Cannot sell house due to Hoarder next door

Davesnave

shot_down_in_flames wrote: »

Thank you Cheryl - its all good advice! in fact I am virtually resigned to renting out for a while its just the property has been renovated to such high spec I dont want it trashing so if I do get nowhere with the council or SS it will have to be rented but thro an agent to minimise making a second 'mistake'..

What makes you think appointing an agent will ensure you have a trouble-free let? Some are good and some are the most useless idiots I've ever clapped eyes on, but it's not easy to judge without first-hand experience. And even the best LAs get rogue tenants occasionally.

Regardless of how you rent it, you must know as much as possible about being a landlord yourself, which means research, not trusting to luck and paying someone else to make promises they may not be able to keep.

shot_down_in_flames

Davesnave wrote: »

What makes you think appointing an agent will ensure you have a trouble-free let? Some are good and some are the most useless idiots I've ever clapped eyes on, but it's not easy to judge without first-hand experience. And even the best LAs get rogue tenants occasionally.

Regardless of how you rent it, you must know as much as possible about being a landlord yourself, which means research, not trusting to luck and paying someone else to make promises they may not be able to keep.

**********************
I actually said minimise the risk!
Thank you for your helpful comments thereafter.
I have done research already and can see that the landlords path is not always an easy one and thats partly why i dont want to follow that path.At end of day - I can't sit on an empty house which is costing me money each month as in council tax and buildings insurance and utility standing charges - oh and not forgetting the pittance I could receive in interest on isas and bonds had I not made 'the mistake' of buying in the first place.
Yes I went in naively, yes it was a case of inexperience, yes Ive learnt a lot from this experience, yes I will sell at a loss no doubt.. However - to those who seem determined to rub that in (and I dont mean you) the point of the post was to obtain constructive advice regarding how to get the rubbish problem sorted legally! Thankfully some of the posts have given just that!

jackyann

I would certainly consider informing Social Services. It is perfectly possible that the neighbour's mental health has deteriorated rapidly; and in close couples, there may be a similar deterioration in her husband, or he may be trying to mollify her & contain the situation.


However, nothing is going to happen as quickly as you would like it to. Can I suggest something a bit out of left field?
Some mortgage providers will allow a "holiday" to someone who has a previously good record with them, and has encountered a temporary set-back. If they were willing, you may just then have some time for things to get sorted out.

Good luck

gycraig_2

Considering what it's worth to you, I'd hire a skip and clean it myself before a viewing if it's not sinister they'd appreciate the help.

shot_down_in_flames

jackyann wrote: »

I would certainly consider informing Social Services. It is perfectly possible that the neighbour's mental health has deteriorated rapidly; and in close couples, there may be a similar deterioration in her husband, or he may be trying to mollify her & contain the situation.


However, nothing is going to happen as quickly as you would like it to. Can I suggest something a bit out of left field?
Some mortgage providers will allow a "holiday" to someone who has a previously good record with them, and has encountered a temporary set-back. If they were willing, you may just then have some time for things to get sorted out.

Good luck

******************************88
Thanks jackyann
Th SS thing may be where I get furthest as i actually feel for these neighbours - due to age and definate mental instability - its just that it is having a massivly financial impact on me which i do believe is unfair!
The Husband is the one i speak to as Mrs is rarely seen! he has admitted some memory problems as in not remembering what his wife said to him 5 mins earlier and also says she has the beginnings of physical problems as in shaking - the frustration at present is that they agreed to have the skip which still stands there over a week now to clear the outside rubbish and he started to do that initially then stopped with no further progress since! The unloaded bags are spilling all around the skip and beyond He now wants the skip collecting so car can be back on drive.( the car is crammed full too)
I wouldnt mind if - as agreed initially when skip was booked that my own husband would load the bags for him, he had agreed to that, but when my husband arrived they both firmly said - no help needed.
Re mortgage - there is no mortgage - I literally invested my inheritance from my late Mother into this nightmare, because I am now unemployed and within 3 years of retirement its so much more difficult to get employment.
So at present i am paying for a white elephant as well as the house I live in with next to no resolve except selling at a severe loss.

shot_down_in_flames

gycraig wrote: »

Considering what it's worth to you, I'd hire a skip and clean it myself before a viewing if it's not sinister they'd appreciate the help.

