Is it good idea to buy Expensive house next door to social house ? and Is it difficult to resell it?

ankurjain · 27-11-2021 01:37PM #1

I am planning to buy a 3 bed house in Celbridge , Co Kildare. It costs 420K euros.

This house is end of Terrace. After reserving the house I came to know that my next door house is social house. Ex. My house no is 15 (End of Terrace) and House no 16 (Mid terrace) is Social house. No 15 is only house available in the estate for last many weeks. The reason I could think of , for these houses to be available is the social house attached to these houses, as near Dublin it is very unusual to have new house unsold for that long. Now I have 2 questions.

1) Is it good idea to buy Expensive house next door to social house ?

2) Is it difficult to resell the house in future which is next door to Social House ?

Your help will be highly appreciated.

Thanks,

godtabh · 27-11-2021 02:02PM

Your neighbor could be a gem or total bellend regardless. Its a risk you take regardless.

Mad_maxx · 27-11-2021 02:24PM

its a lot of money but if spending a little more meant avoiding being next door to a house owned by the council ,I personally would choose elsewhere

it will never be seen as a plus if reselling if thats how you wish to look at these things

billyhead · 27-11-2021 03:04PM

As alluded too you could have great neighbours in Social Houses and complete scumbags. Same with private houses. You get them in all walks of life. I live beside social tenants and their grand. They don't cause any hassle and keep to themselves.

mvl · 28-11-2021 12:50PM

when I'll buy next time I'd be looking more into the location of the house. sold my house now, and can share that one of the houses on my street was a social house; the family living there kept their house clean, kids were behaved / helpfull, really had not bothered us once. who bothered us was someone renting from a private landlord -there was nothing we could do there.

while we had no issues with the family living in the social house, tbh did scare half of my buyers. now depends what is your most likely scenario: if you think there is a chance you might sell in few years, could be wise to wait rather than buy this one. but if this looks like a house for long term to you, as you like the area, as long as those neighbours are fine, go for it.

JimmyVik · 29-11-2021 08:19AM

I wouldnt buy it. Its an almost half a million euro gamble.

There is a 90% chance they will be lovely.

Will you gamble that 10% that they are not and that their house is ill maintained and looks like a war zone from the outside?

Because if it does then you will not easily sell it, and certainly wont be selling it for full market price.

We looked at a house years ago and it looked lovely from the brochure. When we got to the house next door had a bunch of evil looking scumbags sitting out in the front garden laughing and saying "Oi, I wouldnt buy that house if I were you. That house is falling down" as we were walking in. We had made our mind up there and then that we werent going to pay money to live next door to that, so just had a look around it and left. The house was lovely inside and had a landscaped garden, but next door was like something you would see in a tenement.

But if the people are already living there and you dont notice its a council house as you walk into the one you are looking at, then they are probably fine.

If you are buying blind, you are rolling the dice.

billyhead · 29-11-2021 03:28PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118240308#Comment_118240308

Why though. You can't tarnish all Social Housing neighbours under the one brush. Private neighbours can be just as bad. If you were selling the house and the garden wasn't a kip or the house deshevelled from the outside how would you know if it's private or social housing?

Diceicle · 30-11-2021 10:42PM

I wouldn't be inclined to invest 420k in this situation.

The element of the unknown with the social housing neighbour would put me off. Many things in life are about probability. Sure they could be a lovely family, but the liklihood of being landed with a problematic neighbour is increased compared to the open market. That would be enough to put me off. By an large people who pay for their properties take care of them.

Anti-social behaviour and other problematic behaviours are on average higher in the social housing class than in the general population, thats why I wouldn't buy this house.

When I was buying a few short years ago we looked at a bungalow not far from Celbridge. An old grannys place would of needed renovation but thats what we were looking for. The estate across the way looked 'councily' but a drive through it put some fears to rest. It was old council. Lots of bungalows now fitted with access ramps for the elderly inhabitants.

However, we had a friend in the Estate Agents office - so the EA we were with that day tipped us off that the house next door had been recently been bought by the council and a family had moved in who could possibly prove troublesome. No caravans or anything on show but still good to know. Again, they could of been fine - but that would of been a 400k bet I was making and good luck to me trying to sell the place down the line.

