Nuisance neighbours who rent?

kirstiex

I live in a rural village where most of the houses aredetached and well kept. One of thehouses next door to us is rented and we have put up with these untidy, andsometimes noisy neighbours for too long. The front garden is awash with old car tyres, supermarket trolleys andbaskets, old or broken kids’ toys and rubbish that are strewn over the drivewaybecause the fox/badgers/cats have got at it. The back garden is not much better – they have a dog that is neverwalked and uses the garden as his toilet, where the kids then run barefoot (yuk!!) orsometimes naked and then the dad mows over the excrement, which offers a lessthan pleasant smell across our garden. The kids also paddle in garden pond.

They have 4 unruly kids under the age of 10 that don’t knowthe meaning of noise levels. I can hearthem shouting and screaming whilst I’m indoors with the TV or radio on and evensometimes whilst they are indoors I can still hear them. We have sometimes asked the kids to keep thenoise down a bit but the small child (about 3) seems to shriek very loudly forno apparent reason. I have no problemwith children playing but this is just on another level.
So many neighbours comment to me on the mess of their frontgarden so I’m not the only one who is unhappy about the situation. I’m not really keen to confront them face toface but wondered what other action I could take. I don’t want to get unpleasant but it’sreally got to the stage that I don’t want to use our back garden as the noisejust drives me insane. I have thelandlord’s contact details and wondered if he has any responsibility of askingthem to clean up a bit? As tenants,should the property be inspected at regular intervals?

We have always had pleasant neighbours or at least ones thatkeep themselves to themselves.

Tigsteroonie

kirstiex wrote: »

We have sometimes asked the kids to keep thenoise down a bit but the small child (about 3) seems to shriek very loudly forno apparent reason. I have no problemwith children playing but this is just on another level.

Our son is 5 1/2 and shrieks loudly for "no apparent reason". He does have a reason though - he is autistic. Our garden may look a little unkempt and the decorating may be delayed, that is because DH has to look after our son during the school holidays rather than getting on with making the place look nice.

Just sayin'

I think you should try talking to them first. They might be grateful that someone cares enough to ask how they are doing. If you get a mouthful in return, at least you know what kind of people they are, rather than speculating.

LisaLou1982

I think your first step is to speak to them. Afterall, if someone was upset with something you had done, wouldnt you prefer them to speak to you about it?

Is the landlord of the property a private landlord or social housing landlord? Usually a tenancy agreement covers the garden, but without knowing what they signed its difficult to say.

I once lived next door to a property whereby the rear garden was an absolute mess. It wasnt when the girl moved in, but she was on her own with 2 little children and she couldnt cope. She never spoke to me if she saw me in the street, but i was fed up of her garden being a pit. In the end, rather than get annoyed, i went round to the property and asked if she would mind tidying her garden, or asking her landlord to do it if she couldnt manage, as i was going to put my house up for sale and i didnt want it affecting the sale.

Her mum was there and said that she was ill but that they would get it sorted, and sure enough, 2 weeks later it was done. No arguments or reporting to the landlord required!

Good luck with it - hopefully you can get through to them. Most people are reasonable in the first instance x

dirty_magic

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

Our son is 5 1/2 and shrieks loudly for "no apparent reason". He does have a reason though - he is autistic. Our garden may look a little unkempt and the decorating may be delayed, that is because DH has to look after our son during the school holidays rather than getting on with making the place look nice.

Just sayin'

I think you should try talking to them first. They might be grateful that someone cares enough to ask how they are doing. If you get a mouthful in return, at least you know what kind of people they are, rather than speculating.

Having an unkempt garden is one thing, having supermarket trolleys in it is another! Having a load of junk in your front garden is completely different to not having time to cut the grass. I'd be annoyed if I was the OP too, it brings the whole street down and it would be a problem if you wanted to sell. There's no need for it!

I think it's definitely worth popping round and mentioning it to them, but I wouldn't be too surprised if nothing happens. I'd be surprised if another neighbour hasn't already spoken to them.

System

I'm sure you and your neighbours can get together form a vigilante mob and run them out of the village.

anselld

Nuisance neighbours who rent are the same as nuisance neighbours.

pinkshoes

kirstiex wrote: »

they have a dog that is neverwalked and uses the garden as his toilet, where the kids then run barefoot (yuk!!) orsometimes naked and then the dad mows over the excrement, which offers a lessthan pleasant smell across our garden.

The above, for starters, is disgusting, and verging on child neglect. I would be tipping off social services...

I woukd then politely contact the LL and point out that the rubbish in the front garden is encouraging rats, and will soon have environmental health involved if something isn't done.

Fireflyaway

Its the people living there that are causing the issue not the landlord so I would speak to them first. Maybe they don't realise its an issue. Some people just have different standards and they might not know what they are doing bothers you. Going behind their back to the landlord is more likely to get their back up I would think.

theartfullodger

And when you spoke to these neighbours what happened?? If you haven't done so I suggest you do!

Good advice from the experts here...
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/housing_e/housing_problems_where_you_live_e/neighbour_disputes.htm

If you are lucky enough to be in Scotland then anti-social behaviour by tenant requires landlord to take action so, look him up on landlordregistrationscotland and write to him: Come on Engerland, catch up!

Cheers!