Would they put you off?

[AngieandBen]

We've been trying to sell our house for two years; Its lovely, nice area, good hacking 6 acres etc etc BUT we have a lot of travellers around and they have applied for a site less than a mile away Now this site is 37 acres, bigger than the village! The council seem to do nothing even though they have no permission as yet, 13 are there already.

We have lost one sale because of it and countless people love it and would move in tomorrow if it wasn't for the travellers. TBH they dont cause any problems at all ( keep themselves to themselves ) they are tidy and look after their horses well, and are freindly enough when we see them.

There is a local action group to fight the planning.

Just wondered if it would put you off buying? we've dropped the price by £50k as it is so very reluctant to drop it any more !!

 

[smellsofhorse]

I don't think it would.
But it depending on the individual situation, how tidy the area, how safe you feel etc.

 

[sare_bear]

Sadly yes it would!! Not all travellers are badly behaved, but they often have a reputation and things do have a tendency to go missing. Would not choose to have them living on my doorstep sadly.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

No. Travellers have bought a plot in a very nice village near me. Several equestrain properties on the road have since gone on the market because of this. Am watching to see if they reduce enough for me to be able to make an offer.

 

[AngieandBen]

Well in the ten years we've been here, we have had no break- ins, no diesel stollen ( we have large container of red diesel for tractor ) only one car down the road was broken into. My oh often leaves things out, tools etc and nothing ever goes missing.

Financially we have to down size, otherwise I wouldn't dream of going anywhere

One of the sites about a mile away looks like a holiday park with palm trees outside! its very clean and tidy.

 

[SpottedCat]

Yes, totally. But then I have now owned two properties next to council tenants/housing association and would never, ever buy next to council/housing association or near travellers again. It caps the value of the house, but worse, you have to put up with them as neighbours, and frankly they make terrible neighbours. In contrast, the private rental which were also next door in both properties were always lovely, even though the tenants changed more often.

I saw a lovely property online, with equine facilities, and was on the verge of booking to go and see it when a bit more digging revealed a traveller's site nearby. Didn't even ring about it.

 

[tinap]

Sorry to say but It would put me off. I already live in a place where we have a lot of travellers & I'm sick of them rooting around In my garden. They know my husband is a plumber so don't think twice about just coming into the garden & poking around to see if there is any copper in there.(never is but they take anything else instead - heavy duty chain for locking up motorbike, child's basketball net) caught one only yesterday just walking down the drive, as soon as he saw me he turned & left- wasn't ever intending on knocking!

 

[AngieandBen]

Its a sad situation, the value has come down over £100k in the last few years. We are in the proccess of talking to the councils solicitors about compensation, ha ha. , yeah right!

If we have to stay so be it but it needs money spending on it which we don't have ( both oh and I have been out of work, oh finally started a new job on Monday )

OMG tinap555, never had anything like that!

 

[LegOn]

If I was making a decision based solely on what I wanted, then I would access the individual situation & base it on that.... but if I ever wanted my Dad to visit me, I would have to say no.

He has had too many run-ins with them, including having threats make on his life & been beaten (all uncalled for) so he has a severe dislike of them & if I moved in the vicinity of travellers, he would never visit me & I couldnt bear that.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Near to me there is some green belt land that has been bought by travellers. They have built roads, brought in caravans, put up fences etc all without planning permission. The council are taking action against them but it will take a long time to get them moved. Unfortunately travellers believe that if they own some land it is up to them what they do with it. They will push the legal process to the maximum, claiming insufficient sites in the area for them etc.

Yes the value of the houses in the location hve been devalued considerably.....sorry, you have quite a problem.

 

[picolenicole]

No, it wouldn't. I had a pony near a travellers camp before, I made friends with them and they kept any eye on the pony all the time. If anyone came into the field they didn't know they would ask why they were there.

 

[BBH]

Yes absolutely it would for the very reason you are having.

It would be nigh on impossible to sell if I needed to.

 

[tinap]

It's crap!! I do wonder if they lived next door maybe it wouldn't happen, but they live in the village & I'm sorry to say but its a weekly occurance! Police know about it but do nowt!!

 

[millitiger]

Yes it would put me off- not only for the reason I wouldn't want to live near a site, but clearly you are having issues selling so the re-sale value is capped.

 

[Enfys]

It depends on the travellers themselves, if they are buying a site and have gone through the council then it wouldn't bother me a great deal.

I used to live opposite a travellers site and the people, who were my friends, would put a lot of 'house dwellers' to shame. They were hardworking (fairgrounds, tarmac-ing) polite, the vans were scrupulously clean, men had to strip and bathe (they had site washrooms) before they came in from work. They had more money than most of us (because they worked damn hard), nice cars, children were well dressed, clean, had beautiful manners, the ladies were immaculate - all the time. I loved them, as people and neighbours. Sure you had some bad eggs, but then I know some incredibly nasty people who live in mansions too.

