Declaration of a dispute

GDB2222

SavingPennies_2 said:

Browntoa said:

I would say at any point where you have approached your neighbours about noise , boundaries etc even if it was only verbal. 

Remember that an angry neighbour is most likely to say " I told the old owners " 

babyblade41 said:

I would disclose any point where a verbal cross over has happened.

I've never had a dispute - however - would you *really* disclose a "dispute" if on one occasion in many years you (for example) you asked the neighbour to turn the music down, or kids to stop kicking a ball into the garden, or to move the car from blocking their drive? To me this is not a "dispute" and I find it hard to believe that people would actually risk selling their home and disclose such a thing. I'm not a confrontational person but I imagine conversations like this happen all the time and nothing comes of it, they are hardly "disputes", just part of life and living in the vicinity of other people.

However if it's got the stage of solicitors letters, then yes I would say that is a dispute that needs declaring (even if resolved).

The explanatory notes state that past, ie resolved, complaints must also be disclosed.

 It’s worth distinguishing between complaints and requests. A request to turn the music down is not a complaint or dispute, or at least it doesn’t have to be!

youth_leader

We had to contact a solicitor because my neighbour wouldn't allow us on his land to inspect our septic tank soakaway.  I found it very difficult to word the 'dispute' and its amiable conclusion when I sold, but think I managed. The neighbour's lack of co-operation cost us thousands in emptying fees.  Interestingly, the new buyer's planning permission states he's on the mains - not sure how he's done that! 

Woolsery

youth_leader said:

We had to contact a solicitor because my neighbour wouldn't allow us on his land to inspect our septic tank soakaway.  I found it very difficult to word the 'dispute' and its amiable conclusion when I sold, but think I managed. The neighbour's lack of co-operation cost us thousands in emptying fees.  Interestingly, the new buyer's planning permission states he's on the mains - not sure how he's done that!

Didn't you just 'empty' at tried and trusted intervals? If it was a standard sort of drain field there would be nothing to see, except lusher growing grass.

newsgroupmonkey_

Blimey, I think some people's "disputes" (as someone else said, over zealous forummer) is very different to mine.

From time to time, my neighbour invites his whole family over. They've blocked my drive, but I've popped round and asked in a friendly nature to move and they've done so immediately.

Are we seriously saying that's a dispute? I mean yes, if I was being a wotsit, I could theoretically call the Police. But really, would I?

In fact, they may have a gripe with me. My dog keeps escaping our garden into theirs (I'm constantly looking for how she gets through). Is this also a dispute?

I'd like to think I'm friends with our neighbours and after we move away, we'll be keeping in touch.

Parking disputes on the other hand are not covered. So if someone from the next street insists on leaving their classic car outside your house that barely moves once a month, there's clearly nothing you can do about this. But it's not to say it's annoying.

user1977

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

From time to time, my neighbour invites his whole family over. They've blocked my drive, but I've popped round and asked in a friendly nature to move and they've done so immediately.

Are we seriously saying that's a dispute?

No, I don't think anybody here is seriously saying that.

eddddy

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

From time to time, my neighbour invites his whole family over. They've blocked my drive, but I've popped round and asked in a friendly nature to move and they've done so immediately.

Are we seriously saying that's a dispute? 

As a starting point, a 'dispute' means a disagreement or argument.  There's no disagreement or argument in what you've described. And it doesn't sound likely to become a disagreement.

Hypothetically, if your neighbour said "My deeds say I have the right to park on your drive" and you said "You don't have the right to park on my drive" - that's a disagreement (or dispute).

And if the issue is unresolved, and the neighbour is likely to continue to park your buyer's drive in future, that's probably something you should think about declaring. 

user1977

eddddy said:

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

From time to time, my neighbour invites his whole family over. They've blocked my drive, but I've popped round and asked in a friendly nature to move and they've done so immediately.

Are we seriously saying that's a dispute? 

As a starting point, a 'dispute' means a disagreement or argument.  There's no disagreement or argument in what you've described. And it doesn't sound likely to become a disagreement.

