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Assetz® News - Neighbours from hell: Bad for you and your home

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Neighbours from hell: Bad for you and your home

29th April 2005 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

Greek poet Hesiod made an understatement in 700BC when he said: "A bad neighbour is a misfortune, as much as a good one is a great blessing." Truth be told, a good neighbour can boost your house price, and a bad one can make it plummet.

A new survey by property website propertyfinder revealed that having the perfect neighbours can boost the price of your property by four per cent, whereas having squatters next door can knock over 16 per cent of the value of your home.

"Squatters are thankfully a rare breed, but where they do invade they are a tremendous blight on the neighbourhood. But our survey shows that other groups can also make a big impact," said Nicholas Leeming, director of propertyfinder.

Mr Leeming said house hunters are becoming more and more willing to pay more for a quiet, trouble free life, as neighbours have a big influence on our quality of life. Most house hunters have their fingers crossed that they don't end up living next door to like squatters or students - the top two nightmare neighbours according to the survey. Families with teenagers aren't very popular neighbours either, with more than a third of respondents wishing not to be subjected to loud music and the door slamming disruption of adolescent tantrums. Young flatsharers were also far from popular, as respondents thought them to be most likely to "live lifestyles disruptive to their potential neighbours".

Loud parties, arguments, and noisy TVs and stereos are likely to put potential buyers off. Other noises mentioned in the survey as highly irritating included noisy pets and babies, DIY and loud sex, so it might be an idea to steer clear of any newly-wed first time buyers.

On the other hand childless couples, older people and singletons are most likely to have a positive effect on the prices of their neighbours' homes. It would seem that generations prefer living next door to people from a similar generation. Most 25-35s like living next door to families with young kids, while other age groups prefer not living next door to such families. Similarly, older people preferred neighbours from a similar generation with three-quarters of people over the age of 56 voting them as being the best neighbours.

According to Mr Leeming, neighbours can make the big difference between a quick sale and a prolonged process. This has a material effect on what price the sellers can achieve for their property, he said.

This is a press release by Assetz also available at http://press.assetz.co.uk/articles/1837.html. Alternatively, please see our full press release archive.

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