Neighbour Problems

Do get this logged, you need to protect yourself - you don't know how this could escalate further.

Sadly, my Dad had always fallen out with any neighbour's for one reason or another but in his 70's he became particularly fixated with one particular neighbour and, to cut a long story short, the only thing that actually restrained my Dad's behaviour was being served with an ASBO.

He has developed dementia and has become increasingly aggressive and argumentative - (sadly symptomatic of the illness and so severe that I can't have any contact with him due to his aggression for my own safety and sanity)

So, that may well be contributory, you must protect yourself and be proactive doing so.

I seem to remember when we last moved we had to declare if we had had disputes etc with neighbours? That can affect price and/or be a deal breaker. You might want to mention that to the owners - Not good for either of you.

Good luck

Please think carefully before making a complaint or flagging a problem with your neighbours to an official body. This is because, should you wish to sell your house, it is a legal requirement to declare any neighbour problems/disputes as part of the conveyancing process. Of course, any such dispute would put a lot of prospective buyers off of proceeding with the purchase of the property.

I'll not go into detail but after living next to neighbours quite happily for over 10 years, my male neighbour became abusive and threatening towards me. We live in a detached property and if he had ever carried out his threats, I was afraid that no-one would hear me. My husband was at work and so it didn't really bother him as he liked a quiet life.
I kept a diary and I also had videod the neighbour's antics. I then involved the police and had a solicitor's letter sent to him. It was quiet for a while but I could see it building up again with silly antics like building a wall on our boundary with piles of bricks but no mortar so there was a danger of it falling on to our property or a person if it toppled. Very reluctantly, my husband agreed that we should put our property on the market. We have lived in our present home for 14 years where we have been extremely happy and settled.
The problem we became aware of is that you are supposed to tell people who are interested in buying your property of any difficulties on a form supplied by their agent. Therefore, we left it quite some while after involving the police before putting our property on the market. We realised that had we told prospective buyers of our problem neighbour, most sensible people would have walked away.
With hindsight when we bought the property. the lady we bought from had very quickly called us into her home when my husband was talking to the said neighbour. She was quite elderly and we didn't even consider why she did it at the time. Hindsight can be a wonderful thing.

What a sad story, Elssa21; you really have gone through it. Portland4, thanks for that - I hadn't thought about that aspect.

Dollyjo, you must have been terrified, what an awful thing to happen.

There is a law about cutting down hedges, it is aimed at farmers but you could still quote it:

This year saw the introduction of new rules for hedge-cutting under cross compliance.

It means that you are not allowed to cut or trim your hedgerow between 1 March and 31 August unless you have applied for a derogation from the RPA and received written permission or any of the following apply:

The hedgerow overhangs a highway, road or footpath over which there is a public or private right of way and the overhanging hedgerow obstructs the passage of, or is a danger to, vehicles, pedestrians or horse riders
The hedgerow is dead, diseased, damaged or insecurely rooted and because of its condition, it or part of it, is likely to cause danger by falling on to a highway, road or footpath; or obstructs the view of drivers or the light from a public lamp
It is to carry out hedge-laying or coppicing during the period 1 March to 30 April (inclusive)
It is to trim a newly laid hedgerow by hand, within six months of it being laid

To join in the bandwagon. I also have appalling neighbours. When they allowed their fence to blow down in the gales eighteen months ago they accused me of pushing it down!! I am a pension er with copd and angina! Couldn't push over a daffodil!
Their dog then proceeded to come in my garden and attacked my cat. It then attacked my puppy as well.
They refuse to replace the fence of course.!.I had to put up dog proof mesh and have grown a hedge my side. All at great expense of course.
Miserable b*^#*#*s!!

is he saying it's a party fence, or your responsibility? Is he fit enough to be able to repair it himself? It's so sad isn't it when older people, especially with health problems, are treated in such a cavalier fashion? Maybe the hedge is the answer although it will need trimming. Hope it grows quickly.

Blimey, there are some truly awful people out there! I just don't understand how or why they think it's ok to make someone else's life a misery.

Tizliz, that's a really useful thing to know. I told him there could have been birds nesting in it and he told me there weren't because he would have heard them. Over the sound of an electric hedge trimmer - I don't think so!

Your neighbours sound like a nightmare and I sympathise as I moved house because of mine.So many people today have their lives blighted by rowdy or petty neighbours.
If they are being aggressive towards you,you do need to tell the police.I think mine were shocked to get a visit,though the mother,her friends and the children were already known to them.
I sold,but was honest and told the agent that I would not sell to a single woman....I do think we can be easy targets.

As regards the nails.
It is common practise to grow plants against the neighbours fence,hang wind chimes and pots etc,but I think you will find that you are not able to attach nails to their property without permission.
A solution would be for the nails to be removed and sticks popped into your soil to support the netting.
If the front hedge is yours,then they have most certainly damaged your property.
If your neighbours are tenants,you can contact the council or their landlord.
Your daughter can park wherever she chooses on the road.
It is a horrid situation and I hope you can soon get a peaceful life back.
It baffles me where so many anti-social neighbours have come from.

Do you have house insurance? sometimes they have a free legal helpline.

The problem is that when it comes to sell your house, you are obliged to reveal all this and that will undoubtedly affect a sale.

The removal of your hedge was criminal damage.

It is easier to complain about FIL who does not live there so my advice would be to contact the police they have officers trained in this sort of thing (as if they haven't got enough to do). You may have to proceed to the point where there is an injunction against him visiting. Hopefully his daughter might move if that happens.

Try to limit complaint to behaviour of FIL and not neighbours then declarations at point of sale won't be so damaging.