Hypothetically, if your neighbour said "My deeds say I have the right to park on your drive" and you said "You don't have the right to park on my drive" - that's a disagreement (or dispute).

And if the issue is unresolved, and the neighbour is likely to continue to park your buyer's drive in future, that's probably something you should think about declaring. 

I'm guessing "blocked my drive" means something like carelessly parking in the road rather than parking on the wrong driveway. If the former gets sorted by asking them to move, I doubt that's a "dispute", even if it happens more than once.

If however the neighbours seem to think they've got a right to park on your driveway, that's the sort of thing which ought to be declared (and an example of where "disputes" might flag up other types of problems e.g. with title boundaries or outstanding repairs).

youth_leader

@Woolsery, we knew the neighbour had had work done on his drive, and suspected the workers had broken the pipe.  We shared the septic tank with our semi-detached neighbours, and the shared drain in my courtyard overflowed three times in eighteen months, think water logged brown lumpy gravel, I can still remember it vividly!  Up until that point we were having it emptied every year. Tank emptying man actually started phoning me to ask if I needed 'emptying again', he charged each of us a fortune once he clicked it was a shared drain. When the neighbour received the solicitor's letter he insisted on 'watching' whilst we proved the pipe went 'on his land' and finally agreed to us hand digging his drive - and we found the broken pipe.

Gavin83

GDB2222 said:

 The seller should also provide information about disputes that have arisen in the past.

Question 2.2

The seller should provide information about anything that could lead to a dispute in the Future.

This seems like such a ridiculously open ended question that's purely down to interpretation that I'm not even sure why it's asked. Almost anything could be considered a potential issue for somebody so where do you draw the line? Maybe when I come to sell I should mention that the neighbour hangs their undies on the line twice a week and the sight might upset some!

SavingPennies_2 said:

Browntoa said:

I would say at any point where you have approached your neighbours about noise , boundaries etc even if it was only verbal. 

Remember that an angry neighbour is most likely to say " I told the old owners " 

babyblade41 said:

I would disclose any point where a verbal cross over has happened.

I've never had a dispute - however - would you *really* disclose a "dispute" if on one occasion in many years you (for example) you asked the neighbour to turn the music down, or kids to stop kicking a ball into the garden, or to move the car from blocking their drive? To me this is not a "dispute" and I find it hard to believe that people would actually risk selling their home and disclose such a thing. I'm not a confrontational person but I imagine conversations like this happen all the time and nothing comes of it, they are hardly "disputes", just part of life and living in the vicinity of other people.

However if it's got the stage of solicitors letters, then yes I would say that is a dispute that needs declaring (even if resolved).

No one is seriously declaring these kind of issues, including (I expect) those on this forum who suggest mentioning every little incident. If they did almost everyone would have to declare something when they came to sell and therefore the process would become meaningless.

Gavin83

GDB2222 said:

SavingPennies_2 said:

Browntoa said:

I would say at any point where you have approached your neighbours about noise , boundaries etc even if it was only verbal. 

Remember that an angry neighbour is most likely to say " I told the old owners " 

babyblade41 said:

I would disclose any point where a verbal cross over has happened.

I've never had a dispute - however - would you *really* disclose a "dispute" if on one occasion in many years you (for example) you asked the neighbour to turn the music down, or kids to stop kicking a ball into the garden, or to move the car from blocking their drive? To me this is not a "dispute" and I find it hard to believe that people would actually risk selling their home and disclose such a thing. I'm not a confrontational person but I imagine conversations like this happen all the time and nothing comes of it, they are hardly "disputes", just part of life and living in the vicinity of other people.

However if it's got the stage of solicitors letters, then yes I would say that is a dispute that needs declaring (even if resolved).

The explanatory notes state that past, ie resolved, complaints must also be disclosed.

 It’s worth distinguishing between complaints and requests. A request to turn the music down is not a complaint or dispute, or at least it doesn’t have to be!

What's the difference between a complaint and a request? In what way is a request to turn the music down not a complaint?