Buying a house with a bad history

Jonboy_1984

A single house wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

My wife and I were however both in agreement that a local estate converted from and built around an old very large asylum with quite a reputation was a no-go for us....

Bonniepurple

Living in Gloucestershire, there’s an understanding that any property that was built or had work done to it prior to the mid 1990s *may* conceal a body.  A relative used to live opposite Cromwell Street and saw women going in.  Not all made it out alive.

Although I’ve never been in the situation (that I know of!), personally I would be fine with a natural death in the house, be it sudden (as my late mother’s was) or a gradual slipping away.  Suicide I wouldn’t mind.  Murder I’m not sure about.  Saying all that, when my Dad was alive I used to stand in the room my Mum dropped (literally- sudden death in epilepsy) dead and wonder what her final thoughts were.  Now my Dad’s died as well we are clearing the house and it is just a room, a blank canvas (well, with a 1970s carpet!) for whoever buys it after Probate.  

user1977

Jonboy_1984 said:

A single house wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

My wife and I were however both in agreement that a local estate converted from and built around an old very large asylum with quite a reputation was a no-go for us....

Indeed, lots of lovely old Victorian hospitals and asylums have been converted into housing. I wonder how many people would want to check what department they'd be living in?

artyboy

Jonboy_1984 said:

A single house wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

My wife and I were however both in agreement that a local estate converted from and built around an old very large asylum with quite a reputation was a no-go for us....

It's the estates built on old Native American burial grounds that you really need to watch out for... 

FreeBear

artyboy said:

Jonboy_1984 said:

A single house wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

My wife and I were however both in agreement that a local estate converted from and built around an old very large asylum with quite a reputation was a no-go for us....

It's the estates built on old Native American burial grounds that you really need to watch out for... 

Or the plague pits of London (and other towns/cities)..

Section62

TBagpuss said:

That said, it does depend very much whether that's something you personally would mind. I would be very happy to live next to a churchyard - quiet neighbours and minimal risk or redevelopment - sounds perfect!   

Not necessarily a safe assumption these days.

3000 graves at Old St Mary’s church in Stoke Mandeville are going to make way for HS2, which is nothing compared to the 60,000 dug up at the Euston Station site.

Developers are quite happy to clear graveyards and cemeteries to make way for housing - so long as the value of what's built is enough to cover the cost of disinterment.

TBagpuss

Section62 said:

TBagpuss said:

That said, it does depend very much whether that's something you personally would mind. I would be very happy to live next to a churchyard - quiet neighbours and minimal risk or redevelopment - sounds perfect!   

Not necessarily a safe assumption these days.

3000 graves at Old St Mary’s church in Stoke Mandeville are going to make way for HS2, which is nothing compared to the 60,000 dug up at the Euston Station site.

Developers are quite happy to clear graveyards and cemeteries to make way for housing - so long as the value of what's built is enough to cover the cost of disinterment.

That's why I said minimal rather than no risk! 

Sistergold

FreeBear said:

Then there are the houses where an occupant has died, and the body not discovered for months. Or in one recent case, three years. Perhaps a damning inditement of the neighbourhood and society in general.

Very sad 

SecondStar

A colleague’s wife would only agree to buying a new build, in case of any bad juju like the OP described. 

I don’t think I could live somewhere knowing that there had been a suicide. It was hard enough to live in the house where my ex’s grandmother had been found passed away asleep in her bed - when I came through the bedroom door, I could picture it.

What you don’t know won’t hurt you, but if I did know then I’d rather not.

diystarter7

Hi

Just ask around and if its nice close, row of bungalows etc built around the 50/60's you still get people living there from new.

when talking to a blocked a few doors from us a couple of years ago, he blurted out 'did the old man die here.'   I told him no as the poor gent had a fall and then a stroke a few days afterwards and ended up in a car home, which appeared to reassure him. Not sure why he asked but the bloke did declare he's been to the house before to repair the electrics and loved the area.


If someone is worried about that kind of thing, buy a brand new house but be aware of the plot of land its built on

Thanks