Crazy Neighborhood

FreshFruit

I've lived in this place for a couple months now, it's a closed of street with terraced houses leading to another small road of bungalows, working class but looks nice enough...

There are people who set fires regularly, blast their music on the street and have gangs of people over that congregate on the road. 

Every other night, there's a group of 3-6 men that must all live around here, but they often shout/fight/laugh at 2-4am for everyone to hear.

There's a family who's mother is constantly yelling at her kids on the street, for seemingly no reason. 

There are two dogs very close by, but I can't tell exactly which house they're from, but one loves to bark all night and the other loves to bark in the early morning, I can hear barking now at 11:30pm going on basically all day :@! 

I don't understand how people sleep and go to work with all these scumbags around, I am putting a lot of money into the house to improve it but now I'm thinking I'll just sell the place. 

MalMonroe

No, don't put any money into the house and move as soon as you can. I've lived in an area like that before and the neighbours won't change. I'd also want to complain to the people who sold me the property, because they're supposed to disclose any problems like that before you buy.

In the meantime, I'd complain to the police about the noisy men in the middle of the night. And I'd complain about the noisy mother and barking dogs too, to the council maybe?

FreshFruit

Thanks MalMonroe, I have thought about complaining, I wouldn't do it directly to them as I'd probably become a target. 

& I believe you when you say the neighborhood is unlikely to change, it just boggles my mind, how do people think it's acceptable to let your dog bark all night or to be out on the street shouting at 4am. 
Those are just a few of my grievances, I don't think there's a fix so I posted this as a vent haha

shaun_from_Africa

MalMonroe said:

No, don't put any money into the house and move as soon as you can. I've lived in an area like that before and the neighbours won't change. I'd also want to complain to the people who sold me the property, because they're supposed to disclose any problems like that before you buy.

In the meantime, I'd complain to the police about the noisy men in the middle of the night. And I'd complain about the noisy mother and barking dogs too, to the council maybe?

If they are considering selling up and moving, complaining to the council about the neighbours is one of the worst things to do.
This means that they will have to disclose the problems when filling out the property information paperwork and declaring such a problem may well make it far harder, if not impossible to sell.

George_Michael

FreshFruit said:

I believe you when you say the neighborhood is unlikely to change, 

Going on personal experience, I think that it may change but this change will be for the worse and not for the better so if there is any possibility of your moving out, I would say the sooner the better.

Back in 2000, I bought a bungalow if a fairly quiet area of a town in the SE but within a few years, the local yobs had decided that the area about 1/2 mile away was a good area to hang about in.
At first it wasn't too bad, just groups of people hanging around making lots of noise but it didn't take long for graffiti to start followed shortly by damage to cars and houses. I thought that it would get worse before it got better and as I was able to move at short notice, this is exactly what I did.
The area now suffers from constant trouble between the local "gangs" (schoolboy gangs rather than the types pf gangs found in parts of the USA and elsewhere) but they still cause regular trouble and damage and the police seem powerless to do anything about it. 

gilett

MalMonroe said:

No, don't put any money into the house and move as soon as you can. I've lived in an area like that before and the neighbours won't change. I'd also want to complain to the people who sold me the property, because they're supposed to disclose any problems like that before you buy.

In the meantime, I'd complain to the police about the noisy men in the middle of the night. And I'd complain about the noisy mother and barking dogs too, to the council maybe?

Not quite...

Previous owners are only meant to disclose issues like that if they themselves had made complaints/were in disputes. If they kept out of it & didn't complain then they have no obligation to disclose anything when selling.

And if the OP does as you suggest and starts complaining to the authorities about the neighbours, they will then have to disclose this if they want to sell.

Barny1979

Don't plow money into the house, throwing good money after bad and won't get a return on it, start looking at options in your price range and scouting areas out.

mattyprice4004

Sounds like a fairly typical lower working-class street in my experience - I've rented in a good few of them over the years, and while the majority of people are lovely the small minority always ruin it. 

In the end I had to sell a lot of what I own to save up for a house in a 'nicer' area, and I'm now among retirees and other 'quiet' types and away from the ASBO crowd. 
It's not everyone's cup of tea (I don't feel I could own a loud car / sit in the garden having a party / have a terribly kept lawn), but overall it's worth the effort for the peace and quiet. 

beeg0d

gilett said:

MalMonroe said:

No, don't put any money into the house and move as soon as you can. I've lived in an area like that before and the neighbours won't change. I'd also want to complain to the people who sold me the property, because they're supposed to disclose any problems like that before you buy.

In the meantime, I'd complain to the police about the noisy men in the middle of the night. And I'd complain about the noisy mother and barking dogs too, to the council maybe?

Not quite...

Previous owners are only meant to disclose issues like that if they themselves had made complaints/were in disputes. If they kept out of it & didn't complain then they have no obligation to disclose anything when selling.

And if the OP does as you suggest and starts complaining to the authorities about the neighbours, they will then have to disclose this if they want to sell.

actually thats a common mistake. technically the OP is already in a position where he needs to disclose. Question 22 of the SPIF

[quote]Is the seller aware of [b]anything[/b] which might lead to a dispute about the propety [b]or a propety nearby[/b][/quote]

*my emphsis