Problem with neighbours

Mrs_pbradley936

I would like moral support please. I might save money if I can deal with the situation myself rather than instruct a solicitor. It is a problem with neighbours. Not my neighbours, my mother’s neighbours. The elderly lady upstairs to my mother died, they had a great relationship and shared the back garden. Anyway the flat was sold to a woman in her late 30s with a little boy.

The previous owner did not have a child, nor did she have barbeques with umpteen strangers in garden. My mother is on the ground floor the flat above is on the first floor. The little boy is not doing anything that little boys shouldn’t do but he is surrounded by old people and getting on everyone’s nerves. Anyway I tried to have a word with the woman when I was visiting but she was out so I sent a very friendly letter. I got a solicitors letter back with all the plans of the property etc and as it turns out the garden is not shared at all – it is my mothers. Now the neighbour is being really horrible but it is her fault because we did not say she could not use the garden her solicitor did. I am worried about my mother and the hostility of this woman. Any advice anyone?

dmg24

Really sorry to hear about your mother's problems with her neighbour. I used to have a nightmare neighbour and it really can have such an impact on your life.

As for what you can do to help, it really does depend on in what way the neighbour is being hostile.

If she is being noisy, you should find Environmental Health at your local council helpful. Just ring up and explain the situation, and they will hopefully send someone to visit your mother and her neighbour (separately!).

If the neighbour is being threatening in any way, then you really need to contact the police, and if need be they can help you get an injunction or an Anti Social Behaviour Order against the neighbour (it would not stop them living there but would prohibit them from doing certain things).

If you can post some more information I'll see if I can tell you anymore x

ooobedoo

Maybe this woman didn't read the papers correctly when she bought it. I think it sounds like sour grapes to me.

angelatgraceland

Don't let the woman use the garden as it could give her some sort of claim if she used it for a long time and then got even nastier. Hopefully things will settle down soon now that her own solicitor has spelt it out to her. Definitely sour grapes.If she thought she had also bought the garden, she needs to tackle her solicitor over that matter-not your mother. If she has no garden I cant see how this neighbour can have a bbq?

ooobedoo

I hope that this all works outxx

Mrs_pbradley936

angelatgraceland wrote:

.If she thought she had also bought the garden, she needs to tackle her solicitor over that matter-not your mother. If she has no garden I cant see how this neighbour can have a bbq?

Well the previous owner and my mother got on really well and she used to use the garden. My mother thought that it was shared and when the woman upstairs moved in she started hanging her washing out that was not a problem. But things gradually got worse and instead of "sharing" she was taking over. If she had not involved her solicitor and just spoke to me so I could tell her how mum felt we would all have thought it was shared. However she made herself busy and I supposed she thought her solicitor was going to tell us she was in the right, but he said she had no access. This is really one of these cases where she has "cut off her nose to spite her face"
because she has a little boy who kept his bike in the shed, she was hanging her washing out and mum was quite alright with all of that. The drunks in the garden were the start of the problems.

[Deleted User]

Some people have no respect, I am sorry for your Mother. I wouldn't let her use the garden either.

Broken_hearted

I have to imput from my viewpoint. I chose to keep my DH in a non addapted house rather than move to bungalow where we could cope better because of the reasons you have stated. All the places we could have moved to were full of elderly people and I have 2 young children. They are loud,run around in the house and garden.
I don't see how anyone would have a problem with a young child playing, so I don't understand how the OP got to this stage and HTBH would be miffed to get a solicitors letter.

Bossyboots

angelatgraceland wrote:

Don't let the woman use the garden as it could give her some sort of claim if she used it for a long time and then got even nastier. Hopefully things will settle down soon now that her own solicitor has spelt it out to her. Definitely sour grapes.If she thought she had also bought the garden, she needs to tackle her solicitor over that matter-not your mother. If she has no garden I cant see how this neighbour can have a bbq?

This is absolutely true and the shared use needs to stop now, before the woman tries to claim rights of access and usage. It is the woman's fault for not checking on the garden situation although I wonder whether she was told by the seller that she could use it. This definitely needs nipping in the bud now.

Bossyboots

I have to admit to being more than a little puzzled over why the solicitor wrote to your mother telling her it was her garden and not shared. That seems to go against what was best for their own client and has helped out your mother and not the neighbour. The solicitor should simply have written to the neighbour pointing out that in fact they had no rights to use the garden and that should have been the end of it.

Mrs_pbradley936

The solicitor wrote to me because I had written to his client and he enclosed all the plans edged in red about who owns what so that the situation was clarified. I wrote back thanking him and said “If your client can contain her guests, laundry, plants etc in the areas which you have said are hers the matter has been entirely resolved. In the event that she cannot I will send you photographs and highlight where these guests and belongings are on the plan you have sent me so that you may advise her accordingly”.

She has been spitting blood ever since.