Neighbour issues

aileth

Hi all, I'm asking on behalf of my parents.

They've been living next door to an absolute nightmare for about a year. My parents rent, they own.

Some background.

Early on there were issues where neighbours made silly noise complaints about tumble drier noises when the tumble drier was in a shed at bottom of their garden and nowhere near their house, and banging on the wall of my parents house when everyone is asleep in bed telling them to keep the noise down!

They then accused my parents cat of attempting to 'murder' their rabbit (cat rarely goes out) and it all kicked off. They've erected a 7-8 foot fence which were pretty sure they have no planning permission for. There was a slanging match over the fence where my parents were told they mean nothing and next door can do whatever they want because they own their house - those words came from next doors 9-10 year old daughter! They also claimed that my parents didn't have permission for a dog, our dog which visits every month and has permission from their lovely landlord, and when questioned how they knew my parents tenancy agreement couldn't answer.

They are constantly having the most incredible arguments, which you can hear because they have all their windows and doors open and she shouts and screams like she's possessed.

The parents poisoned the kids and the kids constantly kicked footballs over the 7-8 foot fence to try and pee my dad off.

Things went quiet for a bit after my dad wrote them a letter questioning the fence and also pointing out that he can hear their arguments.

Now something else has popped up which is totally bizarre. They are throwing vegetables into my parents garden. It seems they are half rotten half chewed bunny left overs. So far there's been broccoli and carrot. They're the only people who could throw them in as there's no access to my parents garden from behind, and my sister has seen them flying over the fence from her bedroom.

My parents are totally sick of this bizarro behaviour but don't feel in a hugely strong position in their long term tenancy. Is there anything they can do? They don't have issues re the noise of arguments as tbh it's quite entertaining, but getting fed up with rotten waste. They've started throwing it back but tit for tat doesn't work.

They constantly avoid my parents and any time my dad has rung the bell or called out to her in the garden they haven't answered or he's been told to F off.

Any advice? They aren't your typical ASBO types; they are a middle class 'well respected' family!!!

BitterAndTwisted

They're a-holes and the only thing your parents can do, until the neighbours really kick off with something worthy of an ASBO, is to ignore them and not respond to their provocation. In a perfect world they'd just move.

cattie

To be honest as a tenant I'd just look around for something else & move. As the neighbours are owners, you have to consider that they are there for the long haul so can't live in the hope that they will soon move on. Personally I'd never want to live next to neighbours I didn't get on with.

There must have been something that made this kick off as very few neighbour disputes don't have a firing point. Sometimes it's just that a minor complaint is made & the reaction from the neighbour is hostile that can result in a breakdown of civilities between neighbours.

I'm most certainly not taking sides as I neither know the neighbours or your parents, but tumble driers can be very noisy. In one place I lived I heard my neighbour's tumble drier whenever she put it on. Not that I'd ever dream of making a complaint about it, especially as they are on for such short periods of time & it's hardly a disturbance like loud music.

As a cat owner & ardent animal lover I do know that disputes can occur when a pet upsets a neighbour for any reason & how neighbours can be very upset & even angry when an animal comes into their garden & cause even minimal bother.

Personally it wouldn't bother me if neighbours put up a high fence, I'd take the attitude that it creates more privacy for me as I hate to be overlooked in my garden.

In my last house I had neighbours who's garden backed onto mine who either used to throw or perhaps they climbed over the fence to place fallen branches, leaves etc. from a tree in my garden (& included stuff from a big one in their own garden) that fell into theirs back over the fence into my garden. I never caught them doing it, nobody ever spoke to me about it, I'd just see this huge mound of tree debris at the end of my garden like somebody was preparing to have a bonfire & it would upset me when I saw it, but I just accepted that there were some very strange people about who would do things I'd never dream of doing.

I think it's pointless for your father to go trying to ring their bell & contact them. This is just going to add fuel to the fire.

Perhaps it's the kids throwing the vegetables, it's the sort of thing you can imagine kids doing to be honest. If they want to stay living there then just ignore it. It'll soon rot & will put nutrients into the ground. Plus when there is no reaction, the neighbours will soon tire of any games that they could be playing & if it's the kids, then they will too as most have a short attention span for anything that offers them no satisfaction.