Neighbours sabotaging property sale - advice needed

Bigphil1474

If it was me - Sell the flat, move to new house, contact the police about the dogs. 

ThisIsWeird

As User points out, on the TA6 form there's, "Is the seller aware of anything which might lead to a dispute about the property or a property nearby?"

The answer is very clear, so the OP either lies, or states it as it is.

The OP has a choice - either be upfront about the issues with the EA, and ask them to inform all potential buyers, and then also add that to the TA6 to cover themselves, or sort it out first - an anonymous report, and be ready to respond decisively to any reaction from the neighbour.

You either sort it or you don't, but you cannot pretend there ain't a problem.

Grumpy_chap

I am not sure that the neighbours have "sabotaged" the process in any way at all.

The OP was not present, but an "open day" viewing was held and 45 potential purchasers attended.  That probably means 45 cars and something like 100-odd people in total traipsing through the house, looking up and down the street, etc.

Following this event, the OP has received multiple above-asking offers.  Clearly, whatever might have gone on, the inconvenience was not enough to deter those that submitted offers.

There is also some second-hand feedback about the neighbour's dog being a bit lively and the children playing noisily in the garden.  Maybe the dog was excited at hearing so many people.  

I really would put nothing on the feedback.  After a viewing, EAs tend to ask what an individual thought of a property and some people then feel they have to give some comment as to why they are not offering, so make up some rather inconsequential comment "the neighbour's dog was a bit noisy" or "parking seemed a bit congested" or "there was a cloud in the sky making the back garden to dull to sit out and enjoy".  All these such comments really mean nothing, but are conversational remarks to fill a void. 

Some people felt the house was not for them - that is all the OP needs to know about those viewers.
More importantly, some people felt the house was for them and submitted offers - this is far more important for the OP.

If I were the OP, I'd ignore all the second-hand comments from people who did not like the property, ignore whether the neighbour's dog / children were noisy, and focus on progressing the best of the actual offers to a successful conclusion.

All a bit "nothing to see here - move along please"

subjecttocontract

user1977 said:

subjecttocontract said:

I'm aware of that but talking informally to a neighbour about anything (including this one off event) surely doesn't automatically class it as a dispute ?

How can this be a dispute ? Over what ?....the home owner wasn't there, the neighbour herself wasn't there, the only people affected were a couple of house viewers and the estate agent ! 

The questions are:

Have there been any disputes or complaints regarding this property or a property nearby?

and

Is the seller aware of anything which might lead to a dispute about the property or a property nearby?

If you're weighing up whether or not to go to the police, then I doubt the correct answer to both these questions is "no".

Well that's even worse. Your saying that even if you are only thinking about reporting something to the police you need to declare it ! I don't think that can be right.

The reporting of complaints and disputes are for actual complaints and disputes such as access, boundary, hedges, overgrown trees etc not because you don't like your neighbours dogs.

BarelySentientAI

subjecttocontract said:

user1977 said:

subjecttocontract said:

I'm aware of that but talking informally to a neighbour about anything (including this one off event) surely doesn't automatically class it as a dispute ?

How can this be a dispute ? Over what ?....the home owner wasn't there, the neighbour herself wasn't there, the only people affected were a couple of house viewers and the estate agent ! 

The questions are:

Have there been any disputes or complaints regarding this property or a property nearby?

and

Is the seller aware of anything which might lead to a dispute about the property or a property nearby?

If you're weighing up whether or not to go to the police, then I doubt the correct answer to both these questions is "no".

Well that's even worse. Your saying that even if you are only thinking about reporting something to the police you need to declare it ! I don't think that can be right.

The reporting of complaints and disputes are for actual complaints and disputes such as access, boundary, hedges, overgrown trees etc not because you don't like your neighbours dogs.

One solicitor gave an example of a potential dispute that should be declared (paraphrased):

"When neither you nor your neighbour mows the strip of grass between your driveways, even if there has been no argument or disagreement about it".

Do you legitimately believe that uncontrolled dogs from a possibly banned breed roaming freely within reach of visitors not be included in "anything which might lead to a dispute"?

user1977

subjecttocontract said:

user1977 said:

subjecttocontract said:

I'm aware of that but talking informally to a neighbour about anything (including this one off event) surely doesn't automatically class it as a dispute ?

How can this be a dispute ? Over what ?....the home owner wasn't there, the neighbour herself wasn't there, the only people affected were a couple of house viewers and the estate agent ! 

The questions are:

Have there been any disputes or complaints regarding this property or a property nearby?

and

Is the seller aware of anything which might lead to a dispute about the property or a property nearby?

If you're weighing up whether or not to go to the police, then I doubt the correct answer to both these questions is "no".

The reporting of complaints and disputes are for actual complaints and disputes such as access, boundary, hedges, overgrown trees etc 

No it isn't, as you can see from the actual questions on the form. Unless you're really arguing that it isn't intended to cover e.g. the antisocial behaviour of your neighbours?

Grumpy_chap

subjecttocontract said:

Well that's even worse. Your saying that even if you are only thinking about reporting something to the police you need to declare it ! I don't think that can be right.

I think that is moot in this case as I don't think the OP can report the alleged behaviour of the dogs (or the dogs' owners / OP's neighbours) to the Police.

The OP has not witnessed the apparent poor behaviour / wild, loose dogs devouring children for elevenses.  The OP only has second-hand hearsay of such events via the EA.

It is really for those property viewers that witnessed these terrible events to log any such horrific incident as occurred and make the reports (as first hand witnesses / victims) to the Police.  I wouldn't be surprised if the Police had not responded with a SWAT team and fully dealt with the issue prior to the OP returning from the rave they were at over the weekend while the EA was accompanying some 100-odd people and marshalling the 45 cars in a well-planned open-day viewing event at the property.

It certainly does not seem to be anything the OP needs to log as a dispute on the property information form.
Unless every rumour of unwitnessed bad behaviour gives rise to a dispute.  I suspect there is not a property in the land where this level of "dispute" has to be reported...

I actually see this from the other side that it was, perhaps, un-neighbourly of the OP to be absent for the weekend while arranging an open-house viewing event for the highly-popular property with so many people attending and not being around in person to assure the neighbours and apologise for any inconvenience the OP's guests may be causing to the neighbours.  

leonj

She said she wasn;t even there at the time just like you, so what can you expect her to do? She can't control her degenerate son when she is out

Murphybear

If your neighbours dogs are XL Bully then they are one of the 5 dog breeds which are banned in England and Wales.  Have a look at the .gov website, there is an article on banned dogs on there.  

Grumpy_chap

Murphybear said:

If your neighbours dogs are XL Bully then they are one of the 5 dog breeds which are banned in England and Wales. 

Unless the owner has a certificate of exemption 
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ban-on-xl-bully-dogs