Awful landlord next door

Sagaris

I don't know if this is the right place to post this thread, or if anyone can offer any advice - but here goes.

I bought my house 13 years ago, about 5 - 6 years ago the house next door (both are mid terrace in a row of 4 houses) was bought as a buy to let.

From the outset the LL didn't seem fussy who he let the house to, I was subject to all sorts of abuse (verbal) and antisocial behaviour (prostitutes, pimps, cannabis smoking, parties at all hours) from various tenants - basically the LL doesn't care about the neighbours, I am not the only one to have complained about them over the years.

The last lot (young cannabis fanatics) left a few weeks ago, and all has been quiet since then - it's nice having an empty house next door! Whenever I have complained about previous tenants he has been extremely dismissive of me - before my DH moved in (5 years ago) he always asked to 'speak to your husband - I will deal with him, not you' - so any problems I put in writing to him, and get my husband to sign the letters.

Anyway, we returned home from work tonight, to find he has had a new uPVC porch put on his property - it goes right up to the edge of the boundary line, and to accommodate it, the downpipe from our porch has been removed and dumped in our garden. There is now nothing to take the rainwater away, and there will be lots of it once the thaw starts.

I will be writing to him tomorrow asking what he intends to do to reinstate our downpipe, but can I insist that he does so?

We will be moving (hopefully) in about a year or two, we will be getting our porch renewed at some point before then - it badly needs replacing but have been paying off stuff first. With the new porch so close to our property it will make it difficult to put a downpipe on that side at all - there is a flower bed on that side that the water runs into - if we have it put on the other side the water will run across concrete and won't really have anywhere to go.

If anyone has any advice I would be very grateful.

Thank you.

DON79

not terribly helpful sorry but I would be tempted to run a small piece of guttering from your porch roof to his and let him deal with the excess water on his nice new porch...

you probably can take legal advice to get him to repair, replace it but it will take time and cost money, maybe more than its worth unfortunately. not sure what sort of planning permissions he would have needed for this? would he have needed a party wall agreement given that it is right upto your boundary?

theartfullodger

In Scotland one has to be a "fit & proper person" to be a Landlord... In Engerland under the ConDems????

I'm told the rents paid for brothels & cannabis farms are higher than from young professionals, and generate fewer problems (initially,,,) from the tenants... It's dear old "Free Enterprise": Not free, not very enterprising...


If you let him get away with not dealing with you ... who's won??

Sagaris

Goodness knows - he's a law unto himself!

He's not quite encroached the boundary on the PVC uprights, but becuae it's so close there is no room for the builder (or wqhover) to get in and finish the work properly.

He's actually just built it on the existing base, so I doubt planning permission would have been needed?

Thanks for the quick reply too!

Sagaris

theartfullodger wrote: »

In Scotland one has to be a "fit & proper person" to be a Landlord... In Engerland under the ConDems????

I'm told the rents paid for brothels & cannabis farms are higher than from young professionals, and generate fewer problems (initially,,,) from the tenants... It's dear old "Free Enterprise": Not free, not very enterprising...


If you let him get away with not dealing with you ... who's won??

Neither free nor enterprising if you are living next door to it!

Oh, I've had a go at him before - in front of a shopful of customers (he owns the local post office/newsagents/grocers) and he was quite horrified - he had to 'deal' with me then - but he doesn't deal with women in general, he told me it's his 'culture' to deal with men only!

At least with DH writing the LL letters he comes to the house to speak to him!

theartfullodger

Sagaris wrote: »

Oh, I've had a go at him before - in front of a shopful of customers (he owns the local post office/newsagents/grocers) and he was quite horrified - he had to 'deal' with me then - but he doesn't deal with women in general, he told me it's his 'culture' to deal with men only!
!

Careful: Probably harassment (by you of him) under "Protection from
Harassment Act 1997"
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1997/40/crossheading/england-and-wales

1 Prohibition of harassment. E+W

(1)A person must not pursue a course of conduct—

(a)which amounts to harassment of another, and

(b)which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of the other.

(2)For the purposes of this section, the person whose course of conduct is in question ought to know that it amounts to harassment of another if a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think the course of conduct amounted to harassment of the other.

(3)Subsection (1) does not apply to a course of conduct if the person who pursued it shows—

(a)that it was pursued for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime,

(b)that it was pursued under any enactment or rule of law or to comply with any condition or requirement imposed by any person under any enactment, or

(c)that in the particular circumstances the pursuit of the course of conduct was reasonable.
2 Offence of harassment. E+W

(1)A person who pursues a course of conduct in breach of section 1 is guilty of an offence.

(2)A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both.

In my experience a calm, sober & polite letter (keep a copy & **free"" proof-of-postage - not recorded-signed-for) is more likely to be effective and can be very, very irritating.... rather than the stand-up-shouting-match approach.. (clearly you didn't take that approach...)

Of course he "deals with women": He had a mother??

McKneff

Check with the planning dept at your local council about porches on the front of a property.

A brick through the porch window every fortnight (after dark of course) is another way.

ninky_2

i think he would have needed planning permission for a porch (i'm not expert though)- presumably removal or downpipe would need to have been obtained with this. maybe check with your council?

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/ppermission.htm

Adding a porch.

You will need planning permission if the porch,

Has a ground area of more than 3 square metres.

Would be higher than 3 metres above ground level.

Would be less than 2 metres away from the boundary of a dwelling house with a highway including footpath etc.

Sagaris

Well when I say 'had a go' - I queued as if I was waiting to be served at the post office - then had words with him - he was quite surprised that I'd bothered I think! I'm not an 'all guns blazing' type - I will go out of my way to avoid a confrontation - but I have had enough of him! Others in the post office laughed at him, and congratulated me, as he is well known for his attitude.

I have always written to him - sober and polite as you say - as he owns the post office (and the only one I can get to) proof of postage is awkward - so I or DH hand deliver them.

Sagaris

McKneff wrote: »

Check with the planning dept at your local council about porches on the front of a property.

A brick through the porch window every fortnight (after dark of course) is another way.

Ha ha - probably not fair on the poor lady and her baby currently living there - she was most apologetic when DH asked her if the builder was going back there tomorrow to finish the work.

DH has had a look and the porch fits within the measurements quoted ninky, but I will check with the council tomorrow - thank you!

paul1964_2

Sagaris wrote: »

I have always written to him - sober and polite as you say - as he owns the post office (and the only one I can get to) proof of postage is awkward - so I or DH hand deliver them.

As theartfullodger says, you should get proof of postage. If the letter is of particular importance (i.e. it could end up as evidence in court), do this from two different post offices - it is possible that one letter may get lost in the post, but a court will consider it unlikely that two separate letters go missing from different post offices.

Don't let this man intimidate you - look him in the eye and request proof of postage. If he tries to talk to you about it there and then, politely decline.