Know thy neighbour. . .

. . . before you buy. A new website will check out a neighbourhood for you, Edel Morgan discovers

A new website - www.whoaremyneighbours.com - claims it will check out if your prospective neighbours are of the dreaded anti-social variety before you purchase a property.

The PRO of the website, David Gibney, points out that while it's par for the course to pay a surveyor to ensure a property is structurally sound, people often neglect to find out if the neighbours are likely to cause problems. There is also a tendency to overlook environmental, health or planning issues that could affect the future quality of life and which an estate agent is not obliged to divulge.

But before you have visions of the folks behind whoaremyneighbours.com using telescopic lenses to spy on your future neighbours or dispatching heavies to doorstep them, they take a more softly softly approach. A report on an area won't name names or say, for example, that there's a crim hiding out at number 14 but is more likely to draw attention to a general anti-social or drug problem in the area.

It might also mention any legal disputes between neighbours or court cases involving anti-social behaviour in the area. Gibney says where he lives in Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow, boy racers sometimes ram the barrier in the main car park. "On one particular day, a large number of cars converged on the area and local people were confined to their houses. If something like that was happening we would tell them."

The website has a network of consultants producing reports all over the country, including engineers, journalists, gardaí, architects and public representatives, and says that all reports are carefully worded and vetted by a solicitor. A three-page sample report for an unidentified area - codename: Bog Road, Co Anywhere - incorporates a short paragraph outlining social issues and mentioning that the crime rate is "high" and the town has drug problems. It reads: "Anti-social behaviour is an ongoing problem particularly after dark and at weekends. Unfortunately there have been problems with residents on the Bog Road resulting in court orders being served by the local court. The problems arose between old and new residents. The legal profession have a term for this called "country ignorance", which is where the new resident or "blow-in" is deemed not to have any rights. Hence the building of a wall or topping of a tree can and has resulted in broken windows and other damage to property."

In its conclusion, the report advises the client to ask local gardaí for their opinion. Helpful, perhaps, but is this information specific enough to warrant commissioning a report? And can't people find this out themselves by going straight to the gardaí? Gibney says a lot of people shy off from approaching the gardaí. "And the gardaí can only talk about what has been reported to them. We have people from the local community on the ground who might be privy to more than the gardaí."

But can they divulge information that is uncorroborated by the gardaí or the courts without getting themselves into legal hot water or being accused of spreading tittle tattle? "It can be tricky," says Gibney, " because who are we to be the judges of whether the neighbour or the person selling the property is the problem? But if we are aware of an issue, say, with a neighbour, then we can put it to the person who is buying the property that they need to introduce themselves to the neighbour. There have been cases where we have asked people to do this and the deal has fallen through. Often you know by the vibes, you might get inside the hall door and can usually tell if they are friendly or not."

A website testimonial from a J O'Reilly in Wexford reads: "Our dream move to the countryside could have ended in tears had it not been for this website. The agent told us that our neighbour was an old widow woman but not about her two sons, who constantly terrorised the neighbourhood." When I asked Gibney how they could provide such specific information about the widow's two sons, he said they had featured heavily in local press court reports.

The reports cost €300 and usually comprise a concise three pages and, says Gibney, are tailor-made to suit the client's requirements. It seems to be of particular relevance to people relocating to a country area . They might include information on local schools, doctors and hospitals. The sample report outlines that the local hospital for Bog Road, Co Anywhere is primarily geriatric and the nearest A&E is Kilkenny but the local hospital has two defibrillators. If people require it, it will also outline how long it takes to drive to the local hospital, if there are youth clubs or facilities in the area or if membership is open in the local golf club.

Gibney says the website's consultants are familiar with their local county development plan and can tell you if an apartment block is about to be built over your garden wall. "It will also say what is in the planning pipeline in your area, what is about to be built and if there are land banks nearby sitting in the hands of builders."

People often move to a country area blind. "Speeding traffic has meant the days when you're able to walk on roads where there are no footpaths are disappearing. Someone relocating to an area might think everything looks lovely when they come down on a Saturday morning but, if they were around Monday-to-Friday, it would be a different story." He says reports are followed up if clients are not "100 per cent satisfied. It's not a case of, there's the report, now like it or lump it."