Selling house, row with neighbours...

mermaid85

I'm wondering (a little too late) how much has to be disclosed when selling. We have personal issues with the neighbours, they've complained about our dog's barking (we've done our best to reduce this, and spoken to local council/rspca/dogs trust and dog warden who have all said it isn't excessive).

We have had various issues with them not respecting our privacy and boundaries, which either I have tried to nip in the bud at the time, or have ignored to try to maintain the peace as best as possible.

This all came to a head over the weekend, with them busily screwing stuff into our fence. I have tried to ignore it, again, however sitting on it has unfortunately just exacerbated the problem in my head. I have rather stupidly then decided to remove their washing line (empty!) from my fence post. Funnily enough this has resulted in them coming round screaming the odds first thing this morning.

Our house is on the market - not because of the neighbours! But I am now concerned that my temper may have affected our sale... do things like this have to be disclosed? Or is it just things relating to the property?

I'm feeling very disappointed in myself for not just holding tight for a bit longer!

tykesi

You removed the washing line they had attached to your fence - how is that not "related to the property"?

Sounds like this is all something to declare at the time of sale.

TBagpuss

Yes, you will have to dclare it - but not until you complete the Property Information forms when you have an offer.

So you best bet is to try to mend the relationship now. That way, by the time you accept an offer, you will (hopefully) be in a position to say something like "There was an issue with a neighbour relating to complaints about our dog, and to [whatever the other issues were] but this has now been resolved"

Would it be possible for you to go round to theirs, apologise for having taken their clothes line down and ask, politely, that they speak to you first before attaching stuff to your property?

theEnd

I thought you only had to disclose official stuff? In this case, sounds like just the dog, which is irrelevant to the buyer.

mermaid85

Fair enough... I was seeing it as being more related to their property.
Does their complaint about the dog have to be declared? I mean there have been various little run ins - surely not every little thing is relevant? Things like them throwing cuttings over our fence - I asked them to stop, and that was that.

MortgageMamma

I think you need to resolve things for your own peace of mind more than anything. it was wrong of them to screw things into your fence, do they rent their property? if so they may not understand who owns which fence etc


Go and talk to them when you are feeling calm, don't be afraid to apologise both parties are wrong in some ways - the fact is in life nobody knows what ticks another person off until its done and if you let things simmer to boiling point it makes it harder to repair the relationship damage

Glover1862

Be careful taking advice here, I'd speak to your solicitor, for what it's worth my understanding is that the complaint needs to be official, Ie reported to the police or council, minor dispute does not need to be declared.

mermaid85

Thanks TBagpuss... In an ideal world, that is exactly what I would do. However in the past (like when I received the letter about the dog) I have tried to speak to them the rectify the problem, and pretty much been told to f*** off.
I may have to wait a week and get my OH to speak to them... they are slightly more tolerant of him (it has always been me who has dealt with any problems)

mermaid85

MortgageMamma wrote: »

I think you need to resolve things for your own peace of mind more than anything. it was wrong of them to screw things into your fence, do they rent their property? if so they may not understand who owns which fence etc


Go and talk to them when you are feeling calm, don't be afraid to apologise both parties are wrong in some ways - the fact is in life nobody knows what ticks another person off until its done and if you let things simmer to boiling point it makes it harder to repair the relationship damage

Yes they do rent... she paused a little this morning when I said the fence was ours. But then switched to screaming insults. I did mention last weekend that the fence was ours - a kickboard needed repairing, and I mentioned it to him, I was about to ask if I could go round to fix it (it was inaccessible from my side) but he just spoke straight over me and said he was fixing it that day. I said thanks, and that I didn't assume he would as it's our fence. I guess he decided to ignore me!

missbiggles1

A buyer won't be concerned with the problems your neighbour has had with you - you're going.

TBagpuss

The Questions on the form are:

Do you know of any disputes or anything which might lead to a dispute about this or any neighbouring property?

Have you received any complaints about anything you have, or have not,done as owner?

and

Have you made any such complaints to any neighbour about what the neighbour has or has not done?

It sems to me that OP would have to answer 'yes' to the 2nd and third question, at least.

However, if you are able to, you want the answer to be (in effect) "yes, but it has been resolved"