Cancel House Purchase due to Neighbours

[Badger87]

So a few months ago we decided we wanted to move from our town centre terraced house out to a detached house in a countryside village.

Ours sold and we had an offer accepted on a house we were really like

However a couple weeks before exchange we have found out the neighbour house is owned and rented by a cult, Plymouth brethren.

The owner of the house we were buying was honest enough to tell us on a second viewing. He admitted it was a weird setup and they do not communicate with him whatsoever.

This has been a major red flag to us as we would now feel uncomfortable with such a situation.

We are now about to pull out the purchase however feel awful to do this just before exchange.

Are we overreacting? Anyone else have any experience of a similar situation?

I’d also see it as a plus point. I have a house of 5 professional sharers next door to me. House parties most weekends. It drives me crazy.

I mean, I just looked them up on Reddit and they sound culty but also quiet, keep to themselves, no alcohol, etc. So probably very good neighbors 😄

https://www.reddit.com/r/Teesside/comments/161pdl0/anyone_had_any_experience_with_the_plymouth/

found this thread about them

Oh my word! It gets worse! Brexiters! 😂😂😂

I had a former Plymouth Brethren close friend. She was very traumatised by her childhood experiences of it. Constant house swapping because any new family who was larger got the larger properties. I suspect there was a lot worse that she didn’t tell me about.

It would put me off for sure. She was seriously mentally unwell because of what she experienced.

OP is not actually being asked to join the Brethren.

So what is a safe distance to live from PB? If they are the sort that keep them selves to themselves rather than the ones causing havoc with diggers and naked parading?

What is a safe distance to live from extreme bible study and patriarchal practices?

2 houses away? A street away? Half a mile?

Far enough away that you couldn’t see any examples of potential abuse? So that you don’t need to bother reporting it?

We lived next door to Plymouth Brethren for 10 years in a city suburb. They were quiet and kept themselves very private - we barely saw them. Perfect neighbours :D

I’m finding some of the comments on this thread very funny but speaking seriously, I do wonder what would happen if many of these comments were being made about other religions with repressive views on women and sexuality. I think we all know how long posts saying pp don’t want to live near devout Muslims or orthodox Jews would last.

Plymouth Brethren are just people who choose to live a different way to you, in the same way that Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Amish, other Christian sects are just people who choose to live by certain rules which may, or may not be the same as yours.

By all means pull out of the sale if you don't wish to live next to people who are not the same as you. Or dont, and you may find they are excellent neighbours. Their lifestyle will be different, they don't celebrate Christmas, use computers or watch television, but none of those things are bad. They have rules about interacting with people who are not Plymouth Brethren so you will probably find they have very little to do with you. It is unlikely to be personal.

You have absolutely nothing to worry about. I worked with someone whose family left the sect (not a cult) because they were not strict enough!

They will probably just about say hello, but you will not see them after that, they will not eat with you and will lead a very quiet life dressed in Conservative clothes, they will not have a TV and likely not the internet either. They will not affect the value of your home.

> they do not communicate with him whatsoever.

Sounds like they are perfect neighbours
Why pull out?

I must be the only one that has no idea what Plymouth brethren is/are? Google time!

I used to work for a brethren organisation. One of the rules when working for them is that females must wear a skirt! (No trousers were allowed) But other than that, they were very nice. They don't use any modern technology (We had to use a fax machine and typewriter in the office)
They also only live in detached houses. But my guessing is that they would be very quiet.

Exactly. The double standards are astonishing.

I’m saying it would put me off.

The reality is though that they are likely to be very easy to live with neighbours- no loud parties, no drunkenness, just very quiet keep themselves to themselves.

Is the property being used as a place of worship? As that could mean parking issues, but they’d have to have planning permission.

The Muslims and Jews I’ve know have not been traumatised by the influence of that religion on their childhood. Unlike the Plymouth Brethren friend I had.

You can’t be serious.

I can think of far worse to live next door to.

Downside - many don't use the internet so you can't piggyback off their router!

At worst they may offer to pray for you if their lifestyle isn't intone with theirs.

@Zov
imagine if someone came on here and said they are pulling out of a house purchase because they have discovered their new neighbours are Muslims or Sikhs!

I would be more concerned that it's a place of worship with so many people coming and going and the parking issues that could involve. Not just because someone of a religion lived there.

I have never heard of this particular religion but, assuming that it is a cult, if they never actually caused any problems why would you even need to tell someone that you were selling the house to? Is there a law in the UK that says that if you live next door to a cult you have to tell the people that are buying your house that a cult is next door?

I would not call them a cult but my biggest issue would be to try to find out if they hold religious meetings at the house and breach planning and use the property as if it were a place to pray with loads of people turning up or if no one ever comes and it is silent as a mouse.

I have read quite a bit about them and you can find out a lot on youtube. The way some of these strict groups shun people and/or treat their members is not always what the rest of us think is okay.

We might not want to be part of them, we might not like or agree with their practices.

But in what way would it affect you through a hedge? If it wouldn’t affect you if they were 3 streets away?

The OP is worried enough to raise it on Mumsnet. The seller felt he should mention it. That's enough to make me think it's a potential hurdle to a resale. I just would not risk it. Legal side aside.

We don’t know that the seller ‘felt he should raise it’.

I have always asked who the neighbours are. The seller could just have said “Fred and Sue that side, very friendly, the other side, it’s owned by the PB and rented to their members. Never hear a thing from them. Bit of a weird set up, but there you go “