Not declaring neighbour disputes when selling

dboy7800

I recently bought a flat and when I viewed the property I made a point of asking the vendor about the neighbours. She said they were all lovely and had had no problems with any of them. She also made no declaration to either solicitor that there had been any disputes.

Since moving in I have had serious problems with my immediate neighbour all of which have been reported to the local authority and the police. I found out last night that the person I bought the property off had herself made numerous complaint also and when asked by another neighbour if she had told me she responded with "no, I think she can handle herself"!!

There is no way I would have purchased this flat if I had known there were problems - but what I need to know is where I stand legally towards the vendor?

Any help/guidance gratefully received.

Thank you

GAH

Do you have anything in writing from LL regarding these disputes?

Was there also any complaints to the local Council by previous vendor. If there were, then that should have been highlighted by your solicitor.

Vendor would have been given a Property Information Sheet, which your solicitor should have received filled in by vendor asking that question.

dboy7800

Hi GAH - I am waiting for the local authority to confirm regarding the complaints. The vendor made no reference to any issues on the property information sheet either. I am livid, as one of the reasons I moved was to get away from noisy neighbours!! The anti social neighbour rents off a private landlord who will hopefullt evict her, but that still doesn't get away with the fact that information was withheld during the purchase and I have effectively been mislead.

Next time I move, it will be to the middle of a field!!

Squiggybank

Hi,

Been in a similar situation to this myself before and it's not nice.

As a previous poster has said, the vendor would have been required to fill in a form where they are required to detail any neighbourly disputes, but they obviously lied.

I bought a house and the day I moved in I saw the neighbour, and needless to say went in the door thought what have I done and burst into tears. The neighbours were terrible, screaming and knocking the carp out of each other when drunk, dealing from the end of our drive, Akitta (named Enoch......) chained up outside, random people sat outside on their drive at 10am Christmas morn drinking Carling. One day I hear a smashing noise and peaked out of the window to see the boyfriend smashing the kitchen window with a hammer (she had kicked him out).

The neighbours on the other side were lovely and told us that the people we bought the house from had frequently called the police on the bad neighbours had CCTV ongoing feud and all sort. Apparently the bad neighbours were reknowned for knocking on doors in the small hours to ask for tin foil to cook burgers....yeah right burgers...

Anyway we were fumming that this hadn't been declared, but then we were worried what would happen when we came to sell, therefore we just tolerated it, politely saying hello as we passed bad neighbour, we were too worried to call police or contact council as we figured we would have to declare it when we sold.

Needless to say we moved after a year, it was sickening living next to it, we worked hard making our house nice, they got it for free (new bathroom, and windows) and trashed it.

Anyway hopefully you can contact your solicitor and take some legal action, Good luck

Davesnave

dboy7800 wrote: »

Next time I move, it will be to the middle of a field!!

I hate to tell you this, but even that doesn't work.

I have a neighbour 200m away across my field, whose dogs can bark insanely for hours. They're at it now, and the wind's from that direction, so they sound much closer. This idiot has the dogs locked in cages in his concrete paradise, so the racket echoes around brilliantly. No problem to him; he's not there.

Inside the house I'm OK, but I didn't buy a smallholding in the countryside to sit indoors; indeed I have to be out most days, rain or shine.

Would I attempt to resolve this situation through the usual channels? No. I'd be told that 200m is not like next door, so all I'd achieve is a written record of the problem to haunt me if I decide to sell up. Would I tell the RSPCA? No. Locked-up dogs are common in the country....and there'd be more written records.

Will I sell? Possibly. In the summer months the dogs are quieter and I'm sure if I time things right.......:)

But it's not just about me. We had plans drawn with the intention of spending around £100k on the property, all of which would have been with local firms. Now, I'm looking at a second plan for a quick tart-up, because I've currently no confidence that I'll want to live here for long. So, there's a large consequence for the community too.

Our noise laws are pathetic. Mind you, I'm not sure they're much better in other countries either, but maybe someone knows differently.

Normally I'm public spirited, but in this instance I just want to be sure I'll get my money back. When It comes to that Questions Before Contract sheet, I'll be able to write a large 'No' in answer to the question about neighbour disputes. The last owner did....and she went to church every Sunday! :rotfl:

EDIT: Did a bit of Googling and came up with this. It's not great news for the OP:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1177774/Householder-sues-seller-lie-nightmare-neighbour.html

dboy7800

Thanks!! That doesn't make for comfortable reading. Hopefully her landlord will evict her (fingers crossed, praying etc) and that will be an end to it!!

paddy's_mum

Google the case of McMeekin v Long and then check whether your own householders insurance has a legal department who might be willing to advise you.

Personally, I believe this is one area of miscreancy which ought to be covered under the criminal law - if you misrepresent the facts and someone else is induced to pay many, many thousands of pounds which they would not have done if the true facts were known to them, is it not fraud?

geoffky

One day someone will get really stung on this one and rightly so..I can see why the op is not happy and i think if it was me i would try and get it into court.