Disclosing the ‘history’ of a house
Discussion
I once viewed a rented apartment in Hong Kong, sizeable by local standards, but fairly cheap. My only reason for not accepting it, it was partly furnished with tat, which they would not move out, I had all my own furniture and appliances.
The following Monday l asked local colleagues why it was so cheap, their reply “which block, what floor, apartment letter” “Telford Gardens block 11, 7th floor, flat C”
It turns out, a couple of years earlier a Taiwanese shaman had convinced two families they would be better off in the afterlife. So the mothers threw their children out of the window first, before jumping themselves.
My colleagues informed me, “No locals would rent it” l Guess the landlord shot themselves in the foot, if they threw away a few bits of tat, I would have rented for 5 years at GBP 700 per month back in 1999.
The following Monday l asked local colleagues why it was so cheap, their reply “which block, what floor, apartment letter” “Telford Gardens block 11, 7th floor, flat C”
It turns out, a couple of years earlier a Taiwanese shaman had convinced two families they would be better off in the afterlife. So the mothers threw their children out of the window first, before jumping themselves.
My colleagues informed me, “No locals would rent it” l Guess the landlord shot themselves in the foot, if they threw away a few bits of tat, I would have rented for 5 years at GBP 700 per month back in 1999.
Wildcat45 said:
Is this really so? For how long would you need to declare this? My mates house was built in 17-something. Tales are going to get lost in the mists of time.
You can see how a murder 250 years ago might add to the intrigue and character of a place, whereas if it was 2 years ago then you might leave any prospective purchaser to make their own enquiries about the history.Why is it only murder though? What if the previous resident was a wife-beater or kept their children in the cellar? It's not nice but should it make any difference?
Should the seller be forced to disclose if the property has been a rental? After all it might have had lots of different people living there who might have abused it, as opposed to one owned by a retired private owner who paid cash for it.
garyhun said:
C Lee Farquar said:
My understanding is that you have to declare if a murder has taken place at a property, but IANAL.
Which sales form is that on?It is possible that my memory is failing and we just disclosed it on the basis they would probably find out before exchanging anyway. I do remember one of the semis had been whitewashed, including the roof tiles, can't remember if it was the house of the offender or victim.
For fear of drip feeding:
This was whilst the house was rented out about a decade ago. The estate agent has just rung up the seller (not me, relative of wife) and had a go at them as they hadn’t disclosed. They’d not even thought about it as an issue, however my first thought when I heard about this was that the estate agent (as a professional responsible for advising and handling the sale) has a duty of care to ensure the seller was made aware of any need to disclose.
This was whilst the house was rented out about a decade ago. The estate agent has just rung up the seller (not me, relative of wife) and had a go at them as they hadn’t disclosed. They’d not even thought about it as an issue, however my first thought when I heard about this was that the estate agent (as a professional responsible for advising and handling the sale) has a duty of care to ensure the seller was made aware of any need to disclose.
C Lee Farquar said:
garyhun said:
C Lee Farquar said:
My understanding is that you have to declare if a murder has taken place at a property, but IANAL.
Which sales form is that on?It is possible that my memory is failing and we just disclosed it on the basis they would probably find out before exchanging anyway. I do remember one of the semis had been whitewashed, including the roof tiles, can't remember if it was the house of the offender or victim.
Thanks for that, I also saw the link above and never realised murder and suicide were reportable when selling. I guess it's not something you come across on a regular basis.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
stewjohnst said:
Servant girl hung herself from the beam in top floor room of our current house...mind you was back in 1903 so not sure it will have much of a bearing on valuations.
Hanged.
LeftmostAardvark said:
Can you go into a bit more detail please?
Read thishttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140402...
daqinggegg said:
I once viewed a rented apartment in Hong Kong, sizeable by local standards, but fairly cheap. My only reason for not accepting it, it was partly furnished with tat, which they would not move out, I had all my own furniture and appliances.
The following Monday l asked local colleagues why it was so cheap, their reply “which block, what floor, apartment letter” “Telford Gardens block 11, 7th floor, flat C”
It turns out, a couple of years earlier a Taiwanese shaman had convinced two families they would be better off in the afterlife. So the mothers threw their children out of the window first, before jumping themselves.
My colleagues informed me, “No locals would rent it” l Guess the landlord shot themselves in the foot, if they threw away a few bits of tat, I would have rented for 5 years at GBP 700 per month back in 1999.
Wow, I wonder if you worked your magic blah blah blah at Lan Kwai Fong and brought a HK chick back to your place, if she see the apartment block, get nervous, get in the lift, get really nervous, then see Flat C and run out screaming?The following Monday l asked local colleagues why it was so cheap, their reply “which block, what floor, apartment letter” “Telford Gardens block 11, 7th floor, flat C”
It turns out, a couple of years earlier a Taiwanese shaman had convinced two families they would be better off in the afterlife. So the mothers threw their children out of the window first, before jumping themselves.
My colleagues informed me, “No locals would rent it” l Guess the landlord shot themselves in the foot, if they threw away a few bits of tat, I would have rented for 5 years at GBP 700 per month back in 1999.
We bought an old house years ago in South Africa, out in a small dorp in the sticks. The agent told us that the previous owner had shot himself during the late stages of terminal illness, we didn't have a problem with that.
After we moved in we tracked down the previous gardner to employ him. He didn't speak any English, his white-man language was Afrikaans which might as well have been double Dutch as far as we were concerned. Anyway, during hand signal converastion he informed that the deceased owner was 'over there' in a corner of the front garden. My wife had a fit. 20-odd years ago these places were really rural, and it wasn't out of the question that DIY burial was a 'thing'. How many more, we wondered?
Anyway it took several months before some Afrikaner friends told us that the gardner was telling us that the owner's wife had scattered his ashes on the flowerbed.
After we moved in we tracked down the previous gardner to employ him. He didn't speak any English, his white-man language was Afrikaans which might as well have been double Dutch as far as we were concerned. Anyway, during hand signal converastion he informed that the deceased owner was 'over there' in a corner of the front garden. My wife had a fit. 20-odd years ago these places were really rural, and it wasn't out of the question that DIY burial was a 'thing'. How many more, we wondered?
Anyway it took several months before some Afrikaner friends told us that the gardner was telling us that the owner's wife had scattered his ashes on the flowerbed.
Wooda80 said:
Should the seller be forced to disclose if the property has been a rental? After all it might have had lots of different people living there who might have abused it, as opposed to one owned by a retired private owner who paid cash for it.
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