Id love to clean it / clear it myself but there is no way they are letting us in to do that!( tho hubby has seen it)
The house is full of clothing up to the ceiling, handbags, shoes, ornaments food! I still on occasion when checking my property see them arriving back from supermarket with masses of food eg cornflakes 3 x 750g boxes, loo rolls x 3 pks of 16 rolls, veg oil 3 x 3ltr bottles, coca cola x 6 bottles - this takes the biscuit - all this stuff goes straight into the tiny crevices left available between totally full bin bags in THE GARAGE!
we are not talking family here its an elderly couple!
Im sorry but the TV programme Hoarder next door and its viewers have seen nothing yet!

Davesnave

shot_down_in_flames wrote: »

**********************
I actually said minimise the risk!

I have done research already and can see that the landlords path is not always an easy one and thats partly why i dont want to follow that path. At end of day - I can't sit on an empty house which is costing me money each month as in council tax and buildings insurance and utility standing charges -!

That's all good. Minimising the risk means knowing things yourself, so that you can evaluate agents both before and after hiring them, and that's all I meant.

The last agent I rented through left their LL wide open to a big claim from me, had I wished to take a hard line. I didn't, because I knew it was a 'reluctant landlord' situation and he was as ignorant of the law as they appeared to be. He honestly believed they were doing a good job for him.

jackyann

shot_down_in_flames wrote: »

******************************88
Thanks jackyann
Th SS thing may be where I get furthest as i actually feel for these neighbours - due to age and definate mental instability - its just that it is having a massivly financial impact on me which i do believe is unfair!
The Husband is the one i speak to as Mrs is rarely seen! he has admitted some memory problems as in not remembering what his wife said to him 5 mins earlier and also says she has the beginnings of physical problems as in shaking - the frustration at present is that they agreed to have the skip which still stands there over a week now to clear the outside rubbish and he started to do that initially then stopped with no further progress since! The unloaded bags are spilling all around the skip and beyond He now wants the skip collecting so car can be back on drive.( the car is crammed full too)
I wouldnt mind if - as agreed initially when skip was booked that my own husband would load the bags for him, he had agreed to that, but when my husband arrived they both firmly said - no help needed.
Re mortgage - there is no mortgage - I literally invested my inheritance from my late Mother into this nightmare, because I am now unemployed and within 3 years of retirement its so much more difficult to get employment.
So at present i am paying for a white elephant as well as the house I live in with next to no resolve except selling at a severe loss.

In view of this I would definitely contact Social Services. If they already know the couple, emphasise sudden deterioration. I wouldn't offer any more help - in this mental state, they may see any of your actions as strange, even threatening. I would inform the social workers of your offers of help (and explain the skip!) but not, obviously your worry about the value of your house - which is not their concern (however unfair on you!)

I would work out how long you can afford to wait.
Situations like this can drag on for a long time, but once relevant parties (Social Services, Medical officer etc.) agree that someone is a danger to themselves or others - it is a formal process - things can move very quickly.

Very sad for all of you.

whitewing

Could you move into it yourself and sell your current home?

It won't solve all your problems but may help you be there to resolve the neighbour situation in the long term.

FelinePrincess

I know you have already spoken to the husband and got a commitment to tidy up which he didnt go through with, would it be worth speaking to him again? Explain you have spent your inheritance and savings on this place and the outside appearance of their property is making it difficult for you to recover the money which you badly need.

Ask him what he needs from you (and I'm not talking financially!!!) in order to change the outside appearance - as others have said, they may have reservations about having new neighbours and perhaps if you were to agree to not sell to the sort of person they are worried about they may start co-operating. I know you shouldn't have to compromise but you really need to get them to work with you and asking them what it is they want from the situation is often the best way of doing that.

Also think its important that when you speak to them you make it clear your only asking them to change the outside as if it seems to them that your asking them to get rid of their entire hoard they will run a mile.