Moved house because of neighbours?

knightstyle

Like others we are moving after 14 years because so many houses round us are now rented and renters make bad neighbours.
This was a lovely small new estate in 2006 when we bought most houses were owner occupied and there was a great community spirit. But gradually people moved away and either they let or sold to companies who let and the whole estate has gone downhill. So much so that we now cannot sell unless we take a hit!  In fact we bought for £142 and have just accepted an offer for £125 whilst most houses have gone up we have to take a hit.
Just so fed up with renters bad behaviour and there is nothing we can do about it, right now there is a group on the small green burning a chair and having a party.  Just hope our buyer does not pull out!

Greymug

Yeah now I would never ever consider anything other than a detached house.

When I was looking for a house, I'd pay so much attention to the neighbourhood...maybe just as much attention as I'd pay to the property itself. 

Like, what cars are parked in the neighbours' driveways? How do the neighbours' gardens look...messy or well looked after? Do the people I see walk about look chavvy or respectable?

For one particular house we were really interested in, I went round in the neighbourhood a few times on my bike to check it out at different times and days. 

A bit paranoid maybe, but I'd rather be safe than sorry  

kasqueak

We moved this year from our flat we’d been in for nearly 15yrs due to the neighbours gradually becoming worse over the years. When we moved in everyone was so lovely and a real community feel. Over the years as people moved out the new people were just inconsiderate, rude, loud and generally brought the block down. Final straw was last year when some council tenants moved in who thought it was ok to blast drum and bass music day and night, barking dogs, screaming kids, screaming adult, police there multiple times. It was a nightmare. Working at home during lockdown was hell. But we moved recently and are very happy in our new home. 

Neighbours really can make life a misery. I was so stressed when we moved hoping the new neighbours would be nice and fingers crossed so far everyone very welcoming. 

hannah021

im really worried, i live in a converted home where everyone had moved out, and are trying to sell or rent their place. The neighbours i had the first time would talk loud at 3am as they arrive from work... they moved out, then the next neighbour came, even worse playing games all night... but at least he slept in the living room, so where i sleep, the room beneath is unoccupied. Now he moved out. The good neighbour next to me (owner) moved to Thailand, he was lovely, but allowed his friends to stay, they smoked weed all day, and the smell in my property would make me cry. Now all 4 properties are on the market, and i'm not looking forward

MalMonroe

knightstyle said:

Like others we are moving after 14 years because so many houses round us are now rented and renters make bad neighbours.
This was a lovely small new estate in 2006 when we bought most houses were owner occupied and there was a great community spirit. But gradually people moved away and either they let or sold to companies who let and the whole estate has gone downhill. So much so that we now cannot sell unless we take a hit!  In fact we bought for £142 and have just accepted an offer for £125 whilst most houses have gone up we have to take a hit.
Just so fed up with renters bad behaviour and there is nothing we can do about it, right now there is a group on the small green burning a chair and having a party.  Just hope our buyer does not pull out!

I'm really sad to hear you say that about renters because I am one. Granted, I'm a council renter but a renter nevertheless. I was an owner once but the neighbours I had in that owned property were from hell. And they were owners, not renters. My relationship failed and I ended up in a council property but the neighbours here are lovely. So different to the owner-neighbours I had before. My neighbours now are, in the main, council renters and a lovelier bunch you couldn't wish to meet. There are only fourteen properties on our little cul de sac and mine backs on to lovely woodland, we are in a rural setting.

But if you have trouble with your neighbours you are supposed to report such things to prospective purchasers. You could have tried reporting all those renters to their landlords, or the council. They sound like savages. Are they all really the same?

mattyprice4004

Greymug said:

Yeah now I would never ever  consider anything other than a detached house.

When I was looking for a house, I'd pay so much attention to the neighbourhood...maybe just as much attention as I'd pay to the property itself. 

Like, what cars are parked in the neighbours' driveways? How do the neighbours' gardens look...messy or well looked after? Do the people I see walk about look chavvy or respectable?

For one particular house we were really interested in, I went round in the neighbourhood a few times on my bike to check it out at different times and days. 

A bit paranoid maybe, but I'd rather be safe than sorry  

That doesn’t always work though, a chap notorious on my road has a nice car collection and immaculate garden. 

On the other hand, I have two muddy older cars, a half finished garden but a cuppa and cake ready for anyone who fancies a chat (lockdown permitting) 

olgadapolga

knightstyle said:

Like others we are moving after 14 years because so many houses round us are now rented and renters make bad neighbours.

Bit of a sweeping generalisation there. We rented a house for eight years and "behaved" ourselves (my children were aged 10, 6 and 5 when we moved in and I had a baby a year after we'd moved in) the whole time. Our attached neighbour was really upset when we left as she didn't want us to go.

knightstyle

So we had fireworks again at 3AM!  When we bought this was a lovely new build estate, 3 and 4 bed houses and everyone friendly working or retired. Now in the immediate vicinity we have just 8 owner occupiers, the rest are rented and most of the renters do not work, have big cars or pickups which they park all over the place. plus the small grass area which children used to play on is now a mud patch with old fridges, furniture and other rubbish stacked up, people gather there to drink and do stuff all day.  Just need to get out, our buyer already has a house so will probably rent out.  No-one in their right mind would buy here to live here so that is why we are loosing money on the 2006 purchase price.
Such a shame it was a lovely estate when we bought.

newsgroupmonkey_

knightstyle said:

Like others we are moving after 14 years because so many houses round us are now rented and renters make bad neighbours.

That's a bit generalised though isn't it?

We ended up renting a family home due to circumstances (we were looking to buy, but couldn't afford a family home and suddenly had 2 children come to live with us full-time)

I would like to think we were near perfect neighbours - we looked after both direct neighbours houses when they were away. We desperately wanted a dog but of course couldn't, but looked after one neighbours dog regularly until it passed away. In fact, they were so sad when we moved out, they sent us a picture and a lovely letter.
The other neighbours had a child of a similar age to one of ours. They were often in each others houses and we shared lifts etc.

We also helped when they needed work doing to party walls, fences and so on. I even went as far as replacing one of their fence panels which blew down during a storm when they were on holiday and wouldn't have dreamed of asking them to cover the cost - it was a neighbourly thing to do!

In fact, I don't think we were treated any more differently than if we'd owned the place.

When I was a student, I'll admit we were probably the "horrible neighbours", but then again, our neighbours were mostly students and used to come to our parties anyway. Since growing up, I've never had bad neighbours either when renting or buying. Perhaps I've been lucky or bought in an area where bad neighbours aren't really interested.

We're well aware that things could turn ugly very quickly where we've now bought though. As it stands, our semi-detached-neighbour is in the last of what was an LA group of semis. He's great and is currently modernising his house. But he's also not a spring chicken and we're aware that if and when he moves on (or passes on), he could be replaced with the neighbours from hell, being as it's a 3 bed. We're hoping that because we're in a village, we might get some kind of respite.

Misslayed

We have the opposite situation. Our next door neighbours (we're both in 3 bed semi's but not attached to each other) have a growing family, so they put their house on the market in January, hoping to buy a new build 5 bed. Then lockdown came, and the whole street came together. We got to know neighbours we had only nodded at, made new friends, supported each other, formed groups on Facebook and WhatsApp, dressed up for the Thursday clap, shared books, puzzles, baking etc. So the neighbours decided they didn't want to leave us, took their house off the market and started planning an extension. They're a lovely family, so glad they're not going.