Does Lanlord have to tell about problem neighbours?

sandyd22

A long story, but will cut it short as pos.

Rented a property in a flat (6 residents). When viewing and completing paperwork through a letting agency all seemed fine.
Moved in and then we found a bit of a problem.

Apparently the flat we were renting had been used by junkies and that one of the elderly owners above us had been stabbed and beaten up. Found this out whilst browsing local paper archives and seeing pictures. apparently all the residents petitioned the local council to evict the tenant and this was done with police involvement at the time.
All neighbours are avoiding us and making our lives very unhappy. We did not expect the neighbours (4 of them) to embrace us, but they ignore us and when attempting to speak we are met with disdain and avoided. I wrote to them all telling them of our best intentions and attempting to reassure them, but this was ignored. We are not criminals and have an excellent background, only moving to rental after owning our own place for over 26 years.
We are both elderly and this is upsetting to say the least and detrimental to our health.
Now we are having to move (buying) and wondered if the landlord/ letting agency should have mentioned this violent episode to us. I asked both the manager of the letting agency and the person showing us around what the neighbours were like and were told they were fine. No mention of previous problems.
I wrote to the letting agency to state my concerns over not being informed as we are afraid that the person (s) who committed the assaults would try to come back for some sort of "revenge" or similar. The letting agency said they were unaware of problems.
I would have thought the landlord would have told the agency about this. The landlord had previously been renting without an agency and apparently the agency had recently taken over the management from the landlord and we were first tenants after this incident.
Anyone any views on this?
Surely we have rights to be told to expect a cold reception from the other 4 owners in the flat and what had occured. We may still have gone ahead with the rental, but been more aware. I would have thought that the landlord at least should have told the letting agency about previous issues when asking to act as management?
Maybe I have been expecting too much and being very niave about all this. By the way we live in Scotland.

Eellogofusciouhipoppokunu

I'm not surprised the neighbours are keeping themselves to themselves after all that has gone on. The best thing you can do is move and put it all behind you. I would make sure though that you have done your research on the house you are buying and the area you are moving to. It's a lot harder to move when you own than it is when you rent.

samasama

Many years ago, on being given the keys to our new house by the letting agent he said to me - "I shouldn't really tell you this but as you're a single mum with young kids, be careful who you open the door to, especially late at night. The previous tenant was kicked out as she and her sister ran a 'business' from home which involved a lot of male visitors. Oh and we don't mind if you take the bolts off the OUTSIDE of the kids' bedroom doors" :eek:

Needless to say I went straight out, hired a carpet cleaner and then spent the next 2 days bleaching the house from top to bottom.

Neighbours confirmed my fears, but I was never bothered by any of her old customers as she'd opened up shop at her new place not far away!!

There SHOULD be a requirement to tell you of issues with previous tenants/neighbours.

DiscoCat54

I had a similar issue when I bought a house in High Wycombe a few years ago. My next door neighbour but one had been firebombed by someone who got the wrong house and the punishment was actually meant for the owner of my property. As with the above he had run a 'business' from the property and due to him failing to change the address on his newsletter I had a number of visitors turning up at my door asking for various girls/services.

Door frame damage that I was told had been caused by owner locking himself out turns out to have been caused by a police raid.

This was prior to disclosure laws changing so there as nothing I could do.

Fire_Fox

I don't think you should have been told because the difficult tenant had been evicted, there is no reason to suspect they will take revenge on you since you were not present at the time nor party to the eviction. How are the agents supposed to know if the people in the block are any colder than anywhere else? Some blocks are just like that, some people live in flats because it is anonymous not family or community oriented.

BrandNewDay

Are your neighbours being menacing or are they just being cold and aloof?

If they are being cold and aloof, then that is their problem. They're not bothering you and, you know, maybe life is easier when neighbours stay out of one another's way.

They may be gunshy about any neighbours after a harrowing experience, but I can't imagine anybody having some sort of superstitious issue with the new occupants of a "jinxed" apartment. Perhaps they do... but I can tell from your post (you say you are elderly and you write like an educated person) that you're not the sort of person to put people off just by looking like bad news.