Seller not declaring neighbour dispute

[Hopingtomovehouse]

Hi, we put in an offer on a house. Found out that the seller has complained to the council about their next door neighbour over rubbish in front garden, rubbish includes food that is left to go mouldy and it is attracting rats. Neither the estate agent nor the seller told us about this. It appears other people have made offers and pulled out when they have found out. Not sure how they found out as I believe it isn’t declared on any sellers documents. We offered the asking price, it was offers over, but we didn’t offer over

What else haven't they mentioned?

If environment health were contacted then that must be on the form. I’d complain to the EA. I pity the sellers though, what a nightmare.

I'd pull out. Bad neighbours are awful!

Lots of variables to consider... Is it an old dear overfeeding the birds? A large family with constantly overflowing bins? Is it likely to continue in the future? Are the neighbours approachable? Have you discussed this with the agent?

If it's towards the less severe end of the scale and you love the house and feel you could live with or solve the issue, maybe there is scope for renegotiating the price to compensate for the issue.

I think the choice is between withdrawing your offer or continuing (I don't see how offering a lower price helps in any way - unless you want the vendor to refuse it so you can walk away without feeling uncomfortable). Personally, I would not continue. I can't imagine living next door to someone who chooses to live like this with no regard for their neighbours, and if the vendors have made repeated complaints with no resolution, this is what you'd end up living next door to. Why would you want to?

If you don't care about the mess or living next to dodgy nightmare neighbours, and the difficulty you could have in selling the house in future, then reduce your offer. If you're lucky the neighbours will move.

If you do mind all the above then find somewhere else.

Unless you're paying 50% of market value, run a mile.

@Hopingtomovehouse they were meant to declare this by law! I would withdraw my offer!

The seller is meant to declare it on the property information form, which OP hasn't seen yet. Few people would offer this info verbally during a viewing.

We ended up living next to a hoarder neighbour who had all sorts of junk in his garden, and a rat problem. It was a nightmare and drove me nuts.

Withdraw your offer and find somewhere else.

The neighbours are clearly a problem, and the vendors, seemingly, can’t be trusted.

In your shoes, OP, I’d withdraw sharpish.

Yes, they would need it on the TA6 property information form from OP’s solicitor but it sounds like OP has only just made an offer, they haven’t got to that stage yet so they have done nothing wrong if OP hasn’t directly asked the question.

I would withdraw, OP. You don’t want to be dealing with rats and refuse.

Be grateful that you found out before you had incurred any costs. Next time, ask these questions of the vendor directly at the start of the process rather than waiting for them to fill in the TA6 so you don’t waste money.

Pull out we had a similar problem cost us nearly 50k.

Bit of a different situation but a while a go we put an offer on a house,no chain, we were all excited, offered asking price and it got accepted. About two weeks later the estate agent told us it will be six months until they want to move out. The estate agent hadn’t been honest at the time and we withdrew as i’m due a baby in May. Felt like a complete waste of time and we were really disappointed.

No, but personally I wouldn't consider living lol that either and all the aggro it entails.

I mean, unless you say 'Beryl Smith at number 10 High street told me' its unlikely to be outing. This situation will not be unique, certainly not enough to out you!

I suspect the reason the PP was asking though was to determine whether you've heard it from a reliable source, or whether its gossip.

Pull out.

It's not only not resolved, it is clearly so bad the Seller is trying to move without declaring it.

ok so gossip

have you actually had any kind of evidence?

Put it this way, if you pushed ahead, even at a lower price, and you regretted it you'd be the ones stuck there unable to sell. Personally I wouldn't put myself in that position x

Sorry I wasn’t clear - it wasn’t a worry about the debt! It was more why they had overpriced as there was no clear reason until we saw the land registry and understood they couldn’t have taken an offer. Gave us additional information when marking a decision whether to purchase or not!

Ahhh I get you! Yes it’s scary when you realise what “decisions” people sometimes make…!

As far as I remember, the only point at which they're obliged to tell you there's been a dispute is in the Seller's Pack. If you've received this and it's not mentioned, then it's a problem.

It's annoying sure, but it wouldn't worry me as much as some kind of nasty dispute or drug use complaints. I lived two doors down from a hoarder when I bought this house- old man, bit not all there. After six years he went into a home and the garden was cleaned up/ house was sold and now has a normal family living in it with no rubbish.
I understand his house had mice in it but we never saw any here. If I loved everything else about the house more than anywhere else it wouldn't be my deal breaker, as it seems it was visually subtle enough you didn't even notice it when you came to view.

If the rubbish is still there I'd pull out as others have said. Tell the agent and seller why. Sounds like you're not too far down the process. You may be a few pounds out of pocket for whatever your solicitor has done so far but you'll be better off pulling out now.

Pull out. There's no way I'd want this stress.