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?

Yes you are overreacting. The Bretheren are a Christian sect. They may host prayer meetings but tend to keep themselves to themselves.

They don’t allow further education - like Scientologists. So, a cult in my book.

Are you sure that this wasn't due to frontotemporal dementia?

I went to primary school with a girl who was a Plymouth Brethren and had French A level classes with another PB girl. They were very gentle and quite unstreetwise. They weren't allowed TV, music, visits to the cinema, theatre or concerts.

Years later I worked for a company that had a lot of PB customers. They were very gentle and honest and always paid their bills on time.

We used to print catalogues for them but had to remove any reference to modern technology - anything to do with data storage for example, and reshoot or Photoshop images that showed barcodes. I even had to supervise a photoshoot of some diaries and had to make sure the lifestyle shots didn't show "fun" engagements like visits to the theatre or a meal out, so the diaries just had stuff like half term begins or dentist appointments.

They wouldn't even accept a drink - tea/coffee if we had meetings with them or eat with anyone who wasn't PB. Oh, and they wouldn't even own a fax machine let alone have email addresses (I am talking about the 1990s here)

I expect they have had to move with the times now that everything is digital.

In answer to the OP's question - no, it wouldn't put me off.

I dont understand the problem?
What’s wrong with the Plymouth brethren.
They’re not a cult,
They do a lot for the local areas they live in, if anything I’d say having such people living in the area is a good thing.

What a bizarre thread

I'd rather have people from the Plymouth Brethren than a random possibly rowdy family. Generally lovely people and unlikely to bother you.

There is a Plymouth Brethren meeting house a few doors down from our local school. By all accounts (from neighbours who live nearby) it is no problem whatsoever and beyond a bit of coming-and-going once a day, theres no noise at all. I would think there are much worse neighbours to have either way (meeting house or owned and lived in by brethren)

Eh?
How many do you need FGS!
One is more than enough for me thank you!!

Are travellers a cult?

also, please get facts correct. Universities are discouraged for the campus environment but many complete degrees online.

I used to teach a child who was part of the Plymouth brethren. She and her family were absolutely lovely. They very much keep to themselves but would be fine as neighbours.

I would be careful. From a mental health perspective I've worked with survivors of religious cults.

I think a lot of religions ideas are way off...doesn't make them a cult though.

The campus environment …. A problem - how does campus environment at sixth form college, or Uni impact faith. Cult.

is Traveller a religion? Your analogy is flawed. Religions & cults that discourage education do it so that followers can be controlled.

Most go to ons school global which goes through sixth form. I didn’t go to a sixth form college either. You can study a levels in a school. No one is stopping them from going to sixth form or university. The campus environment relates to university or ‘college’ in the US sense of the word and the drinking culture. As I said, not my cup of tea - but fair enough if that’s their decision.

you literally said in your pose ‘stop people from higher education, therefore a cult in my book’ therefore implying your definition of a cult is a group that prevents people from obtaining a higher education. Travellers would therefore fall into your definition.

That’s the exclusive Brethren. They do swing towards cult-like. Most Plymouth Brethren are Ordinary Brethren who are far more mainstream.

If you are going to share something… make sure it’s correct information.

if you google again - you will see exclusive brethren and Plymouth brethren are different (the clue is the name) exclusive brethren are far more constrictive and live apart from society… much more akin to Amish. You will see Plymouth brethren within society. I have worked in schools with Plymouth breathren children and they and their parents have all been delightful.

Yes The PB are quite and G-D fearing. BUT, they are right and the rest of the World is not.
My Surgery was in Barnet Herts, and there was a large congretaion there. They did not want the local schools to have computers, or TV, as they are not in the Bible. Whilst they will shun you, so some would say that makes them perfect neighbours, dont do anything to upset them.
Should you cancel the purchase? If it is a detached house, I would not. If a semi, you may find it could lead to difficult situations:, the TV is too loud, or you have a summer Braai with friends, and the smoke drifts into their garden, and alcohol is being drunk. Tough Choice

I didn’t say it was! What’s the problem?

@Mervyco the OP says they were looking at detached houses in the countryside so I'm assuming it is. Therefore noise from tv and music shouldn't be a problem

You are shouting into the void.

I’m not sure if your post is about brethren’s or travellers but I do have school experience with both. All be it this is anecdotal

The PB I went to school with weren’t allowed to stay on past gcse. They had to join the family building business. There was one in particularly felt for, he was a maths and science genius. Absolutely phenomenal at it. Yet he couldn’t follow it.

I live in an area with a lot of travellers and my children have gone through school with a lot of travelling families. Being allowed to stay on is really child and family dependent. Some pull them at 11 and some allow them to stay on. I’ve not seen any go off to uni though (although I’m sure many do, it’s just not the ones I’ve been around). It seems to be girls more than boys able to stay on, some of the boys just want to get on with joining the family business.

@Daisymae23 you're a little confused. Exclusive Brethren is the same as Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, and is the group that use one school global. Re OSG, you say 'No one is stopping them from going to sixth form or university' - the kids are literally prevented from going to university, it's not a choice. Having their own schools is their way to control education (limits on science, RE, literature etc) and none of the teachers are allowed to mention university education. Funnily enough, the church's own website is probably not the most impartial source to rely on.

None of this is relevant to whether OP should move in next door, though.

I'm not surprised they didn't communicate with him if he referred to them as a Cult!

Quiet, God-fearing neighbours sound great to me. If it's used as a place of worship, I guess you might have parking issues occasionally. I have heard of religious groups who have massive lunches or sing hymns at all hours so I guess that might be a concern? Presumably you visited the property at different times and days to check roads and neighbours before you put an offer in?

I live opposite a religious building that was built after we moved in. It's occasionally an issue (mostly parking) but they are friendly and embarrassed if they ever cause an issue.

I would relax, there are towns like Haslemere in Surrey where PB own loads of property, they are quiet, decent, introverted and no problem.

A Christian Plymouth Brethren family just means they are lovely caring loving people who have a strong Christian faith. It is most definitely not a cult. My husband grew up in the Plymouth Brethren and nicer people you could not meet. They will be the best neighbours ever.

Presumably, given he’s married to someone outside PB, your husband grew up in the Open Brethren. Very different to the Closed/Exclusive Brethren who certainly are a cult and very much not all “caring loving people”.

All my extended family are Brethren or ex-Brethren – including my parents, who are very lucky that their particular arranged marriage worked out – and their experiences are very far removed from your husband’s. My uncle ended up homeless and completely alone after being “put out” and had a nervous breakdown. My aunt tolerates an abusive marriage because divorce would see her ostracised from everyone she knows. Child abuse unreported, alcoholism hidden, domestic violence essentially given the church seal of approval… it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.

As I said earlier, I’d have no qualms about have PB as neighbours. Many of them are indeed lovely people. But I’m certainly not going to be okay with the church membership as a whole being described as “nicer people you could not meet” without challenging that fallacy.