Neighbours attached gate to our wall without permission *PICTURES ADDED*!

Sunnyday

I can easily see how you would never have known that it was there if there was a huge winnebago parked in front, i bet you never had any light coming in through your window at all. Any noise could have been things being put into or taken out of the van.

I would definitely check that any damp hasn`t been caused by the gates, if it has the problem may get worse and you could have problems with your insurance.

Check your legal cover with your insurer and let them send someone out to check things out, your insurance company could deal with everything on your behalf so that you don`t have to deal with the neighbours at all.

Good luck

SD

frannyann

neilmcl wrote: »

The reason I asked is that if you didn't live on a corner you'd too probably want a gate on the side of your house too. I'd imagine if you were to look at the other properties in your area they'd all be doing similar things.

They may want a gate, but that gave them no rights to drill into her property without permission, which was declined. They could have concreted a post into the ground with a tiny gap between the post and her wall. But they decided to ignore her wishes and did it anyway. I'd be angry too!
OP as suggested contact you home insurers, because if it is causing damp problems they are best placed to sort it out.

miss_independent

neilmcl wrote: »

The reason I asked is that if you didn't live on a corner you'd too probably want a gate on the side of your house too. I'd imagine if you were to look at the other properties in your area they'd all be doing similar things.

Sorry Neil, I suppose my point is that if someone did want to get into their house through the area where the side gate is they would have to enter the property through our garden which, fair enough, proves your point. However, living on a corner we have had security problems in the past and so have electric gating and high wrought iron fencing which prospective intruders would have to climb over, setting off our security lights and knowing they run the risk of being recorded on our CCTV (signs up). But there is no way you could have known this anyway as I didn't say. Also - we live on a busy dual carriage way (unfortunately) so it would be a pretty stupid intruder who would steal their property and carry it through our garden to a vehicle parked on a different street. Unless they wanted to park on the public footpath and then walk all the way round the corner of the other street with the stolen items. I'm not saying it couldn't be done! Just saying, they may lose part of their anatomy on the wrought iron in the process and would certainly wake me up :rotfl:! In my area there probably are similar set ups, yes. However the norm round here seems to be wrought iron or wooden fences, or hedging round your own property rather than taking the liberty to attach things to your neighbour's property without asking. We wanted to put wrought iron fencing on the inside of the garden wall in the picture but didn't to start WW3 with them. Now I know, what I know, I wish I had as it might have stopped their workmen throwing the remains of their lunch into our garden and their teenage grand-daughter from excreting in our driveway :mad:. Yes, she thinks its funny to empty her bowels on our property.

I am sorry if anyone thinks otherwise but I do feel, even if I am not going to do anything, I have a right to be upset that they have attached something to my house without getting permission. I am also concerned that they are unlikely to maintain it so this could do further damage. I am going to sit down and discuss as a family what we might do but as I've said, it may be that we just leave it. We have other factors to take into account though as we have a gas vent in the wall behind the gate and our boiler, overflow pipe is located against that wall which was another reason we didn't consent to the gate in the first place - we were advised for safety by a gas engineer that we should leave things as they were in case access was needed in an emergency and a possible gate couldn't be opened. I've also mentioned in a previous post this was a factor with the original owners of the house.

The more I think about it the more I wonder who decided to build the house the way they did. Our house is older but there are similar houses to ours constructed at the same time on the road and they don't have this set up! Neither does the house on the other side of them.


To address other questions. We go away at least once a year for two weeks or more. I think this has to have been done with the last two years as this was when we got wheelie bins from the council and I always thought the noise was them scraping their wheelie bins against the house or the bins blowing in the wind forward and backwards - do you see that if they are operating a workshop in the night and have rubbish they might have been pulling the bins back and forward? And I certainly wouldn't say the gate doesn't cause any problems, my sleep has been interrupted more regularly for 2/ 2 and half years now as others have pointed out. That gate is the way they access whatever kind of workshop they have going on in their garage - the way they get from the front to the rear of the property. The space in between where the gate is now was actually where they were meant to park their car (as previous neighbours used to) when not in the garage or, alternatively, a second car. I think, from the location of the gate posts, they wouldn't be able to drive a car through there to the garage now.

Thank you to those who have offered advice and been supportive. Hope I haven't confused you as much as I've confused myself! Never realised my house was so complicated. Perhaps we never would have bought it if we had known!

cyberbob

Thanks for the clarification. The workshop they have going are they running a business from it?

pitkin2020

I'd take it down, when they ask why you took it down without their permission, you can ask them why they erected it without your permission

miss_independent

cyberbob wrote: »

Thanks for the clarification. The workshop they have going are they running a business from it?

Its a mystery and clearly it is a secret! I see nothing going in or coming out but there is definitely something going on in the middle of the night. There is a tiny frosted window I can open if I stand on tiptoe on top of the toilet and I see a tiny bit of their back yard, so I know the light in the garage is on and can see the two men who live in the summer house doing something but I have only looked out twice, to try and figure out what the noise was in the night - I gather it is not a business that is above board as they never answer the door to the police and its all a bit weird. They (the husband and wife) also have day jobs and are out of the house during the day. They seem to go to bed around 7 then get up in the middle of the night. The two European men are there during the day but very low key, I only know they are there because I can hear them talking through the vent when they are outside. But they hardly seem to leave the house. Goodness knows whats going on!

pitkin2020

miss_independent wrote: »

Its a mystery and clearly it is a secret! I see nothing going in or coming out but there is definitely something going on in the middle of the night. There is a tiny frosted window I can open if I stand on tiptoe on top of the toilet and I see a tiny bit of their back yard, so I know the light in the garage is on and can see the two men who live in the summer house doing something but I have only looked out twice, to try and figure out what the noise was in the night - I gather it is not a business that is above board as they never answer the door to the police and its all a bit weird. They (the husband and wife) also have day jobs and are out of the house during the day. They seem to go to bed around 7 then get up in the middle of the night. The two European men are there during the day but very low key, I only know they are there because I can hear them talking through the vent when they are outside. But they hardly seem to leave the house. Goodness knows whats going on!

Are all the windows blacked out?? They could be growing weed. Very odd though as you say.

miss_independent

pitkin2020 wrote: »

Are all the windows blacked out?? They could be growing weed. Very odd though as you say.

Lol, no I don't think so unless it is very noisy weed! Its sounds like wood work, metal work, drilling - they could have built a space shuttle by now! As I say though, nothing goes in or out in daylight .

pitkin2020

miss_independent wrote: »

Lol, no I don't think so unless it is very noisy weed! Its sounds like wood work, metal work, drilling - they could have built a space shuttle by now! As I say though, nothing goes in or out in daylight .

the noise could be them building the hydoponics and lighting system, you never know. The lighting gives a lot of heat off so stamd as clsoe to the garage as you can and see if its warm, atleast you can rule it out lol.

4743hudsonj

pitkin2020 wrote: »

the noise could be them building the hydoponics and lighting system, you never know. The lighting gives a lot of heat off so stamd as clsoe to the garage as you can and see if its warm, atleast you can rule it out lol.

Borrow a thermal imaging camera. You should see a noticeable difference. If they were my neighbours, this would cross my mind to if im honest.