Am I stupid to move over bad neighbours?

[starsandstuff]

Me and my husband live in a little terraced house which we love. It’s tiny but we’ve done a lot to it and it’s perfect for us (no kids) apart from a lack of storage but we improvise. But the walls are very thin and on one side we have horrible neighbours who party at night and sit out drinking on their flat roof on sunny days, totally overlooking our backyard so if we’re sitting out we have to see them as well as listen to them loudly talk shite and drink and do coke. (Nothing wrong with those things per se, just not what I want to deal with in my own home.) They rent and I’ve contacted the landlord numerous times to be told that there’s nothing they can do - “tenants have rights” - and neither the police or council have been any use. Landlord also said their son will be going to Uni in 5 years and he’ll be living there so even if these ones go then there will be students living there and I definitely can’t complain to their mother if she’s not interested now.

So we finally decided we had enough and out our house up for sale. The prices are crazy here at the minute in the area we want, so we currently have a large offer on a nice semi with a back garden. But I don’t actually know if I want to move. I’ve just got a promotion at work but I’ve hit the ceiling of how far I can (and would want to) go wage wise so I’ll be making the biggest investment I ever will and I don’t know if it’s worth it. The new house will be fully £100k more than ours to buy an extra tiny box room and a garden, but we love the area we live in and we don’t want to move far and houses don’t come up that often there. The inside is nice - parts of it aren’t as bright as ours - but the upstairs is smaller. But they’ve done a lot of work to it so we could pretty much just move straight in. We have a ton of viewers coming to ours next week and the agent says it’ll sell fast and I feel really rushed in to things. I like the new house but don’t love it, but it’s a better street and presumably will have less shitehawkery from the neighbours. But I love our house and would be happy to stay there, but even if these neighbours move out it’s always going to be a terrace with the potential for having loud people basically in the room next door. So part of me says keep wearing earplugs and just deal with it and part says just go and learn to love the new place and even if it’s too much money we’re not planning on ever moving anywhere else. I think I want to be told that I won’t regret moving to a (slightly) bigger house with a definitely lovely garden (also rare where we are) and that you moved from a terrace and now adore the peace and quiet. Any thoughts?

The OP hasn't addressed how they are going to get around having to declare their noisy neighbour seeing as they mentioned they have had the landlord, the police and the council involved..

The police didn’t do anything, they said it was an issue for the council. The council sent a car out one night when we rang (whatever the dept deals with noise) they said they couldn’t hear anything. What they actually said was do you want us to tell people they can’t talk in their own living room? At 4am. We left it then for years and then this Dec they had an all nighter - playing techno at 7am - and we contacted land registry next day and found the landlord. She contacted them but it didn’t help and since then she’s said she can’t make them listen to her. So I plan to declare in the form that we have experienced noise and have contacted the landlord about it which is true. I’m just praying that whoever is buying won’t mind so much in that it’s a 2 bed terrace so really a “starter home” so they might be young people making their own noise and not too bothered. It’s just that we’re too old to deal with this shit.

I think an official complaint to the council might be searchable, and should be disclosed.

But a semi- may well bring the samne issue if you have incosiderate noisy idiots there, esp using the garden / partying till late there.
OP you must find out more before you commit!

As others said, visit on a warmer day in the evening/weekend and see what it's like, Also I hope you did ask the vendors - thet may not confess to any issues but if te neighbours are really nice they will emphatise that, which will help.

So I plan to declare in the form that we have experienced noise and have contacted the landlord about it which is true

If the council sent a car out then there will be a record of your complaint. Don't leave yourself open for future ramifications by not declaring this as if your buyers have the same problem it won't be hard for them to get this info from the council. It's a legal requirement that you declare details of noise complaints on the TA6 form - if you really don't want to mention getting the police and council involved make you discuss this with your solicitor and they can advise you properly.

OP are you me?

Also in a little 2 up 2 down terrace with awful neighbours. I wish we could move but we've only been here 2 years and haven't made anywhere near enough to afford something better. Go for it, I dream of the days I don't get woken up by an argument / screaming children / ongoing party!

As you are "only" moving to escape bad neighbours and it is costing you £100k and you are not gaining much, I can see why you have cold feet.

We moved spending the extra £100k and I gained not having too travel as much and my husband gained space, which actually probably isn't worth the extra money, but starting wasn't an option either. Unfortunately we moved from lovely neighbours and now have one horrible neighbour, though the others are great.

Due to the bad neighbour we should move, but that is our only reason for moving and financially it doesn't make sense. That said I have a day off today and have driven to a car park to escape the horrible neighbour for a bit. Even so I resent the cost of moving just to get away from the neighbour. However, I know I should move as it would make me a lot happier and I do think you are doing the right thing.

Can you focus on the idea that you might have moved anyway and the house you have chosen is probably the sort of place you would have ended up in?

Research your new area very well. But, assuming there aren’t any issues, I think moving could be worthwhile. The older you get, the more important good neighbours are.

Houses respond to the people who live in them and the more you put in to them the lovelier they become. If you’ve already made one house lovely, your new house will be a home in no time at all.

Thanks very much for all the comments, it really helped settle me. Just as an update: we were massively outbid on the house we were going for but in the end the fact that I wasn’t heartbroken about it told me it wasn’t the one. Meanwhile we are sale agreed on ours for a really good price. The potential buyers asked to speak to us on the day they were viewing (we were out in the back alleyway with the cat!) They were really keen and basically asking what it would take to buy it, so in the interests of honesty my husband told them the full story about the neighbours. They were buying it for their son and we wanted them to know the score. They went away and had a think then rang the agent and beat the highest bid so it was total best case scenario. I’m really glad we were open about it. We’ve seen loads but nothing has suited and the prices are skyrocketing, but we’ve a viewing on Wed for one that I think I’ve fallen in love with, a bit further out but still within range of where we live, and that’s within our budget even if it goes for a lot over the asking. So fingers crossed!

Lucky! Their son might not see it as a problem and like having some youthful partying neighbours! Result!

Hello, some advice please, i have brought my dream property in the summer, but i was not told about the 'horrific' noise from next door, goal nets, hot tub, music all hours, is there anything i can do? They have 6 people living in a 3 bedroom house, the attitude stinks, they think they own the road, they are council tenants as well, i have spoken to them and you get ' we are in a council house and we dont give a !!!!!!!’

Oh do move! I moved from horrible ex-neighbors but not before it ruined my health.

Even though I'm in an apartment building surrounded by more people there is much less noise because the people have sone respect for others.

The council and police did next to nothing to deal with my neighbors.

Move. I hated everything about my last house (rental). Low flying aircraft, a nearby sewage plant, too urban and close to London, terrible landlady, nothing was ever fixed, couldn't wait to leave. I bought the perfect house and then started to tell myself the rental was OK, and I'd miss neighbours, and perhaps the new house wouldn't be so great afterall.

In reality I was scared of the financial commitment and change and convinced myself it would be "easier" not to move at all. Moving was the best thing I did. You won't regret it OP.