Somewhat annoying neighbour

crispy_chris

Hi there,

Just looking for some advice as to whether there is anything that can be done with my current housing situation.

Myself and a friend are renting a 2 bedroom flat at the moment, its in a nice location but we have a very very annoying neighbour.

He is constantly beating up his girlfriend, we've had the police round several times, I had to call them myself a couple of weeks ago. The police arrested him, took her to hospital and within 24 hours they were both back.

I'm getting a little fed up to be honest because whilst its awful that she's the victim of domestic violence theres only so much I can do to help if she doesnt want to leave him. I will continue to ring the police and they will continue to come round but nothing will change in the long run.

Anyway the other day (on a work day....) at about 1pm my neighbour was absolutely steaming drunk and was spilling beer on the doors of the other flats in the building. My flatmate was talking back into the building when he saw the girl on the front steps, leg in a cast (we're presuming as a result of his violence, although we don't actually know that) crying her eyes out. My flatmate has spoken to her, asking her what was wrong. She's said that she's scared of her boyfriend as he hurts her. My flatmate has tried to tell her that nothing is worth this, shes saying she cant leave because she cant leave her job and her parents live too far away. The boyfriend comes out, starts yelling at my flatmate telling him to eff off and whatnot (boyfriend drunk as a skunk as previously mentioned). Flatmate tells him to leave it and go back inside, boyfriend starts pushing my flatmate around. Flatmate calmly tells him to stop before he does something he regrets.

Long story short, boyfriend swings for my flatmate, misses, flatmate sucker punches him (not hard on a drunk guy) and knocks him out. There are witnesses that my flatmate was acting in self defence, one of the other tenants saw the whole thing (single dad with a young child).

We've tried complaining to the landlord of his flat who doesn't care as long as the rent gets paid.

I believe the building is owned by another company, who will be my first point of call. I just wondered if there is any 'rule' or something I can quote to get this guy chucked out of his flat. I mean this is no longer a safe environment to live. If I step outside I have to be constantly aware that I might get a smack on the back of the head by a drunken idiot. I mean I don't have a problem myself, I'm a big guy, but what about the women that live in the other flats (I don't want to sound sexist - but I can't imagine they would appreciate a drunken violent man) or the two children that live in the flats? Its not fair on any of us to have to put up with this guys attitude.

Any help anyone can provide would be fantastic.

Many thanks

partickz

I think it might be easier to seek alternative accomodation yourself. How long are you tied to the flat for??

BitterAndTwisted

Neighbourly disputes are issues for the neighbours to resolve between themselves and not the landlord's concern so I'm not surprised that they don't want to get involved.

The only sensible way to get the issue resolved is for the woman to get in touch with one of the women's aid organisations or to just up and leave without a trace.

I would try and dissuade you from trying to get too involved with this situation as there's nothing you can do to help unless the woman takes the steps necessary herself but in the meantime keep calling the Police, they're the ones with more experience of dealing with domestic violence and presumably they're putting her in touch with Victim Support, so it's up to her.

maninthestreet

Maybe your flatmate can land a few more punches on the guy - it sounds like he deserves it.

Mum_of_3_3

Does this guy rent or own his flat? If he owns it, I expect that unfortunately there's no much you can do. However, if he rents it you could complain to his landlord and see where that gets you. It may have more of an impact if all the neighbours complain too.

As far as the girlfriend goes if she won't leave and she won't press charges there's not you can do there either Just pray that she doesn't get pregnant by him!

Your friend really should've pressed assault charges against the drunken lowlife, maybe with all the background the Police have on him, they could've done something and made the magistrates go harder on him than they normally would have.

I know I shouldn't say this & I'll probably get shot down, but if it was me I would move when my contract comes to an end.

M_o_3

crispy_chris

partickz wrote: »

I think it might be easier to seek alternative accomodation yourself. How long are you tied to the flat for??

11 months.

He rents it, we've tried complaining to his landlord...they dont care.

Flatmate has just complained to the company that owns the actual building, they apparently do care and they're gonna come over for a chat soon as we arent the first people to make the complaint about him.

princeofpounds

There is/was stuff you can do, but it depends how much you want to put in in terms of time and effort.

A lot will depend on what terms the guy inhabits the apartment.

- police reports (999 or copshop for crimes and local beat cop otherwise)
- pressing charges for the assault
- complain to environmental health about the noise.
- complain to his landlord (landlords can be held responsible for nuisance of tenants under certain limited grounds, you need to look into that area)
- look into getting an ASBO

and so on.

you can get more advice on NFH (neighbours from hell) forum

PasturesNew

Moving isn't always an option, sometimes, some people would need £5-6k to move from where they are now to a new place (credit checks, removal costs, new deposit up front, potential 6-months' rent up front, potential loss from existing deposit), not to mention time/effort.

How about polishing the stairs?

partickz

I am aware that moving is not always an easy option. However, I have witnessed one of my friends being "broken" by a dispute with an outrageous neighbour. It took him months to recover.

crispy_chris

I'd rather not move if I can find some way to get him kicked out of his flat to be honest. The only reason he's even able to afford to live here is because his daddy still pays the rent for him (at 25+, how sad).

I just wondered if anyone had experience trying to get an abusive neighbour out of their rented accommodation. Apparently people have had experience, and its extremely hard to do in practice.

Oh well, we'll just make our case to the building owner and if that fails see if we can blag getting out of our contract early due to the landlord failing to provide a safe living environment, again I'm not overly confident.

Some people are so !!!!

Jowo_2

Are you based in England/Wales or Scotland?

You are doing a fab job defending that victim of domestic violence - see if you can get her to contact Womens Aid if you can take the risk of speaking to her again - but that website will help you understand why some women will remain in an abusive relationship.

but ultimately, apart from moving or continuing to call the police for all instances of criminal behaviour or asking the council for advice on how to deal with it, I can't think how you can resolve your actual neighbourhood issue (anti social neighbour) as it's pretty much up to the landlord to decide whether or not to serve notice on the tenant.

The Shelter website does contain info to help tenants experiencing neighbourhood/environmental issues so have a browse of that section of the website.