extension right up to the new boundary and had destroyed one side of the garden killing all my plants. We had been there for 20 years.

In my case the dispute was over. The new owners knew the the story. The neighbour from hell has.been fine with them.

@Movinghouseatlast

I sold my house with a previous boundary dispute declared on the forms.

I said the neighbours actions were personal to me, which they were. The neighbour hated me because he wanted part of my garden to build an extension, despite the fence being in the same position gor over 30 years.

In the end we gave in because our solicitor advised us that even though we were right our costs to take the matter to court would be over 30k, and you don't always get all your costs back.

It was horrendous and we ended up moving because he had built a huge extension right up to the new boundary and had destroyed one side of the garden killing all my plants. We had been there for 20 years.

In my case the dispute was over. The new owners knew the the story. The neighbour from hell has.been fine with them.

I’m sorry that sounds horrendous but glad the neighbour behaved. I got a whiff of crazy with the situation here though. Vandalism, police, spying, intimidation. I just can’t take the risk it wouldn’t flare up again. Especially as the issue it started over is far from resolved.

Naughty that he didn't declare it on the form! I think it's good thing that you've spoken to the neighbours- something is clearly still going on and you don't want to have that after moving in!