Death of Prev Owner - Opinions

westlondonbuyer

As a solicitor you must disclose this to your client. You don't know about their personal circumstances and can't second-guess how they might be affected by the discovery.

If they suffered from PTSD, for example, which became worse as a result of this discovery, I'm sure there would be plenty of PI lawyers prepared to pursue a claim on your client's behalf...quite apart from the very obvious financial loss that might result if your client comes to re-sell and finds she can't because news of the nasty death has become common knowledge.

Slightly off-topic, my husband's parents live in a house dating from the 15th century which borders the local church (and therefore graveyard). There have always been rumours that owners of the house in previous centuries allowed the bodies of illegitimate children to be secretly buried in their garden, adjoining the graveyard. Every time my father-in-law digs the garden he develops a cold-sweat. You couldn't pay me to live in that house.

VioletBaudelaire

I think there's a big difference between buying a house where several people have died from natural causes (very likely in any fairly old house,) and somewhere where someone has committed suicide.
I'd certainly want to know - and it would put me off!

stu20vt

I couldn't live in a house where a murder or suicide took place. I'm not religous or spiritual, but it's the fact of what physically happened in an area of the house you live in.
Before I buy a house I would do a search to find out if there was any details of incidents that hapened at that address. Where as my wife couldn't care less either way.
Years ago we booked up to go to Luxor in Egypt and stayed in the Winter Palace. However a murder took place in one of the rooms a few months before we arrived and in the news report it gave you the room number. I made sure we didn't get that room upon arrival at the hotel!

themull1

i wouldn't want to know, and it wouldn't put me off buying. there will be hundreds of houses where people have killed themselves in the past and the present owners won't know. If the client was that bothered about someone dying in a potential house, thats the first question she would have asked. 'what happened to the previous owner'!

beccad

pararct wrote: »

Most people I think would rather live on in ignorance.

This is what I think.

I wouldn't be unaffected if I heard the previous owner had committed suicide - I'd be terribly sorry they'd felt the need to take their own life - but it wouldn't affect my decision on whether to buy the property or not.

Jackinbox99

Wouldnt make any difference to me unless the owner had killed himself due to hidden problems with the house!

I think pretty much any house which is old has the potential that someone has died in it. Looking through the coveyancing / search history on my current house I can see the 1st owner died and left the house to his wife. Likewise, the new house im buying, the original owner also died and left the house to his wife. So, chances are they may or may not have actually died in the house.

Makes no difference to me as im not going to be sleeping in the same bed the person died in and ive changed the house substantially since. My house has a fantastic happy family astmosphere & feeling to it.

littledisey

Well I spoke to my client about it, she did in fact already know !

She said she wondered if I would mention it, and I said that as it was information that I had received I felt I should tell her.

Apparently they knew even before they put the offer in. Some kindly, well meaning neighbour came up to them when they came out of the house from their first viewing to tell them all the gory details - lovely ........

But, she is not bothered about it. But I can see from the replies that some people would be so its certainly necessary to tell people I feel.

Thanks again for your replies

LD