First House undisclosed neighbour dispute advice.

Meganw01

Hi, 
Me and my boyfriend have just purchased our first property. 
Everything went fine and we moved in a week ago to find out that the property next door to us through the wall is a children's unit for young adults with challenging behaviour whom have been through the system, or either been young offenders. The house is used as a stepping stone for them before they are found their own property to live independently.
This was not disclosed to us, however on browsing through the Facebook community page it has came to light that there has been multiple issues with the property involving the police and numerous anti social behaviour reports. The local council MP has been involved and a panel meeting with the chairman of the children's unit. 
We are devastated at this being our first property and this has totally took away any happiness of it. 
So far there has been a bit of an issue with noise but nothing major however I know that different people will be living in this property every few months/year.  
I have spoke to my solicitor who said this is a grey area, can anyone give any advice on what we can do or any rights we have?

user1977

Meganw01 said:

I have spoke to my solicitor who said this is a grey area, can anyone give any advice on what we can do or any rights we have?

Presumably you've got some idea from what your solicitor has told you?

Your vendor only had to disclose any disputes they've had or matters which they're aware of likely to lead to a dispute. And arguably they might not have cared about the noise - so unless you know they had actually complained in some way...

tacpot12

I don't think you have any rights other than to the quiet enjoyment of your property. The time to have made this discovery was before making an offer on the property.

Your best option might be to sell asap, but you will probably incur a loss on the value of the property. With house prices going up, a landlord might buy it for about the same price as you paid for it, but you can expect them to ask why you are selling so soon after buying it, and they will drive the price down if they detect that you are desperate to sell.  

The alternative is to work with the unit's management and residents to make the best of it. Installing some soundproofing could make a big difference to your ability to enjoy your home.

If the unit is aimed at helping residents move into properties of their own, then the sooner the residents learn what  normal people will put up with and what they won't, the sooner they will be able to occupy a property of their own. You could be a vital part of socialising them in this way - if you can take the strain.  

Sorry.

SpiderLegs

it isn’t clear from your post but can you explain what the specific dispute you are talking about is?

Chandler85

If there hasn't yet been an issue (except the little bit of noise) then what's the problem...

The Facebook police, as just that, two police cars go somewhere and there has been a murder...  A police serial (or riot van) going to a house for a COVID isolation check makes regional news (though the standard of the regional papers is appalling)!  The fact there was one copper in it and it wasn't a "riot van" is irrelevant 

If they don't case you any issues then maybe they didn't cause the other neighbours problems, so there would be no dispute.  Also if the residents only stay for short periods of time, then that also applies to any of the "bad" ones.  Better then being stuck next to someone who also owns the house and won't be moving anytime soon!

NameUnavailable

As long as the residents aren't causing you any problems it shouldn't matter - there was a thread on here recently from someone else who was asking what they could do about the house next to them that had been sold and they found that the new owners are extending it and converting it into a HMO for rehabilitating drug users.

You never know who your neighbours are going to be, wherever you buy.

Greymug

Meganw01 said:

 can anyone give any advice on what we can do or any rights we have?

The only advice is to speak to your solicitor, which you have already done. Therefore, just follow his lead.

lookstraightahead

As you say, it's a stepping stone back into the community, and they're part of that community.

Not sure what you want to happen?

pinkshoes

If the previous owner themselves didn't make any complaints then there is no comeback. General complaints or from other houses would not have to be listed. Perhaps the previous owners were ok with their neighbours?

It is up to you when purchasing to suss out the neighbours and do your homework. Did you knock on any doors to find out what people thought of the area? Google the area??

You would need to prove that the previous owner of the house themselves brought a dispute against the house next door.

Brackenfield

We live next to a private care home for teens with trauma in their lives.....

99.9% of the time it's pretty quiet and  occasionally we get police cars, ambulances and the fire brigade due to self-harming, abuse to staff, cars being smashed up, the teen doing a disappearing act etc.  

Fortunately it seems to stay on their property and not spill over and you can see these kids need support and are clearly abused/traumatised.  You might find they don't impact on you too much.

MysteryMe

You can and do get anti social behaviour from all sections of society, the best neighbours are the ones in cemeteries in that respect. 

Please try not to think your happiness in this house is ruined, don't pre judge. It could well be that the previous issues have been addressed.