Scruffy neighbours

supersavershal

Hi, the house next door to me was recently rented out to a lady, her mother and two young children.
A week ago they left about 8 bin bags of rubbish outside theire back gate, our refuse disposal collect weekly but will only take your wheelie bin for emptying not bags.
The bags were ripped apart by cats, and rotting food and rubbish was scattered all over the floor outside the gate.I pointed this out to the tenants in case they hadnt noticed.Its a week on and they have still not cleared the mess up.
Last september the houses had rats in the gardens and the council pest control had to come and sort the problem out.Myself and the other neighbours worked really hard to keep the gardens and drives really clean to deter the rats and now im really worried they will come back if there is rotting food everywhere.Do you think I should contact the letting agents and ask them to speak to the tenants?
Everyone else owns their homes and its a really lovely, clean area im worried standards will start to slip.

heretolearn_2

Call environmental health at the council, report that you have seen rats coming out of domestic rubbish dumped behind house X.

BitterAndTwisted

Maybe all that rubbish was what they found in the property when they moved in and they don't have any transport to shift it themselves. In the first instance always offer help rather than being combative, is my motto.

supersavershal

No it wasnt in the property, that was immaculate.I was in the house the day the previous owner moved out.I did point out the mess in case they didnt realise but they did nothing.They do have a car so could go to the tip with the rubbish.I keep my own property very clean and tidy, I brush and clean the shared pathway.Il be damned if Im cleaning up rotting food they have allowed to be spread over the street.If they carry on like this they will not make many friends around here.

abbadon3

Alternatively ring the council and tell them rubbish has been dumped outside your own and neighbours houses. Ask them to clear it as no-one is takign responsibility for it.

Then politely speak to your neighbour tell them the council are comming to collect it and ask if in future they try to put bin bagsi n bins. Maybe offer to let them chuck an extra bag in your bin if you don't fill it up?

Moaning neighbours are just as bad as loud/inconsiderate neighbours.

supersavershal

abbadon3 wrote: »

Moaning neighbours are just as bad as loud/inconsiderate neighbours.

I am not a moaning neighbour I just believe people should not leave bags of stinking rotting food all over the place.I do not want the rats to return, I am quiet and keep myself to myself, I keep my property neat and tidy and clean up after myself, my children and my dog.
Ive lived here for 14 years and have none of the neighbours have ever left rubbish rotting in the street.I dont feel its un neighbourly to refuse to put up with it.I did politely tell them cats had ripped the bags apart giving them the opportunity to clean it up and they have chosen to ignore it for a week.

elvis86

OP, I'm not quite sure why people are so keen to leap to the defence of the neighbouring tenants. It sounds to me like you're being perfectly reasonable. As others have said though, I'd continue to try playing nice with gentle reminders (eg "feel free to use my bin if it's not full come bin day"), see where that gets you. They sound like pigs though.;)

Tenants moving into a street where everyone else owns can be a nightmare. The house next to my parents was rented out for a few years, we had countless people in there and the property was very poorly maintained. "Luckily" it was always just a case of the place looking shabby and a little loud noise/unsavoury guests etc.

But when you own your own home and endeavour to keep it nice, it is very frustrating. In fact, it's one of the main things that puts me off buying (apart from the total lack of deposit!:D).

tomitma

Report it to the council, they usually send out officers, that search the bags for ID like old letters, then they fine the culprits.

abbadon3

I wasn't saying you are a moaning neighbour (although the way you reacted to my comment would suggest to me that you are :P ). I was simply saying don't become the moaning neighbour. People are always more willing to co-operate if your friendly with them.

Also if this is the only problem you have had with them and it's only been there for a week then maybe you should give them the benefit of the doubt and make sure you don't become enemies. One event doesn't mean they will constantly be bad neighbours. And yes, it is horrible if there are bin bags lying around and yes if they constantly keep the area horrible and its affecting others then you need to do something about it. But if it is a one off then i'd give them the benefit of the doubt.

I rememeber when i was renting at Univeristy we ended up with a load of rubbish bags sitting out the back of our house. We had 5 people living in one house and we would sometimes forget to put the bins out on the right night, or we would be clearing up after a night when the house was full and we ended up with way too much rubbish to get rid of. With no way of transporting it and not enough room in the bin to get rid of it - we were stuck with loads of rubbish bags in our garden.

We had neighbours moan at us and the Landlord was having none of it, he left it to us to clear.

In the end we went out in the middle of the night and filled other peoples bins with our excess rubbish (we literaly walked up and down all the roads around our house looking for bins with space in them).

My point being: Don't always assume the worst in people - they may have reasons why there is alot of rubbish and may even be rather embarressed about it!

Obviously i don't know the circumstances so can't really say whether they are just being terrible neighbours or not!