Neighbours with sofa in front garden!

Sus59

dirty_magic wrote: »

How bizarre! Is it really a sofa or is it an actual garden furniture sofa like these?

http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/mali-rattan-effect-garden-corner-sofa-149134

I have always been puzzled about those outdoor sofas. Surely they must be a nightmare to look after? Picturing myself rushing outside to remove the cushions at the slightest hint of rain. Or leave the cushions indoors until you need to go out and sit on them which would make it look weird when not in use.

lincroft1710

Sus59 wrote: »

I have always been puzzled about those outdoor sofas. Surely they must be a nightmare to look after? Picturing myself rushing outside to remove the cushions at the slightest hint of rain. Or leave the cushions indoors until you need to go out and sit on them which would make it look weird when not in use.

Our neighbours have them, they have weatherproof covers when not in use. Which means you see the furniture covered up most of the time.

pawlala

pic or it never happened.

melanzana

As OP said s/he will have a little word.

Now leaving all that aside, I can't for the life of me think of anything more uncomfortable than sitting in the front garden in full view of everyone!

Be that as it may, some people might just like doing that. Are there sofas/chairs outside every house on the street? Just wondered if it is something that people around there do.

Anyway. I'm with the OP. Sofas in front gardens are not great really. For anyone....

DCFC79

Did you get anywhere OP ?

TheShape

melanzana wrote: »

As OP said s/he will have a little word.

Now leaving all that aside, I can't for the life of me think of anything more uncomfortable than sitting in the front garden in full view of everyone!

Be that as it may, some people might just like doing that. Are there sofas/chairs outside every house on the street? Just wondered if it is something that people around there do.

Anyway. I'm with the OP. Sofas in front gardens are not great really. For anyone....

This appears to be something that is done more often by Eastern Europeans.

(I'd like to note that my only evidence for believing the people I've seen doing this to be Eastern Europeans is by overhearing them talk. I could be well off on identifying languages but can only say they tend not to be speaking English).

There has been a big influx in Eastern Europeans living in my area and it seems far more common for them to spend time in their front gardens smoking, drinking and/or generally socialising.

The house at the corner of my girlfriend's road had a full patio and seating area set-up in the front garden. I wasn't particularly surprised as it was quite well screened from the street with trees and shrubs. Then they cut everything down so the garden is open to the street on all sides.

Matt_L

mollycat wrote: »

Congratulations!!

If this is the biggest worry you have you are doing well!

Do you seriously think anyone is not going to buy your house on a "nice estate", on the basis of a sofa outside someone's house??

If your house is correctly priced it will sell, sofa or no sofa.

Any sensible person will realise it will be gone at some point in the future.

Chill out; in the context of neighbours doing things that can **** up your life, this is small beer.

Good luck

I must be in a minority but yes, it might put me off....

NicNicP

We bought a house earlier this year that has a caravan (not for use) and two cars (unworking) in the drive along with various other bits of junk in the front and back garden. Luckily we can't see it when we're in the house but I loved the house enough for the mess not to put me off. I figure the mess might not always be there and it doesn't actually affect me and my life. Our neighbour obviously has some pride though as the white car was looking a bit green so he did wash it! ��

antilles

boltonben wrote: »

Hi

We are currently in the process of trying to sell our bungalow. The house is on a nice estate, however the neighbours (across the road) around a month a go put a 3 seater sofa near their front door! They used to have two wooden chairs there that they sat on when it was sunny, however now they have a big sofa and coffee table and it looks terrible! Is there some way to complain about this as I think it's putting people who view the house off? Surely it can't be allowed?

I totally sympathise. When I sold a previous house, the neighbours used to dump anything and everything in their garden. The back garden was particularly bad and had old tables, a rusty cooker, bags of rubbish including nappies, an old carpet, rusty microwave oven, and to put the top hat on it, a huge old rusty camper van turned up one day. Total eyesore.

When I put the house up for sale I showed people around myself and could see people's faces when they looked out of the windows and saw the rubbish and made their excuses and left.

The neighbours were renting from a housing association and I considered complaining but I suspected it might be recorded somewhere and show up in a solicitor's search so I stayed away from that route.

In the end I borrowed a friend's van, and knocked on the door, told them I was making a few runs to the tip as I was clearing out some rubbish from the loft and they let me take some of it. I managed to break up a lot of the rubbish and take it the tip which improved the situation quite a bit. It was a disgusting job moving someone else's wet and smelly rubbish but it was worth the effort.

However no sooner had I cleared the rubbish then more started to build up. At that point I gave up and realised that I was just cleaning up after people and I reduced the value of the house. In the end the house was bought by a landlord who didn't seem too bothered about any of it.

One of the the first things I check now when viewing houses is the state of the neighbour's gardens - in general I think people will assume that rubbish dumped in the garden will equal problem neighbours - whether this is right or not doesn't matter as I saw with my own eyes that it put buyers off.

I think you just have to be honest - why don't you knock and just say that a couple of potential buyers were asking about the sofa and it put them off, and would there be any chance of moving it? Either they will tell you to mind your own business (in which case the situation is no worse), or they will agree, maybe they can't afford to tip it themselves. Definitely worth a try.

Hope you get it sorted!

jimbog

mollycat wrote: »

Do you seriously think anyone is not going to buy your house on a "nice estate", on the basis of a sofa outside someone's house??

If your house is correctly priced it will sell, sofa or no sofa.

Any sensible person will realise it will be gone at some point in the future.
)

It would put me off. The 'correct prince's would be lower. It might not be gone soon and could set a trend