UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello All,

A property has come onto the market in my local area that appears to be a decent Buy To Let opportunity.

However, the estate agent have informed me that this property was recently the scene of a "Serious Incident" - after doing a bit more research I found that there was actually a murder at the property in the last year.

At first I was concerned that this would affect the saleability of the property in future, or potentially affect the properties desirability for rental but I'm confident I could rent it out and that it would actually make a good investment.

Is anyone aware of anything that I need to consider? e.g. Will it affect the mortgageability of the property, do I have a legal obligation to tell a tenant, do I have an obligation to tell a prospective buyer etc.

I just want to do some research before I commit to the purchase.

Thanks in advance

Otis

Relish in telling people at viewings... give it some spark, try to research exactly what happened and even embellish the story. Turn the lights off and shine a torch in your face... should be good fun. Say - "...and the body was never found" ...then cast your eyes to the loft (having a friend up there who can get the floorboards to creak would be going the extra mile).

Thanks for the responses guys,

The crime was a brutal murder, it shocked the local community and its common knowledge locally that this crime took place in the property.

However I feel that this has been reflected in the price, as the property is a fair amount cheaper than similar properties in the same area.

On the property particulars it clearly states that the property was the scene of a serious crime and the estate agents said they are obliged to disclose this sort of information to any potential buyers as it affects the desirability and the amount someone may be willing to pay for the property. Although I wasn't too put off, it made me wonder if I had an obligation to tell potential tenants or potential buyers if I decided to sell in the future.

I know if I was a tenant and I moved into a property, then found out off a neighbour what happened in the property, I wouldn't be best pleased with my landlord for hiding it from me. Likewise if I was purchasing, a suicide or natural death may concern me a little, but a brutal murder would make me run a mile!

The sums make perfect sense of this one, but cant help wondering if i'll have problems selling, or renting it out. Its in a very desirable area of town and ive calculated a 10-11% yield and my plan is to rent it out for 10 years minimum

I guess it would depend on the nature of the murder,whether the house was notorious for criminal activity,and if the perp ( I read a lot of crime novels)was caught and imprisoned.Unless there is any reason to fear more repercussions in the future I doubt if it would put off most tenants.Likewise 10 years from now I doubt it would affect the saleability.In the case of the latter there are some things you need to disclose,such as nightmare neighbours.Overall I think you should be open with all concerned,they will find out from the neighbours anyway.
It might be a nice touch to get an exorcism carried out.
Hippogriff's suggestion could be useful should you find yourself with tenants who refuse to move out-could save you a fortune in legal bills.Good Luck.

Fascinating ....
There is actually a well cited case "Sykes v Taylor Rose" I definitely recommend a Google.
Sadly hilarious as the new purchasers found about the murders while watching a documentary on murders on tv in their living room and a picture of their house came up on the tv.  In this case the dismembered body parts were secreted in various areas of the house and not all of them were found!!

To your question about disclosing to a buyer.....The case basically rested on what was asked in the buyers questionnaire and the vendor had taken legal advice as whether disclosure was required.  Based on the question (I think it said " is there anything the buyer has a right to know") the vendor did not have to tell the new purchaser about the murder.  The form has since changed and likely it will be a disclosable fact to a buyer.  There is nothing that states the same for a rental and certainly nothing that indicates how much lower the rent needs to be. 
Obviously (as was in the above case) the Neighbours will know and tell the tenant so you might get a grumpy tenant in the phone ....

Best of luck

Woooooooooooooooooooohhhhooooohohohohohohoho!

One wonders why they might be grumpy... they weren't murdered. I'm sure it'll have been cleaned, and maybe repainted, since then. Hopefully nice red walls.