can someone help I'm at my wits end

Slinky

We had a similar problem about 4 years ago. A house in our close of 32 was bought by one of those companies which buy out people who get into difficulties with their mortgage. The original owners lived there renting for a year then moved out, then the problems started. The landlord turned it into an unlicensed house of multiple occupancy (HMO). Well there were cars all over the place, rubbish piling up, arguments amongst the several non-related tenants, the police were called out several times, including one night the police helicopter overhead.

We formed a neighbourhood watch down the street and got the local councillors on board (they were very sympathetic as they don't like HMO's disrupting otherwise decent neighbourhoods either). We found out who the landlord was and the leaders of the NHW scheme and the councillors made certain they kept badgering away at the landlord. In the end the landlord got so fed up of all the nuisance the rest of us were making, he kicked all the tenants out and rented it out as a single occupancy home and there has been no problem since. Nice lady living there with a couple of children now.

I'd recommend similar action from yourselves. Form a neighbourhood watch (we're all on a local email loop to keep in touch with what happens around here), contact your councillors, find out who the landlord is and start making his life as much a misery as yours is. Make it so he gets fed up of hearing from you hopefully he'll either sell up or rents the place out to better tenants.

jonewer

I'd second the "speak to your local SNT" advice.

Most of these guys are bored with walking around with nothing to do except ask mrs. jones how her budleia is coming along, and relish any chance they get to make a difference. In my experience, the SNT is the keenest, most proactive police unit ever invented.