House purchase, Just been informed a “notorious” murder took place.

Tiglet2

It's hard to believe that the Estate Agent did not know about this.  
The Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents state the following:

Published Material and Information about a Property
7i   You must by law comply with the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (or the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 where applicable). The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 require you to disclose any information of which you are aware or should be aware of in relation to the property in a clear, intelligible and timely fashion and to take all reasonable steps to ensure that all statements that you make about a property, whether oral, pictorial or written, are accurate and are not misleading. All material information (*) must be disclosed and there must be no material omissions which may impact on the average consumer’s (*) transactional decision (*). Where information is given to consumers and/or their representatives, it must be accurate and not misleading.

AdrianC

amyr said:

Dark tourism is quite big business, and if it is as notorious as you say, you may well end up in a similar situation. 

There's an old school just been bought precisely for this purpose...
https://yourherefordshire.co.uk/all/featured-articles/things-to-do-this-former-boarding-school-in-herefordshire-is-now-available-for-ghost-hunts-are-you-brave-enough/

Mojisola

AdrianC said:

Adsta said:

That said I think the MSE guide says you should ask when viewing if there were any murders in the house. Not sure if EA has to declare unless asked? 

Just murders?

When I sold Dad's house I was asked whether anyone had died in the house - it was among the first gathering of info about the house.

user1977

Tiglet2 said:

It's hard to believe that the Estate Agent did not know about this.  

Is it? We don't know why the OP's solicitor knows about it, but an infamous murder doesn't necessarily mean the exact address is going to be well-known. I know vaguely which streets or neighbourhoods some crimes have taken place in, but couldn't point out the particular houses. And if the OP didn't know because they're not local, perhaps the EA isn't local either.

moneysavinghero

OP said the house was notorious locally. EA's meet a lot of people and know a lot about the areas in which they sell properties. Would be hard to imagine that they were not aware of it.

user1977

moneysavinghero said:

OP said the house was notorious locally. EA's meet a lot of people and know a lot about the areas in which they sell properties. Would be hard to imagine that they were not aware of it.

But not so notorious that the OP found out about it in their own research about the area, or that the information has cropped up other than when mentioned by their solicitor. Onus would be on the OP to show that the EA did in fact know about it.

bouicca21

Surely the best thing to do is to have a super spooky Halloween party.

im pretty sure the previous owner of my flat died here. I know the previous owner of next door flat did.  I know that a neighbouring block of flats is built on the site of a murder house.  Very few people remember the incidents; no one thinks twice about them.

Jude57

The house I grew up in (great grandparents were the first occupiers when it was newly built in 1872) was demolished some years ago. I did a search online to see if there were any old photos and found out that a horrific child murder had taken place next door in about 1908. I never had a clue about it until that moment, even though it was a small town where everyone knew everyone. No ghosts or dark tourism but I think that's probably true of most murder sites, the locals just want to forget it happened.

Skiddaw1

I think it's a good call to go with whatever your son's reaction is OP.

Our previous house backed onto a large (and to my mind, very beautiful) Victorian cemetery. It certainly didn't bother us but I understand some people won't entertain living within shouting distance of a graveyard. I don't think a murder house would worry me, but it would depend on the circumstances.

swingaloo2

I wouldnt be bothered by it at all but then again I love grisly halloween type stuff and wierd houses. 
Although I do remember having a neighbour who moved across town and shortly afterwards hearing that her husband hung himself at the top of the stairs.
I was looking to move and arranged a viewing not knowing it was her house that was for sale. She answered the door and straight away my eye was drawn to the top of the stairs. It was a fantastic house full of period features and I would have jumped at it but I just knew that every time I got up in the night to go to the loo I would imagine him hanging there so did not put an offer in.