Buying near a boarded up terrace house

[WorriedWart123]

Hello,
We've seen a fanastic terrace house in south London which ticked all the right boxes; great area; good price; lots of space for the future. Except there is a house 3 doors down with boarded up windows/front door.

I initially didn't think much of it, but the more I've started to think about it, the more worried i've become and wondered if anyone had any experience with these type of situtations?

From google maps it looks like it was boared up in late 2019. I spoke with a neighbour who said an elderly man lived there, but didn't know what the situtation was, though did mention someone had been by and cleaned up the front garden when people had dumped stuff there. I can see there have been some changes at the front to remove a porch between 2021-2022. The council are aware but wouldn't give me any information about it. DH takes these as evidence that relatives are minding the property for the owner, and believes it'll sort itself out in a year or two. I'm less convinced and wondered whether it could just be the council taking care?

Given we'd be 3 doors down, i'd hope there's little direct risk of it affecting us via a leaky roof or something, and would hope it shouldn't affect our enjoyment of the property. But this likely isn't our forever home (maybe ~5yrs) and i'm still worried that if it never gets sorted, they'll be an eyesore just 10 meters or so from the front door, potentially leaving us with an unsellable property.

AIBU to worry so much about this? How do these type of things usually get resolved?

Tricky. My head says run but London is so so varied from one house to the next, it doesn't necessarily indicate anything bad. Aside from dumped stuff (then cleared) and it being boarded up, does it look generally well looked after maintained?

Have you tried to have a chat with some of the immediate neighbours to understand the background?

I don't think it would cause damage, my concern would be if it attracted antisocial behaviour.

@MaggieFS, my feelings too. There is some graffiti up on the boarded up windows - though otherwise isn't really more untidy than other front gardens on the street. The neighbour I spoke to didn't mention any anti-social behaviour.

I tried the council again who told me they're in contact with representatives of the owner who have promised to "tidy it up" but didn't know details for any long term plan. They said unless there are other problems, they can only force them to keep it neat.

Guess that's some reassurance there's someone around with a vested interest in it, though still an unknown if/when it'll get sorted.

If it’s only one boarded up house I wouldn’t worry about it. If it’s 5 or 6 then I’d be concerned.

I don't think it sounds worrying either, but devil's advocate question... if the boarded up house is NOT having any impact on the one you like, then presumably another similar house will come up which is also affordable and without the proximity to a boarded up house?

What's your heart saying? How much do you love the house?

I don’t understand why it would impact on you?

Perhaps ot would be an idea to offer on the boarded up house if you fancy refurbing

There’s a place near me like this. The people either side despair of it as it looks awful and people sometimes break in. I don’t think I would be too bothered if I was a few doors down from it as I would assume the situation would eventually improve.

It wouldn’t bother me to be honest, I agree with your husband and quite frankly any of the neighbouring houses could suffer the same fate in a year.

I wouldn’t be too bothered, you could buy somewhere else and find a house on your road gets tinned up the day after you complete. It’s not directly affecting the property and one rundown house isn’t a buyer beware type issue if you need to resell.

Make sure your house has no external gaps/holes though - houses like that are normally rats galore and they’ll all be looking for a new home if it gets renovated and they have to clear out!

Given it's in London and it's not next-door, I wouldn't be so worried.

It will definitely be rodent central, and they'll spread through the terrace.

If you're really unlucky squatters will get in and there will be a lot of anti-social behaviour

I'd see what the other neighbours think

@WorriedWart123 South East here. I bought a house 18 months ago. Next door to it is a huge plot of land, and on it sits a decrepit bungalow, that looked vacant/a complete mess/no idea who if anyone was living there. Granted it wasn't boarded up but it looked bloody awful and it put me off offering (so I went in low ball) but it still worried me post offer.

I took direct action and did a "Stake Out" in the car to see who came and went, and ended up talking to neighbours directly, who gave me good intel, indicating it would probably be demolished and redeveloped. I took a chance and current status is plot has been bought, the redevelopment plans are fantastic and will really compliment my property and uplift the entire street.

It worked out for me, but had I not thought it would improve reasonably quickly, I'd not have offered. Try talking to neighbours?

It could just be going through probate issues & it's been secured in the meantime.