Neighbour nonsense

[TheWalkingDead]

I've had many problems with the house next door to me for the last couple of years.

For the first 12 years of living here, there was a quiet guy I never heard a peep from, he used to do my front garden area for me, tidying all the plants and was a nice chap.

Then one day the police turned up at my house looking for him, the next day bailiffs turned up and evicted him, the next day he smashed in through the back window and lived in the powerless dark house for a few months.

Then someone bought the house and turned it into a building site for months and months - I was glad when that was over.

Then the Woman With The Biggest Mouth and the Noisiest Children moved in, which I've only just started getting used to - live in an old british terraced house and the walls are mighty thin.

At New year there was a massive fight and the bloke this woman had moved in (against landlord's terms) smashed the place up, threw the TV against the wall then went out smashing cars. He was then thrown out by her, but returned a week later throwing stones up at her window and begging to be taken back in, when she said no, he punched through the front door and then wandered off shouting.

I thought that was the end of it, am getting used to the screaming children and thankfully white noise generator drowns out most of the noise, but last night I was minding my own business trying to sleep when at 4am someone knocks on my door. I thought they would just disappear, but they kept knocking louder and louder, looking out of the window I then saw them going knocking on the neighbours' doors either side of me.

Eventually I got mad and had to get up and go and challenge this person (note when he was a good 20 metres away so I could shut the door again quickly!). Turns out he was looking for this woman next door, it was a different person, but I mean who goes knocking on random people's doors at 4am - and then when there's no answer keeps knocking until they've managed to wake up everyone not even remotely connected with the person they're looking for? (my answer would be drug dealers or pimps or generally unsavoury characters!). I mean it didn't seem like he knew her well enough to know what her actual house number was.

I would have suspected a scam (eg people seeing if properties were occupied before breaking in) but he asked for the woman next door by name - I won't repeat what I said to him when he asked me if she lived there!

I've tried to be tolerant of this new neighbour, but I swear when she starts doing what sounds like a rehearsal for the next TV talent show, with clearly no talent (sounds like a drowning cat) I start wondering if I should speak to the landlord and get her to shut the hell up and do something about the unsavoury yobs turning up at all hours of the day and night :club:

 

[HoodedMonk]

Hm, you should report this to your landlord methinks. You deserve some peace and quiet.

 

[ringwood]

Hm, you should report this to your landlord methinks. You deserve some peace and quiet.

This ^....especially unsavory characters roaming about at odd hours, no landlord wants a tenant that may be connected to drugs.

 

[Cavey]

It may be better to contact the local council and report the noise than to approach the landlord directly. The landlord may well only be interested in the money and even if he is 'one of the good ones', he's going to have to jump through hoops for months if he wishes to evict them - a very costly process that he is unlikely to initiate unless there is no other option.

British law states that you entitled to a certain amount of peace and quiet when you are in your own home. The council will send out a noise abatement officer and they will monitor the situation for a couple of weeks and then make certain demands of your neighbour. If she does not keep to these, she can face having noisy items confiscated, being taken to court or, in extreme cases, evicted.

 

[Lost Drifter]

As others have rightfully said, I'd speak to her landlord about this, especially as she, or people with her, are causing damage to both the house and annoying surrounding neghbours. It just isn't good business for the landlord.

I can also sympathise with your situation as I've lived next to a couple who sound very similar in nature. They also used to have fights that resulted in smashing doors and throwing televisions (I sense a theme going on here) and the police were called out on a nightly basis.

I remember once a pregnant woman turned up outside their house demanding that the couple return her child (turns out the nine year old boy living there wasn't even theirs). The man, in his twenties, threw a television set out the window in an attempt to hit the pregnant woman, then ran out the house to kick her repeatedly to the ground. Myself and another neghbour pulled the thug off but when the police came around, they kept on mentioning how the man was "really a nice kid" and that the pregnant woman was at fault. They eventually took the nine year old into custody however.

I swear, some people live to cause trouble. It's horrible to live next to that.