The word 'travellers' automatically puts one in mind of the riff raff that set up wherever they want, take what they want and do what they want. The 'true' travellers' aren't like this at all in my experience, I have seen worse council estates and we all know that not everyone who lives on an estate is a benefit scrounging opportunistic thief.

 

[AmyMay]

Yes, it would bother me too I'm afraid. For re-sale reasons as much as anytyihg.

 

[horse_lover]

It would definately put me off. My horses are kept on a yard opposite a site and things have gone missing (luckily nothing of mine). They dont look after their horses or their land and everything is a mess. They hammer their poor horses on the road and my OH witnessed one of them being beaten while it had a trap on, which reared up and went over on the road They are very noisey and I had the pleasure of one of them flying past me in their car sounding their horn, luckily my 5yr old is relatively well behaved. I think there are more travellers camps where I keep my horses than normal residents

 

[MissMincePie&Brandy]

I'm afriad I would not buy an equestrian property close to a travellers site.

I'm not going into details on here, but pm me if you want to know my reasons.

 

[Enfys]

Seems I am in the minority here then, must have been very lucky.

 

[ihatework]

The property would have to be stupidly cheap for me to consider it I'm afraid

 

[YasandCrystal]

Yes, totally. But then I have now owned two properties next to council tenants/housing association and would never, ever buy next to council/housing association or near travellers again. It caps the value of the house, but worse, you have to put up with them as neighbours, and frankly they make terrible neighbours. In contrast, the private rental which were also next door in both properties were always lovely, even though the tenants changed more often.

I saw a lovely property online, with equine facilities, and was on the verge of booking to go and see it when a bit more digging revealed a traveller's site nearby. Didn't even ring about it.

Ditto this. I love the way the politicians approve travellers sites and none of them live within 50 miles of one!! I think it is suffice to say that the police are scared of them; they are a law unto themselves.

 

[Tickles]

It would depend on the legality and general state of the site but, based on an illegal site near my primary school, I would be put off.

I have no experience of this but it may be (ask on here, ask your estate agent etc) that a small investment in securing your property (better gates/cctv of stables (if applicable) /whatever) could help your sale.

 

[millhouse]

Sadly, yes it would put me off. My garage is constantly being broken into, and I believe this to be by travellers.

 

[Time Tells]

I think there is a difference between Travellers, Tinkers, & True Gypsies, the latter being the clean tidy mannerly and wealthy group, whom do not settle anywhere for long, as they are 'free spirits.'

I have never seen a poor & dirty Gypsy, only those groups whom emulate.

I think this is why peoples opinions are so varied.

 

[MissMincePie&Brandy]

It would depend on the legality and general state of the site but, based on an illegal site near my primary school, I would be put off.

I have no experience of this but it may be (ask on here, ask your estate agent etc) that a small investment in securing your property (better gates/cctv of stables (if applicable) /whatever) could help your sale.

I don't think that would help. Those who aren't interested because of it's proximity to a travellers site wont be influenced at all by high tech security, and by having the place looking like fort knox might raise alarm bells with other buyers, who perhaps weren't aware, or who weren't overly concerned about the travellers. They'll assume the high tech security has been installed because there is already a problem.

 

[ISHmad]

Unfortunately it would put us off, definitely.

 

[ThePinkPony]

It would definitely give us something to umm and arr about.

But knowing travellers, most of them dont necesarrily crap on their immediate doorstep, its the people like us who live outside a 5-10 mile radius that get the most problems, and not everyone wants to invest in a million padlocks and big scary dogs!

Would rather travellers as neighbors than council estates though.

 

[Fransurrey]

It would depend on the site itself. In your situation it's tricky, as it's just being set up. There are a few sites near here where 'settled travellers' have set up, with static mobile homes. Those sites are lovely and I even thought about moving onto one a few years ago when looking for somewhere to rent (they rented a few to 'civvies'). However, I there's a couple of others in the area that I wouldn't live near to if you paid me. I think the issues you're having is due to the uncertainty. Like all groups of people, there's good uns and bad uns and your potential purchasers don't know which they'll get. Understandably, they won't believe anything you say about how nice this group are.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Seems I am in the minority here then, must have been very lucky.

I'm with you. Live and let live.

 

[AngieandBen]

I don't think that would help. Those who aren't interested because of it's proximity to a travellers site wont be influenced at all by high tech security, and by having the place looking like fort knox might raise alarm bells with other buyers, who perhaps weren't aware, or who weren't overly concerned about the travellers. They'll assume the high tech security has been installed because there is already a problem.

We honestly don't need any security ( although have a Jack Russell as do all the travellers! ) we don't even shut the gate into the yard. My tack room is padlocked, but rug room/feed room etc are not and never have been. They keep the site immaculate, much cleaner than a lot of houses! always always slow down when riding, even stop sometimes if in a lorry, they wave and shout morning and all the kids go to the local school which has a good reputation.

Couple that came and viewed on Wednesday loved it, would move in tomorrow except..........don't want to live with the fear that something may happen regarding planning ( its gone to commitee )

Looks like we may be stuck here, not that I mind too much, it is lovely and I count myself lucky OH has just got a good job