Selling a house with noisy neighbours?

sidthesexist

Ok so i stupidly bought this house 4 or so years ago, and in that time we have suffered constant slamming doors, other noise and occasional racial abuse from the neighbors on one side. We have tried contacting the police and local council (their landlords) about this and both have been totally useless. As a result we are now seriously considering selling the property to try and escape this. but where do we stand legaly? as i would prefer to not be sued after the sale for something i haven't disclosed.

david69_2

Have you considered renting it out to a family from hell just to get your own back

sidthesexist

If i could afford to i would.

lossofbargain

your complaint is ironic to your username.

olias

Unfortunately, that is the biggest problem with any neighbour dispute (even if you are entirely innocent). The fact that you have gone as far as contacting the police and Landlord, means that you will have to disclose this to any potential purchaser and sadly, it is likely to have an impact on the saleability of your home and any offer a purchaser is prepared to put forward.

I had a very minor disagreement with a neighbour over an access issue and that led to my losing a house sale when it was disclosed when I could least afford it to happen. I now am of the opinion that I will never make official any problem with a neighbour as I simply can't afford (financially as well as mentally!) to deal with another problem when I come to sell.

I know it seems unfair if you are the innocent party, but that unfortunately is the law. And yes, you could be sued if you didn't disclose it.

Olias

satchmeister

If they don't ask then you don't need to volunteer the information, but if asked (probably via their solicitor) then you would need to disclose. If they move then they are no longer your neighbour. And yes it is unfair. Maybe they were noisy six months ago but have now gone quiet since you complained and you have had no cause to complain for the last six months ... noise is subjective.

olias

satchmeister wrote: »

If they don't ask then you don't need to volunteer the information, but if asked (probably via their solicitor) then you would need to disclose. If they move then they are no longer your neighbour. And yes it is unfair. Maybe they were noisy six months ago but have now gone quiet since you complained and you have had no cause to complain for the last six months ... noise is subjective.

Not the whole truth! The standard contract for a house sale (at least last time I sold in 2007 has a form which reads something like 'have you ever had any disputes with neighbours or had occasion to contact the authorities over neighbour issues' (might not be the exact wording, but that is the gist).

As this is included in the standard contract, then you would never have the option of not volunteering the information.

Olias

satchmeister

olias wrote: »

Not the whole truth! The standard contract for a house sale (at least last time I sold in 2007 has a form which reads something like 'have you ever had any disputes with neighbours or had occasion to contact the authorities over neighbour issues' (might not be the exact wording, but that is the gist).

As this is included in the standard contract, then you would never have the option of not volunteering the information.

Olias

If this is in the standard contact then yes you would need to disclose. A dispute is between two parties and clearly if you have contacted the authorities then yes agian this would need to be disclosed. If however you have noisy neighbours but no dispute or you have not made a complaint then you have had no dispute or complaint and you do not need to say that 'in your opinion the neighbours are noisy'.

mandi

If I were in you position I would contact my local councilor and ask them to put pressure on the council to act .

You should also keep a diary of the dates/time/and the type of noise . In the meantime the council can provide you with monitoring equipment to record the noise , don't let them fob you off .

sidthesexist

mandi wrote: »

If I were in you position I would contact my local councilor and ask them to put pressure on the council to act .

You should also keep a diary of the dates/time/and the type of noise . In the meantime the council can provide you with monitoring equipment to record the noise , don't let them fob you off .

Done all of that I'm afraid. Unfortunately the councilors round here rely on the votes of people of immigrant decent for getting them into power. And when ever you complain about someone who happens to be of foreign decent the council smears you as a racist... We have also had a noise machine fitted in the past, but days before it was fitted they sent the neighbours a letter warning them it was gonna be fitted (they claimed it would breach their human rights if they did not). And the neighbours sent their kids to live with friends whilst it was here, so no noise was recorded..