First step on the property ladder rocked by noisy neighbours

Young Britons taking their first steps on the home ownership ladder are stumbling into property nightmares – with two-thirds finding costly surprises in their first year because they didn’t carry out simple checks, according to new research from AA Legal Services.

At a time when young people are finding it increasingly difficult to buy their first home, the results suggest that many are simply rushing headlong into home-buying. One in five (20%)18 to 29 year old home owners failed to carry out any basic assessments of their property before agreeing to buy it, resulting in 66 per cent falling victim to unexpected problems in their first year as a homeowner. The most hassle is caused by noisy or obnoxious neighbours, followed by structural problems.

As part of its “Safe as Houses” campaign, which seeks to raise awareness of home buying pitfalls and helping buyers make informed house purchase decisions, AA Legal Services asked a GB representative sample of more than 2,000 homeowners which checks they had carried out on their property before they signed on the dotted line, and which unexpected problems they had experienced in the first year of ownership.

Noisy Neighbours

Noisy and obnoxious neighbours topped the national poll as the most common problem with a new home. 17 per cent of home owners experienced problems with their neighbours within a year of moving in.

Not only are young home buyers less likely to have met prospective neighbours before buying (12% compared to 15% of all respondents), they are most likely discover too late that they have anti-social people living next door (35%).

Structural Shortcomings

Next on the list of new home complaints were structural defects including leaking roofs (15%), rotten windows (15%), draughts (12%), drainage problems (12%) and rising damp (7%), coupled with traffic noise (12%) and lack of parking space (12%). Of these young people were most likely to complain about traffic noise (16%) and draughts (9%).

With fewer than one in three (28%) new home owners seeking an independent structural survey before buying their new property, the research suggests that many of these, sometimes costly, structural surprises could have been identified and taken into account before the sale. Young people are the most likely to forgo a structural survey, just 7 per cent seeking confirmation on the structural integrity of a home before exchanging contracts.

On a similar vein, just 11 per cent of home owners said they had checked the drainage of their building or investigated levels of noise pollution before moving in.

James Molloy, Head of AA Legal Services, says: “Young home buyers now taking out mortgages which they will be paying off for the next 50 or so years so they should feel confident about the investment they are making. Simple legal and structural checks not only give peace of mind, but could also avoid costly surprises.

“Our Safe as Houses research has revealed that many people do not know where they can turn to for affordable advice on home-buying. More than two in five don’t even know the difference between a leasehold and freehold property.

“AA Legal Services provide impartial legal solutions for today’s home buyers and are committed to demystifying home buying.”