 

[HoodedMonk]

Myself and another neghbour pulled the thug off but when the police came around, they kept on mentioning how the man was "really a nice kid" and that the pregnant woman was at fault.

What???????

That sounds insane. Nice kid who kicks pregnant women? Yeah right!

---

It may be better to contact the local council and report the noise than to approach the landlord directly. The landlord may well only be interested in the money and even if he is 'one of the good ones', he's going to have to jump through hoops for months if he wishes to evict them - a very costly process that he is unlikely to initiate unless there is no other option.

British law states that you entitled to a certain amount of peace and quiet when you are in your own home. The council will send out a noise abatement officer and they will monitor the situation for a couple of weeks and then make certain demands of your neighbour. If she does not keep to these, she can face having noisy items confiscated, being taken to court or, in extreme cases, evicted.

Sounds like the best advice offered in this thread. Also mention the unsavory characters because the police may look out for them as well as monitoring the sound level.

 

[Lost Drifter]

It may be better to contact the local council and report the noise than to approach the landlord directly. The landlord may well only be interested in the money and even if he is 'one of the good ones', he's going to have to jump through hoops for months if he wishes to evict them - a very costly process that he is unlikely to initiate unless there is no other option.

British law states that you entitled to a certain amount of peace and quiet when you are in your own home. The council will send out a noise abatement officer and they will monitor the situation for a couple of weeks and then make certain demands of your neighbour. If she does not keep to these, she can face having noisy items confiscated, being taken to court or, in extreme cases, evicted.

The problem with going through the council is that it can take a very long time, sometimes years, before they take any sort of action. OP will be required to keep a log book to record noise for at least three months and even then these people are likely to turn things down once they catch sniff of any officer turning up. Then again some councils will act quicker than others, it's like a lotto on effectiveness sometimes.

Personaly I'd think the landlord could easily cut their contract on the basis of them causing damage to the property. That's one of the bare basic clauses in any housing agreement and can lead to near instant eviction if used.

 

[VanillaCreme]

Oh sweet honey, this makes me glad I now live in a rural area. We're quite literally the only house on this stretch of road. I'd much rather have the peace and quiet, and my dogs and a piece, than to ever live around people again. I'd suggest telling the landlord, however, when I did live in an apartment complex, there was an issue with neighbors above us. They seemed to love filling and flooding their bathtubs and sinks until it overflowed sufficiently enough to cause damage and mold growth on our ceilings.

Most would suspect this would be an issue that the complex would deal with, right? Apparently I was wrong in thinking that, because when I had informed the office, the maintenance guy they sent out for **** near everything looked at me like I was a loaf of bread and asked me why I didn't go knocking on the flooder-neighbors' door. Why? Because they're flooding your complex. You go deal with it... Nutters, those neighbors were.

 

[LonelySutton]

Personaly I'd think the landlord could easily cut their contract on the basis of them causing damage to the property. That's one of the bare basic clauses in any housing agreement and can lead to near instant eviction if used.

I vote landlord too. If she is that big a problem to you betcha the landlord is itching to get rid of her, and then landlord is the bad guy.

 

[TheWalkingDead]

Thanks for the replies. I've given thoughts to various options, at the moment am just keeping a log and occasionally record the noise should I need evidence. One thing to be thankful for is she doesn't play loud music, and goes to bed much earlier than me as a rule. And I guess at least the first chap didn't come back and she had the good sense not to shack up with him again! I don't think she could really be blamed for last night's episode, as this guy seemed to only have a vague idea of which house was hers, so perhaps she didn't want to be found by him, but I suppose it's quite easy to track people down.

Taking action is a pain, and getting officials involved can be like waving a red flag and escalating the situation.

I'll keep an eye on it for now - I do have contacts at the local police and council so maybe I will ask them for their views and see what they say, prior to any formal actions.

 

[Sometimes]

OH, I feel your pain! I finally have a good situation, and every day I have peace in my home, I am grateful, and aware it can end at any time, completely outside of my control.