Do we have to tell buyers about nightmare neighbour?

vet8

I have posted twice on here about the nutter who lives in the flat below us who has started pounding on the ceiling at all hours of the day and night. We have tried everything to deal with it: being nice; talking to him (impossible); banging back; sending a note asking him to stop; ignoring it; whatever we do just seems to make things worse. We are very considerate, quiet people and we cannot understand why this maniac is doing this, I assume he has mental health issues.

Anyway, it is now so bad we have decided we have to move, but no-one at all will buy a flat if they know the lunatic downstairs will keep thumping all night long. How much do we have to tell prospective buyers? We have not made an official complaint yet as I feel that if we do we have to disclose all the details to buyers.

Basically we are stuffed. We cannot live in the flat and if we cannot sell it we are effectively homeless as all our money is tied up in it.

yoyoegg

Yep, as soon as you involve bizzies, Council, social services it should be disclosed.

moreofthegoodstuff

I am buying a house at the moment and would be horrified if we were to move in and find out the reason the vendors moved out was because of the neighbours, yet they had not mentioned it.

You need to go through the options that have been given in the previous posts...Why not try calling the police as others suggested? (Explaining to them that you think he is ill)

Dumbe

I would disagree with calling the police..

At the moment If I understand correctly you have not made any official complaint e.g to police or council etc ..simply asked directly via verbal communication and a note.

If you involve the police you will have to disclose the issue if you sell (. Legally) but as long as you have made no official complaint then legally I don't believe you have to disclose.

Therefore my understanding is legally you can sell and not disclose , as things stand .. Just make sure you time the viewings when he isn't arround to bang on the ceiling !( whether you feel that is a moral thing to do is totally different.

ognum

To OP you have not made any official complaints so you have nothing to disclose IMO.

If you do make this official then you are right no one will buy the property.

To moreofthegoodstuff what would you do if you were trying to sell this flat? many houses have issues that unless absolutely the right question is asked the issue will be passed over.

Unless in the solicitors questions you are asked does your neighbour thump on the ceiling then you can say you have no dispute, if they ask that directly then you need to disclose it.

Lou67

I agree that if nothing has been reported to anyone - the cops or the council, then you're not under any obligation to disclose ... I'm not gonna lie: I wouldn't, if I was desperate to sell. It may well be that the neighbour underneath may be OK with the new people, or they may go and punch him in the face if he p1sses them off. But once you sell and someone else is the owner; it's no longer your problem.

gravitytolls

You need to be very careful with regard to keeping this quiet (no pun intended), for it is possible that your buyer could try to sue for such non disclosure. Even if you've not made an official complaint, supporting statements from other neighbours confirming the existence of issues may be enough for a civil court to find in their favour.

It is of course, completely unethical, and though I would also feel desperate in your situation, to willfully allow others to unwittingly enter that situation is inexcusable.

motherofstudents

If you have not contacted any of the authorities you should not have to mention the problem with the neighbours. It is not a nice thing to do but on the other hand things might be different with a new neighbour. If the man downstairs starts banging a new neighbour may go down and frighten him ?

It's a bit of a dilemma. It feels wrong to me to sell to someone when you know there is a problem. We bought a house once where the next door neighbour was the reason our vendors left. We put up with it for 3 years then sold. Apparently the people who bought from us are fine with the neighbours, they knew how to deal with them.

So, you either sell up and say nothing or you take steps to try to resolve the problem. If you get help from the authorities and the neighbour either moves or keeps quiet then that would be the best outcome if you are happy with the flat. If you involve police, council etc and nothing improves then you are stuck with either staying or renting it out. It's a difficult one.

JQ.

One solution would be to sell the flat via auction. However, you'd definitely take a hit on the price.

kelpie35

How will you explain the thumping noise to a prospective buyer if this is happening 24/7?

Sponge

Maybe he won't behave the same way for new owners?