He sounds like a nut case and they only get worse. So deal with it before it escalates.

There are mediation schemes in some places, local library or council will have details.

Radicalnan - getting an injunction on the FIL would be great

Granny2016 you're right about the easy target - my neighbour on the other side is an ex-policeman and he said I must stress to the police that I am living alone.

If it was me, I would not do anything to escalate the situation.
I have learnt from experience, Just ignore HIM, do not say good morning or anything pretend that he does not exist, blank him completely.

I lived next door to a couple over 12 years ago that moved in and made my life and my families life so bad that we had to move house in the end up after 18 years of living in that house.

We were stalked, we were abused verbally, in our gardens and when we were out in the streets of shops, we had enviromental letters about outside lights, bins, trees. We put up a new fence and had to lower it 2 ft, it was a complete nightmare for us all.
My daughter got followed to work or if she was in a nightclub or pub. She got spoken to really disgustingly in the garden one night when we were abroad holiday, she rang me in tears, I rang the police but they would not get involved not even call up and see if she was ok....It was a nightmare and to be honest still makes me feel sick.... So my advise.. completely ignore him.

Issie, I have to admit I am worried about it escalating. Your story sounds horrific, I really feel for you

I am sympathetic, last year I had a young couple move in next door. That would have been fine without the girls father. It is social housing although I own mine. The father treated the house as though he was the owner. He runs a building firm and for almost 12 months he had work men in daily even weekends. They were all staying in the house the father owns, which is large. So they did not put up with any of the noise or inconvenience. It all came to ahead when he stored equipment in the shared entry and put a lock on the gate. He said he could use it on "his" side. I complained to the housing officer at the Trust they were renting from. The language from this man was choice. I live on my own. He is a bully. Luckily they all spend most of the time at the father's house. Why they needed Social Housing I don't know.

Marieeliz, this sounds so familiar - this girl's father has been doing all the work on this house - they must have pulled it completely apart, and they couldn't care less about the noise. In fact, they went crazy because my daughter, who was staying with me at the time, asked could they stop at 7pm because she was trying to settle her newborn - I still get that thrown at me because we were being unreasonable!

I have also had a problem with parking outside a neighbours house. I had really nasty notes left on my car, and at one point the person in question spotted me outside my home as this person was driving past. They slammed on their brakes (holding up the traffic) to shout abuse at me. Nasty piece of work.
To make matters worse, although I had every right to park on this part of the road,I was approached by a Traffic Warden who advised me to move.
When I pointed out that I was legally parked and not causing any obstructions etc, he still suggested that I move my car.
By all accounts, this person was well known for causing trouble, so I guess that he just wanted to have a quiet life. I was not impressed with him I can tell you.

If you are an owner occupier just be aware that once reported this is on record and when selling your home it has to be noted on the 'enquiries before contract' or 'the missives' (depending on where you live) so it will then affect the value and saleability of your home.

Obviously the next door neighbour's FIL is teaching all the wrong behaviours which are not conducive for peaceful living. It is doubtful that this will get any better.

Log it all, take photos, have actual recordings of the abuse if you can.Use CCTV. Get the police involved if you have to.

They only have the right to hack down your shrubbery if it hangs over their garden. They can offer you the cuttings, but it is within your rights to refuse to take them. I learned this the hard way.

The ultimate revenge would be to put in a water feature that runs 12 hours a day and sounds not the least bit like a gently flowing river, but like a Shire horse p**ing in pond.

I have been very unlucky for 21 years with my immediate neighbours. House has changed hands 3 times in that time and each time the occupants have been vile. Everyone else around here is " normal" but for some reason this house is always taken by odd types ranging from actual criminals with the police chasing them/monitoring them, to bullying types

Fences make for great neighbours. The bully I refer to above actually attacked a workman I had putting up a little bit of trellis for me.

All the best with this. I hope you find a happy resolution.

You are having a terrible time, I feel so sorry for you. Our neighbours are pretty dreadful but we manage to ignore them. One thing has crossed my mind, not that it really makes any difference, have the couple bought the house or does the father in law own it and rent it to them? I just wondered as he seems to have so much to say.

My disabled daughter also has problems with her next door neighbours. They shout abuse if anyone parks half an inch over their drive even for a minute - even though it doesn't block their drive. If my daughter comes out of her house or anyone pulls up in her drive, the neighbours come out to put one item in their dustbin just to have a look. The neighbours put up a camera over their front door which appears to point into my daughters drive. I always smile and say 'good morning' to the camera and that seems to have stopped their antics a bit. My daughter is divorced and lives with her little girl. I don't know why people have to be so nasty to their neighbours. It must take a lot of effort to be abusive all the time and I really feel for all you who have to put up with such behaviour day in and day out.

He's a bully but also a coward. This is intimidation and harassment. You need to tell the Police you are frightened of him NOW. Get this logged with them pdq. However, if you decide to sell you will have to declare what has taken place. Move now, if you can and save yourself lots of grief.

Put the house on the market and sell to a bunch of riff raff, maybe someone with loads of feral children and barking dogs. Then leave them to it.

GillT57 - a friend actually did that - she was having an awful time with bullying from some new neighbours, she mentioned the problems she was having to someone who introduced her to 3 brothers. They had a "business" where they would move into a property, rent free, for a certain length of time. They would then make life a total misery for the neighbours, throwing noisy parties, drunken behaviour and just generally being unpleasant. After the bad neighbours had either moved out or at the end of a certain time they would repair and redecorate the house and move out! She also paid them. In her case they moved out after 3 months and she moved back in, the bad neighbours never bullied her again!!

I meant to say she moved in with her daughter for the 3 months!