27-11-2021 02:05PM

Does the social house look well maintained? What does the garden look like?

27-11-2021 02:12PM

You'll have plenty of posters here OP telling you to run a mile. Full of horror stories. Don't mind them. I could tell you horror stories about people that own their own homes also. Such is life!

In general, No one gets to pick their neighbours, they can be great, or complete assholes, whether they own the house or rent or rent from the council.

Same things apply to all houses you are going to buy, visit the area at different times of the day and night, different says of the week. Sit, listen and look. You'll have a fairly good idea of the place if you do this a few times.

Sierra Oscar · 27-11-2021 09:30PM

Your local authority could end up buying any of your neighbours houses if they go up for sale these days no matter what estate or development you're in. It wouldn't be the be all and end all for me.

enricoh · 28-11-2021 10:23AM

I'd call into neighbors mention about maybe buying next door and ask about broadband. After 1 minute you'll know what you are gonna be living beside.

CSI_Dublin · 28-11-2021 11:44AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058220059/is-it-good-idea-to-buy-expensive-house-next-door-to-social-house-and-is-it-difficult-to-resell-it

Hi Ankur,

How did you come to know or how you found that your neighbouring house was given to social housing?

I too have reserved a house in Dublin, could you please share some tips to find out who our neighbours are before signing the contracts?

ankurjain · 28-11-2021 12:58PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118235184#Comment_118235184

Hi mvl , Thanks for reply. This house is not built yet so I do not know who will be living here. As this house is not sold for last few weeks explains what you said. People might be thinking if They are paying so much of money then why to take chance.

ankurjain · 28-11-2021 01:42PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118231909#Comment_118231909

This is 2 phase in the estate and haven't built yet. So do not know the situation you have asked.

28-11-2021 01:51PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118235368#Comment_118235368

Ah ok. It's a lottery then. Like people have said, you can get bad neighbors from anywhere. But if I was a betting man I would say there are higher odds of trouble from social housing.

Just my opinion.

ankurjain · 28-11-2021 03:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118235407#Comment_118235407

Its not lottery , they have release few houses and selling them

LawBoy2018 · 28-11-2021 03:28PM

€420,000 to live in a housing estate.. No thanks!

28-11-2021 03:54PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118235737#Comment_118235737

It was a figure of speech. The neighbors you get come randomly.

jrosen · 28-11-2021 05:23PM

Overall Id be more concerned at the % of housing going to social housing than who exactly lives next door. The council will have a guaranteed % but you should look to see if any approved housing bodies also have an allocation. Id never buy from the plans without this info.

BanditLuke · 28-11-2021 05:26PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118234690#Comment_118234690

By the strength of the broadband? How is that relevant

billyhead · 28-11-2021 07:35PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118236232#Comment_118236232

I think he or she means you can suss out what the neighbours are like by a brief chat with them. If they tell you to piss off then your off to a good start😅

ankurjain · 28-11-2021 08:12PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118231937#Comment_118231937

This area is very good , the house block I am talking about is under construction and I will get possession next year may , so I don't know now who will live in social house.

mrslancaster · 28-11-2021 08:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118235217#Comment_118235217

so how do you know it will be a social house? Did the estate agent confirm that or someone from the developer?

ankurjain · 28-11-2021 08:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118237043#Comment_118237043

I asked estate agent about social housing in the estate and he said next door is social house.

28-11-2021 08:41PM

I recently moved into a new house, I'm renting privately.

I have no idea who my neighbours are, other than looking at them out the window. They are all extremely quiet. Other than saying hello and taking in deliveries for each other, I don't know them, they don't know me.

They all seem great, no hassle, no parties, no anti social behaviour.

They could all be social tenants or HAP tenants for all I know, or care!

It's a lottery who your neighbours are!

28-11-2021 08:47PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118237030#Comment_118237030

You don't know who you Will live next to if your neighbours buy it privately either!

ObserverOFlife · 29-11-2021 09:09AM

Wouldnt put me off..You should liaise with your local Councillor to rep on your behalf with Housing Allocations to ensure decent tenants are allocated.

As already said it's a gamble either way, as some private neighbour's could be just as bad as the social housing ones you fear.