If there's something strange in your (future) neighbourhood, who are you going to call? A new service promising to “prove” to buyers that their property isn't haunted might be a start.
Sceptics among us might scoff, but the potential that a house might be haunted can force prices down – one recent survey by estate agent network Move with Us suggested a home with “a chequered past” or a “spooky history” could lose 11-20 per cent of its value.
And so, conveniently timed in the run-up to Halloween, online estate agent House Network has launched a new ghost-free certification service that will help vendors guarantee there is no paranormal activity in their home.
Paranormal investigator The Ghostfinder Paranormal Society will carry out checks for supernatural activity on request. An investigation can take several hours depending on the size of the house, and will include setting up temporary cameras and static recording equipment, as well as carrying out interviews with occupants.
House Network chief executive Mark Readings said: “Although this service is designed to help our vendors show that worries about the paranormal are not a reason to be put off making an offer, and we’ll not be certifying homes as haunted, if something supernatural was found on an investigation sellers do have a moral obligation and duty of disclosure to inform prospective buyers of events that may affect the value of their property.”
Barri Ghai, founder and lead investigator at The Ghostfinder Paranormal Society, claims to receive “two or more reports a week” on average from people claiming their house is haunted.
House Network debuted the service with an investigation in Harrow this week. The video below shows what went down.