I’m in the process of buying an investment buy to let property that I will move into myself in years to come when we downsize from our current home. The house we’re buying is a 3 bedroom cottage in a fantastic rural hamlet location, the survey shows it to be perfectly sound, the views are incredible and there are two ‘outstanding’ primary schools within a four mile radius. The snag: we found in this week’s local paper an article saying that the owners of an old Baptist Church building – the owners being a Baptist organisation – half a mile from ‘our’ cottage are seeking planning permission to use the building as a drug rehabilitation centre, taking in eight detoxed addicts for three month stays in the hope of helping them to find their way by undertaking tasks in the surrounding Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
I’m aware how incredibly NIMBY this is going to sound – I’ll put the kettle on and wait for the outcry – but seriously, this is a £225,000 investment, so I’d be grateful for any opinion as to whether or not you would buy or rent a property in such a situation.
Right, must go and find my tin hat.

Get in first show them the money!

Show them the money!!!

Money talks.

😈

NO WAY! They’d be breaking in, stealing things and leaving needles everywhere.

If I wanted to be near Skag Heeds I’d move to Scotland.

No problem. 8 recovering ex addicts working the land to try to get their lives back on track. Probably nicer more genuine folk than all the inbred bigoted muppets who’ve lived in the village for years and fear change.

…or maybe the locals are lovely, and the ex-addicts will all fall off the wagon and steal all the lead off the OP’s playhouse.

End of the day, OP, no-one knows what will happen. If you have a bad feeling about it, then just don’t buy it.

That’s got to knock 50k off the asking price.

Damn you and your common sense straight talking Jamie!

Nah dont like the sound of the landlord.

Build a large fence and big gate. Something like the Berlin Wall, but bigger!

Yes. Buy it then rent it to a hobbyist drug pusher. Steady captive market 1/2 mile along the road. Win all round.

There is a bigger drug and alcohol rehab unit in a nice big leafy suburb on the edge of town. Knowing the service a little bit (as a professional) i would be quite comfortable living right by it, never mind 250 yards away. Find out if this is the first such project this organisation has run or whether they are experienced in this, also whether they are doing the detoxing bits there or taking people who are already on the wagon.

Day to day it will *probably be fine but its always going to be an issue if you come to sell it so as long as the purchased price is adjusted accordingly then happy days.

*IANA Rehab Expert

I mean buy the other unit out as well … d’oh!

In the hospital i used to work at with drug addicts, there where usually 2 types, those who wanted treatment for their addiction and those who needed treatment to stay out of prison, the second ones usually had a fear of prison and would do anything to stay outside, sometimes the treatments worked sometimes not.But usually both types did the good neighbour things to stay on the right side of the fence, its the visitors you have to be more vary of.

Your choice based on stereo typicl visions of what and how a drug addict behaves and looks like,quite a few are like normal people just hooked on drugs for whatever reason.

Oh and everyone has a different interetation of a normal person.

It could be worse they could reopen the church and then you will have God botherers knocking on your door all the time trying to save you.

and ringing the BELLS every bloody sunday.

Wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. I would rent it, sounds lovely.

Not sure if I would buy it though.

Renting. I only have my own thoughts and opinions to worry about, and I’m not bothered by it.

Buying. I have to worry about “other people” and their thoughts/opinions. And a LOT of them are complete idiots 🙂

OP, your ‘investment’ and just as importantly, tenants will be quite safe from those you speak of. Not least because this rural idyll is unaffordable to the local people and all the houses are also investments made by similarly affluent, hard working and driven members of our society, used as occasional weekend retreats and otherwise, empty.

Your playhouse lead roof is safe my friend, so long as the tenant occupiers remain vigilant and deem their own personal chattels valuable in one way or other.

Maybe, when you downsize and find a little spare time, you could offer to help within this project and further your understanding of those you have little experience and knowledge of?

😉

There will be more smack heads in the village already.

I suspect a group of rehab lads and lasses will be more personable neighbours than the inbred and bigoted locals and incomers in most villages. 😉

Sounds like it gives you room to manoeuvre when making an offer.

I would go for it.
There’s no guarantee it will still be going by the time you come to move in, and it is unlikely to have any impact on your lives even if it does open.

A similar rehab centre opened by my parents, it was fine and my now getting elderly parents were a bit worried at first. There were no issues at all in the 18 months it was there. Funding was cut and it’s closed now. My dad was chatting to one of the patients and gave him some work clearing some tress, guy worked hard and was really grateful. He now works in a supermarket which is really cool from were he was all those years ago.

I would seriously doubt many potential renters or even purchasers would even be aware of its existance to be honest. I’d be more concerned with being close to a school (parking nightmares from experience) or a pub (noise at going home time).

bury a shippng container or two in the garden, grow a load of weed and you should be able to clear the mortgage is no time, sounds like a winner with lovely views to boot!

If they’re recovering then they acknowledge they’ve a problem and they’re trying to work on it.

Why shouldn’t recovering addicts be shown the beauty of the countryside and that there’s something in this world far beyond a bag of Boutros Boutros?

He now works in a supermarket which is really cool from were he was all those years ago.

Honestly, I’d rather be a junkie (worked at Tesco and Sainsburys as a student).

Christians doing good deeds shocker, I thought all they did was sing silly songs & hold car boot sales to repair the roof.

Honestly, I’d rather be a junkie (worked at Tesco and Sainsburys as a student).

Would you rather suck a **** for a fix, or stack some shelves?
Obviously you are an experienced junkie?

Bump (sorry)

It wouldn’t worry me TBH, it is only 8 and I would imagine they are going to be pretty tightly watched as part of the agreement and their parole.

I lived about a hundred yards from a homeless shelter where many of the residents were current or recovering addicts – never been a problem, sold easily, and our house prices were no lower than anywhere else.