Selling house with HMO under construction next door

jwilf

So our elderly neighbour passed away and the house has been bought by a company which is turning it into a 6-unit HMO for homeless people. We have decided to move as we have a 2yo and we are worried about noise and disturbance.

House has been on the market for about a month but no offers yet. The work on the HMO next door is well under way with an extension and loft conversion in progress. Also the builders are using the garden as a dumping ground so it's all a bit messy. The wall of the extension is not yet rendered and looks a bit unsightly. The builders will shortly be rendering it (weather permitting) and replacing the whole fence between our garden and theirs with a new full-height one - currently it's just a low picket fence.

Question is, do you think viewers are being put off by the building work? In theory it shouldn't put anyone off as building work is by nature only temporary. Or are they put off by the fact that it's an HMO? The estate agents have already asked us if we want to drop the asking price, so far I've said no. Here are some pictures:



So, would this put you off as a buyer? Are we more likely to get an offer when the work is finished?

confusedpete

Building work - no
HMO for homeless people - yes
Am I a nimby? Yes

comeandgo

Same as above, building work will stop, HMO as next door neighbour, never, never, never.

musehead

I'd be put off by the HMO. I've been searching for a terraced house in London recently and I've been generally avoiding ones that have a next door house converted into flats. I don't want to have someone's living room next to my bedroom.

kasqueak

Building work wouldn’t necessarily put me off viewing but it doesn’t give a great first impression when people want to picture themselves living there. 

But knowing it would be a HMO would put me off for sure. If your house is a family house then generally families will be looking to buy it - you say you have a child and want to move so someone else with children probably won’t want to move in. 

Worth having a word with the developer who bought your neighbours house to see if they want to buy your one as well and also turn it into a HMO? 

okigen

I wouldn't mind HMO in general but the fact that it's HMO with homeless tenants will ring an alarm.

Gavin83

It’s extremely harsh for you but it’s likely to drastically reduce the value of your house. For the same reason you don’t want to live there others won’t want to live there either.

For me it would be a dealbreaker. Sorry.

How much the building work would put me off would depend on how extensive it was. I wouldn’t want to be moving in with that building work still taking place so if it was short term I’d overlook it.

I agree with one of the other posters, your best bet is likely asking the company if they want to buy it.

eddddy

jwilf said:

So our elderly neighbour passed away and the house has been bought by a company which is turning it into a 6-unit HMO for homeless people.

So does that mean that your house has development potential as well?  Potentially as a 6 unit HMO, or maybe 3 one-bed flats etc.

It might be more valuable as a property with development opportunity, than as a family house.


Maybe talk to a few EAs with experience of selling development property, or you could even ask your council for pre-application planning advice.

elsien

I’d agree it’s the HMO that’s an issue. I live on a street where there’s a fair few HMOs and because it’s generally a more transient population anyway, people tend to take less care of the place/garden/area. Even if there’s no noise nuisance or antisocial behaviour, it does still make a difference. 

pinkshoes

You have said yourself you are moving because you are worried about noise and disturbance from an HMO for homeless people... 

The building work wouldn't bother me in the slightest but I would not want to live next door to a 6 bed HMO for homeless people unless it had a live-in warden.

Are we talking a permanent residence for 6 people or is it a temporary place so different people every night? If the latter, it would be a no for me, as these places are known for drugs and alcohol issues... 

I think I would be finding out a lot more about the development as it will potentially put off a lot of buyers. 

Marvel1

You are moving due to HMO, so yes.

No I wouldn't want to be next door to HMO.