Can't sell house due to crazy neighbour

reheat

We've had similar issues, and it is a horrible catch-22. Yes you can complain, and maybe it will get sorted. But then when you fill in the sellers property information form as part of the conveyancing, you will have to declare that you have made the complaint. This will itself probably hit the saleability of your house considerably. It's horrible, and it's not fair, but that's how it seems to be.

From what you are saying your neighbour is not nasty, just a PITA. Would it work if you offered to get it cleaned up? Spending a few hundreds versus maybe losing considerable thousands?

moneyistooshorttomention

For anyone worried about complaining to the Council in case it might create any problems when selling the house, then Councils have their own websites and there should be a webpage on there for reporting problems in the area.

Mine certainly has such a page and you just scroll down it to whichever heading is applicable, eg "uncollected rubbish", "flytipping", "graffiti" and then fill in details of the incident. The form will ask for your contact details, but gives an option for clicking on "anonymous".

I've just taken a leaf out of the book of this thread and scrolled down that form myself about a similar person in the neighbourhood (ie keeping all sorts of rubbish in their garden) and reported them again for it.

20400keith

I wonder if this woman has been knocked for six by the sudden death of her husband and is grieving for him. Or maybe he kept her hoarding tendancies under control. Grief can make us do odd things....

I'd suggest you talk with her. Tell her the problem (sometimes we don't fully realise what we're doing and she might be mortified to know the impact of her behaviour on your sale) and ask whether you could help her sort it.

Once it's sorted, buy her a lovely planted pot for her front door as a thank you (coincidentally improving kerb appeal for your prospective purchasers...)

Good luck.

Lit_Up

20400keith wrote: »

I'd suggest you talk with her.

Did you not read what I wrote? I've already done this.

Davesnave

reheat wrote: »

We've had similar issues, and it is a horrible catch-22. Yes you can complain, and maybe it will get sorted. But then when you fill in the sellers property information form as part of the conveyancing, you will have to declare that you have made the complaint. This will itself probably hit the saleability of your house considerably. It's horrible, and it's not fair, but that's how it seems to be.

From what you are saying your neighbour is not nasty, just a PITA. Would it work if you offered to get it cleaned up? Spending a few hundreds versus maybe losing considerable thousands?

I'm not sure that you will need to declare it. Councils can't just release that sort of information to third parties. Data protection & all that.

When I complained to the council about someone, my identity was not revealed to that person. Even though he knew very well who it was, he certainly couldn't prove it.

aadil.arif

Get your council involved and all should be fine!

g_attrill

20400keith wrote: »

I'd suggest you talk with her. Tell her the problem (sometimes we don't fully realise what we're doing and she might be mortified to know the impact of her behaviour on your sale) and ask whether you could help her sort it.

I would say this is the way to go. The council won't do anything until it is a serious problem, and even then it will take months.

OP: How have you approached her before, and might it have appeared confrontational? This might not work if she has a hoarder tendency or hiding from problems, but offering money to keep it tidy at least until you sell might be worth considering!

BigAunty

Davesnave wrote: »

I'm not sure that you will need to declare it. Councils can't just release that sort of information to third parties. Data protection & all that.

When I complained to the council about someone, my identity was not revealed to that person. Even though he knew very well who it was, he certainly couldn't prove it.

I think the previous poster was making a point that during the conveyancing process, the seller has to divulge if there have been any disputes with neighbours on the legal docs. The council may well keep the complainant's details confidential but then they must notify a prospective buyer of the property about this dispute which can ruin a sale.

snow_ball

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

For anyone worried about complaining to the Council in case it might create any problems when selling the house, then Councils have their own websites and there should be a webpage on there for reporting problems in the area.

Mine certainly has such a page and you just scroll down it to whichever heading is applicable, eg "uncollected rubbish", "flytipping", "graffiti" and then fill in details of the incident. The form will ask for your contact details, but gives an option for clicking on "anonymous".

I've just taken a leaf out of the book of this thread and scrolled down that form myself about a similar person in the neighbourhood (ie keeping all sorts of rubbish in their garden) and reported them again for it.

I've done this too, neighbour was stacking old furniture in her back garden and after a few months it was clear it was being left to rot.

Logged it through the council website, she received a letter (I know cos I heard her complaining about it on the phone to someone - thin walls ) but within weeks she'd arranged to get it all cleared.

I don't believe this constitutes a dispute and so will not have to be declared when we come to sell.

snow_ball

Just been reading in to this a bit more and it does appear that an online report to the council would need to be declared in the Sellers Property Information Form. B*gger. Fingers crossed they have moved out before we need to sell!