Dear Property Doctors,
My wife and I moved into our new home in December 2020.
Since then, we have had to call the police out on numerous occasions because our male neighbour verbally abuses his wife at all hours of the day and night. They have two children, and another on the way.
We have contacted the owner of the property that they rent, who said that they would speak to them, but this has made no difference.
We recently found out the people we bought the house from had also had numerous problems with the neighbour but never disclosed this with our solicitor during the buying process.
We love the house and the area but think we are being fobbed off by the police, social services and the property’s landlord. We feel disgusted that the couple we bought the house from hid this from us.
Do you have any advice on what we can do next?
Anon, by email
Unfortunately, the “neighbours from hell” situation that you have here is all too common. As you say, really it is a matter for the police but it is hard to get them interested.
If they will not take action against your neighbours, then I think you should go through all necessary complaints procedures. You could of course bring an application for an injunction and damages against your neighbour to prevent further harassment but that would be very expensive and injunctions of this sort are always difficult to enforce.
It is an interesting question whether you have a claim against the owner of the house, who obviously is doing nothing about the matter despite your complaints.
Unfortunately, I don’t think you do. You would have to show that the owner in some way authorised the nuisance which clearly they haven’t. The fact that they haven’t taken action to get rid of the tenants (the only solution) does not in itself give you grounds to sue the owner.
I note you say you have discovered evidence that the previous owners of your house had similar problems and did not disclose them.
The standard property information form that your sellers should have completed and sent to your solicitors specifically asks whether there have been “any disputes or complaints regarding this property or a property nearby”. It seems to me that if the owners of your house answered “no”, then they are probably guilty of misrepresentation and you could bring a claim against them for damages.
However, you would have to prove that the sellers had had problems with the neighbour. It would be particularly useful if you could find out that they themselves had made complaints to the police or any other authority since clearly that should have been disclosed.
If you did sue your sellers for damages then your claim would be for the difference between the price you actually paid for the property and what it was really worth given that it was “blighted” by the behaviour of your neighbours. This is always difficult and you would need to instruct a valuation surveyor.
Obviously, one has the practical problem that you may not know where the sellers have gone or whether indeed they still have the money to pay any damages award you may obtain.
David Fleming is the head of property litigation at William Heath & Co solicitors (williamheath.co.uk)
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