Urgent help needed re Neighbour Dispute. Worried about having to declare it later.

LTA

If anybody could help with this it would be greatly appreciated. We are currently having a nightmare which is incredibly upsetting. I don't think we've slept in nights.

Anyhow, a section at the bottom of our garden (and 2 other houses) adjoins to some neglected land which is filled with rubbish, weeds, bins, old furniture etc. It is privately owned but nobody has been anywhere near it in the all time we have lived there and we believe it has been like that for years.

Suddenly out of nowhere the elderly owner and relative has turned up and has come to the conclusion that we are responsible for the rubbish and he is moving it into our land bit by bit and there is tonnes of it. It is doing minor damage at the moment but I'm sure it will start to damage more elements.

We have tried to call him as he doesn't live there but he just says it's our fault and he won't stop and we basically will have to put up with it or else. This is intimidating despite anything else.

I have called the police and our home insurance for advice who have been great but I am aware that if we took this any further we would have to declare it when we came to sell our house...which at the minute I want to do now just to get away from it all.

We just don't know what to do, we either sit still and effectively get bullied into letting our garden be destroyed or we try and sort it out legally and then are forever haunted by it when we come to sell.

The most upsetting thing is that we have been perfectly happy there with our close neighbour's and have just ignored the neglected land. We've done nothing to cause this as the rubbish could be down to anyone, I don't even think it's the previous owners but he has decided because our land is nearest to it that it is all down to us.

Any help as soon as you can would be appreciated.

[Deleted User]

The good news about this is that the owner of the land wants to clear it of the rubbish, unfortunately they are going about it the wrong way.

How much stuff is there? Would it be worth paying for a skip perhaps together with your neighbours to get rid of the stuff once and for all?

Other than that, you would have to threaten them with a solicitor's letter but I understand why you don't want to do that.

Check out https://www.gardenlaw.co.uk for advice.

may_fair

Are you actually planning to sell, or only thinking about it because of the neighbour?

If the latter, I'd probably tackle the problem head on and go legal. If you get the problem sorted out, then even if you later had to declare the dispute, a solved dispute would be a lot less off-putting to a buyer than an ongoing dispute.

Is it possible for you to erect a barrier to prevent the neighbour accessing your land?

How much rubbish is there? You say 'tonnes' but give us more of an idea

LTA

If it all came over there would be an awful lot, enough to fill a skip or two. I did think we could offer to go halves on a skip and even help him clear it for an easy life but it really is nothing to do with us so it seems crazy, like I'm being blackmailed into free labour. Saying that he won't speak to us and always does it whilst we're out.

We were all set to send a solicitors letter but don't want it to harm selling our house later.

I know there's nothing you can do but it seems like your neighbour's can do anything they like and if you fight it you'll probably never sell your house or wipe thousands off the value. It really is soul-destroying.

LTA

There is I'd say probably 2 full skips full.

We would have probably moved in say 8 years or so. There's little things that have bugged us but nothing major. We just really want to be out of this situation and away from the intimidation.

I'm just thinking at the minute, if we've not formally complained it doesn't look so bad?

may_fair

Have a read of this:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/townplanningact

"This document provides advice to local planning authorities (LPAs) on how to make the best use of their powers under Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to take steps requiring land to be cleaned up when its condition adversely affects the amenity of the area."

It encourages local authorities to serve s.215 notices because most people comply when they receive one so it's a cheap way of improving areas.

You could try to get the council to serve one on the neighbour.

may_fair

LTA wrote: »

There is I'd say probably 2 full skips full.

Just on your land, or in total on neighbour's and your land?

Do you think it's possible that more rubbish will get dumped on the neighbour's land? Is his land used by all and sundry to dump their rubbish illegally?

celyn90

I wouldn't give a brass monkeys about a dispute being listed and I think it's so sad that the system is set up to allow bullies to do what they like because their neighbours don't feel they can complain for fear of repercussions. What he is doing is wrong.

Does your solicitor have any advice on what constitutes a dispute? It would worry me a lot if I was unable to report a criminal act. Is there any way that you can report him anonomously?

I would call environmental health and ask their advice too; and take lots and lots of photos of your garden.

Best of luck getting it sorted. cel x

LTA

Thanks everyone, you're being really helpful.

When we rang the police for advice he suggested the council route. Does this still count as a dispute though? He'd blatantly know it was us now.

The 2 skips full estimate is on his land and is apparently heading our way.

Yep it's been a dumping ground for anyone passing! See why it's frustrating that it's all our fault!

I totally agree with the last point and we're normally the first people to stand up for our rights and not be bullied but in this case we're actually starting to fear for our safety a little bit and if it does stop us selling in the future it feels like a cutting your nose off scenario. We're even worried about him tracking us down if we get him in trouble. I realise we're in a bad place and have probably seen too many episodes of 'neighbours from hell'.

I can't believe we're even dealing with this, a few days ago everything was fine and we'd never seen this bloke in years of living there.

RAS

get on record with the police that you feel intimidated.

You have not replied to explain what soort of boundary is in place between your land and hs land?

JQ.

Why not get a webcam set up looking towards the back of the garden, so if he does do something you have evidence to present to the council. Surely he'll be guilty of fly-tipping. I don't see it as any different to a random builder driving past your house and dumping their load of waste on your front drive.

Personally, in this situation I would probably do something about it, as it is the kind of dispute that will be easily resolved, ie, you tell him stop and if he doesn't you get him prosecuted. Once the rubbish is gone I'd have thought the dispute would be ended anyway.