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Original poster

Someone died in our new house.

104 replies

Elasticatedwaist · 22/03/2022 15:41

We had to have the floorboards up last week in our new house which uncovered a blackened and charred joist. Turns out,
From talking to a neighbour that there was a fire here, the wife and 2 kids made it out but the man didn’t. He was a drunk apparently and caused the fire. Terribly sad !
Not sure how I feel about living in a house where there was a tragedy like that.
Dh is quite freaked out.
Would it bother you ?

OP posts:
Coffeetree · 22/03/2022 16:15

Houses become available because the owners either die or move away!

I'm sorry for their tragedy but it would be ridiculous to be put off.

AwkwardPaws27 · 22/03/2022 16:16

Have you confirmed it's actually true?
One of our neighbours insists our houses were built in 1860 rather than being Edwardian, despite the deeds saying otherwise & maps of the road showing there were no houses at this end then.

bigbluebus · 22/03/2022 16:18

No one has died in my current property as we bought it as a new build. In our previous house DH rented it from a woman whose DM had died in the house and he later bought it complete with all the old lady's furniture - including the bed! We don't know where exactly in the house she died though. Didn't really bother us.

PrtScn · 22/03/2022 16:19

Even new builds might technically have had somebody “die” in them. As in on the land that it has been built on.
My house was built “pre 1820” in a slate mining community so I’m pretty sure a few people will have popped their clogs in mine.

Krakenchorus · 22/03/2022 16:24

The death would not concern me. The undisclosed fire would. I'd want more information about that.

HellToTheNope · 22/03/2022 16:25

Wouldn't bother me at all. People die in houses all the time. How silly.

jowly · 22/03/2022 16:27

As well as people dying in houses, many new babies would have been born in them too.

Thats just life

SliceOfCakeCupOfTea · 22/03/2022 16:30

Old owner of our house died and wasn't found for months. Seller told us at the time, as did the estate agents, and then all of the neighbours one by one came to tell us.
Wasn't a huge deal to us! Sad that it happened and that they weren't found, but the house was clean and ready for us when we moved in.

So far no hauntings

ThreeFeetTall · 22/03/2022 16:32

Interesting replies. When I did viewings as a housing officer quite a lot of people would ask this and imply they would turn the property down if someone had died there. So don't think your husband is particular unusual in his views.

Champagneforeveryone · 22/03/2022 16:33

We've lived in old cottages for many years, I know for a fact that there were deaths as well as births in my previous house.

Doesn't bother me at all, though a bloody suicide or murder would give me more pause for thought.

Pinotpleasure · 22/03/2022 16:37

If you are religious, I guess your local priest/rabbi/imam etc would be willing to come over to your house and give it a blessing?

Gonnagetgoing · 22/03/2022 16:39

It's sad but it happens.

I recall a few years ago when a friend of a friend bought a house in North London where apparently there had been a murder in the bathroom - honestly - think neighbours told them. It was cheaper than it would have been but friends have lived there ages and no woo stuff at all!

boathouse20 · 22/03/2022 16:39

I was idly googling my current home, just after we'd moved in, and found a reference to it it a teenage fiction book..... as the scene of a ghost story Shock

......and no, I haven't seen any evidence of a ghost

InTheNightWeWillWish · 22/03/2022 16:40

My house was built in the 1890s so I expect a few people have died. What would worry me is the joist. Particularly in this house as we have had numerous tradespeople say they’ve seen it all and then come to our house and say “I’ve come across this problem, I’ve never seen it before, I’m going to have to shut it off/take it out/can’t leave it like this but it’s not safe”. A burnt and charred joist in this house would probably have us moving out for 3 months as they then found a whole host of other problems.

SpeckledlyHen · 22/03/2022 16:41

My house is 1450's so nearly 500 years old. I should imagine in that time many many adults and children, not to mention pets have died in it. I have never felt spooked and I am on a very nervous disposition with an over active imagination. Depends on the circumstances I suppose but as it was a tragic accident I don't think it would bother me too much.

DobbyTheHouseElk · 22/03/2022 16:41

@Krakenchorus

The death would not concern me. The undisclosed fire would. I'd want more information about that.
I agree. Shouldn’t a house fire be disclosed in the sale. I would want the joist looked at.
JoniMarr · 22/03/2022 16:43

Someone was murdered in my flat in the 70s.

I don't believe in ghosts or woo bollocks so other than to think how sad it was, no, it doesn't bother me at all.

spiderlight · 22/03/2022 16:43

I grew up from the age of 11 in a house that had been in my mum's family since the early 1800s. Off the top of my head, at least six of my former relatives died in it, including at least one one (a beloved great-aunt) in the room that became mine when we moved in the following year. It didn't really bother me at all.

JoniMarr · 22/03/2022 16:43

@SpeckledlyHen

My house is 1450's so nearly 500 years old. I should imagine in that time many many adults and children, not to mention pets have died in it. I have never felt spooked and I am on a very nervous disposition with an over active imagination. Depends on the circumstances I suppose but as it was a tragic accident I don't think it would bother me too much.
I'd love to live in a house with so much history!
Joystir59 · 22/03/2022 16:43

My wife died in our house, and I'm sure many before her as it's 140 years old. I'm not at all bothered. Death is part of the human condition. I don't want to die at home though, I'd rather be in a care/nursing home or hospital.

Pyewhacket · 22/03/2022 16:45

Lived in a house where a child had tragically died. That room was always cold. Even in the summer. I was glad when we sold it for redevelopment.

DevonSunsets · 22/03/2022 16:46

In a relatives house - the two prior occupants died together in remarkably odd circumstances and they were not found for quite some time making the investigation very problematic.

It didn't put her off at all.

What did was all the neighbours coming around in dribs and drabs to 'let her know' and rubbernecking to have a sly peek in.

RiaG91 · 22/03/2022 16:47

It would actually bother me to the point that I'd be unreasonable by saying I cannot stay there for a single night.

If I don't know about it happening, that's fine - I'll be blissfully unaware. But to know about it, that's a whole other ballgame 😅

Riseholme · 22/03/2022 16:52

Our neighbours bought their home from the estate of a man who had hung himself from the bannister.
We didn't know him as the house was empty when we moved in opposite.
An older neighbour vaguely asked the new buyers if they knew much about the house and they said they'd been told about the suicide and were fine.

Cas112 · 22/03/2022 16:52

No

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