Potential home owners put off by neighbouring properties

People considering selling their home this summer can forget old tricks like putting fresh coffee on to brew and baking bread – the external appearance of their neighbour’s property could be the deciding factor that could make or break the deal for potential buyers.

Research from Legal & General Insurance reveals that almost nine in ten, (89%) of respondents would reconsider buying a property by the appearance of the neighbouring properties. So the people living next door could greatly affect a potential buyer’s choice.

Legal & General’s general insurance business commissioned research asking more than 4,000 adults in the UK for their views on their neighbours and what would make them consider not buying a property and what sways that decision.

As British society continues to become more culturally diverse, the research has revealed that Brits are invariably judging one of their most important investments, on face value.

Key findings

Nearly half (42%) of young professionals would think twice before buying a property next to a home with an un-kept garden.

Empty nesters and same gender couples are the most snobbish about the decoration of a property, with one in five (21%) for each group saying that they would be put off by the poor decoration of a neighbouring property.

More than half (55%) of young professionals would not consider moving in to a property where the prospective neighbours had broken or cracked windows – compared to just 39% of same gender couples who expressed a concern on this issue.

Overall, young professionals would appear to be the most tolerant – with 43% stating that they would be put off by neighbours that had lots of parties, compared to 68% of families with young children, who would see this as an issue.

Ruth Wilkins, head of communications, at Legal & General’s general insurance business commented: “Property is one of the major investments we make and with more people struggling to get on the property ladder the research would indicate that we are still very fussy about where we want to live. Our ‘Changing Face of Britain’ research suggests that people are reviewing wider issues than just the property itself when deciding that a new home is the right one for them. Who we may be living next door to is now a key consideration. It is interesting how much influence our neighbours can have on this key investment decision.

The changing face of Britain and the immediate community we live in is transforming the look and feel of today’s modern home. We would encourage potential home movers to look beyond the external appearance of a property and ensure they do fundamental checks on a potential property such as the structure, legal searches and whether the property can be insured.”