Fence issue with neighbour and landlord

LannieDuck

judywoody wrote: »

i can see your point to some degree but he really always made the best attempt to ignore us to being downright rude by not even responding to a simple hello and generally never bothered about the garden. so to put, pulling weeds out, down as something negative is beyond me. his windows are completely covered with the curtains shut and the only we've been in his area was when we pulled the weeds. the fence was only put up because there was just a bare stone wall.

it seems his lack of communication accounts for nothing and at least the fence we put up wasn't concreted into the ground unlike his... i would have at least expected the landlord to give us heads up or say to him, let me check the contract. he just said yes cause he didn't have to pay for it.

It sounds to me as if your downstairs neighbour greatly values his privacy. So unfortunately you've not only pulled down some of his 'shielding', but also intruded on what was previously (rightly or wrongly) a private area.

Instead of getting angry at you or pulling down the fence, he's dealt with it via the landlord. That doesn't scream 'unreasonable' to me. It just sounds like someone who doesn't want to have a relationship with his neighbours.

dirty_magic

I actually think people are being harsh on the OP here. All she tried to do was make an area that she thought was a communal area look a bit nicer, and frankly I don't understand why anyone would be upset at someone weeding. I don't think the OP was trying to take over or be cheeky.

OP I understand what you're saying, I'd hate for the front of my house to be a mess and I can see why you're saying it reflects on you.

Unfortunately though I don't think there is much you can do about it as your landlord has said he isn't bothered and you don't own the property. If I were you I'd buy some nice pots for the pebbled area and try to make it look nice that way.

Also whilst GM did give advice, I think the mountain molehill comment was unnecessary and that's why the OP took it the wrong way.

pimento

dirty_magic wrote: »

I actually think people are being harsh on the OP here. All she tried to do was make an area that she thought was a communal area look a bit nicer, and frankly I don't understand why anyone would be upset at someone weeding. I don't think the OP was trying to take over or be cheeky.

OP I understand what you're saying, I'd hate for the front of my house to be a mess and I can see why you're saying it reflects on you.

Unfortunately though I don't think there is much you can do about it as your landlord has said he isn't bothered and you don't own the property. If I were you I'd buy some nice pots for the pebbled area and try to make it look nice that way.

Also whilst GM did give advice, I think the mountain molehill comment was unnecessary and that's why the OP took it the wrong way.

I think the difference is that we have been able to see it from the neighbours point of view and the OP hasn't.

fussypensioner

Unfortunately some people who rent properties do not care about how they keep the inside or outside as its not their property. On the other hand some tenants take pride in where they live and want to keep it nice. It seems that this tenant has no interest in the garden or socialising with the neighbours. So judywoody, give up and just keep true to yourself.

"Do not let the behaviour of others destroy your inner peace"

Dalai Lama

pimento

fussypensioner wrote: »

Unfortunately some people who rent properties do not care about how they keep the inside or outside as its not their property. On the other hand some tenants take pride in where they live and want to keep it nice. It seems that this tenant has no interest in the garden or socialising with the neighbours. So judywoody, give up and just keep true to yourself.

"Do not let the behaviour of others destroy your inner peace"

Dalai Lama

Or, to paraphrase - Wind your neck in!

dirty_magic

I can see why she didn't though tbh. It might be outside his windows but if they both use the area I can understand why she thought it was OK to tidy it up and weed it without checking with him. She just thought she was making it nicer.

Where we used to live one of the residents used to trim the bushes in the communal area and generally keep it looking neat; he didn't ever ask our permission and tbh I thought it was nice that he cared enough to make an effort.

The only reason the OP has reacted in the way she has is because she feels like she's been attacked, and tbh I can understand why. It's possible to tell someone they're wrong without making it personal, as some of the posters have.

Homeownertobe

Couldn't you find something more attractive than that hideous, cheap, nasty bamboo monstrosity you've inflicted on the world?

dirty_magic

Homeownertobe wrote: »

Couldn't you find something more attractive than that hideous, cheap, nasty bamboo monstrosity you've inflicted on the world?

Really, a monstrosity?! It's just some easily removable bamboo fencing, it's not a huge breeze block wall. Now that would be a monstrosity!

DiamondLil

pimento wrote: »

You do come across as quite bumptious.

"Bumptious" - lovely word; haven't heard it used for years.....

TBagpuss

OP, I can see that you were trying to improve things. I think the problem may be, as a PP pointed out, that you didn't have the courtesy to let you neighbour know what you planned, and then you became angry when he followed your lead and did things without the courtesy of giving you a heads-up.

You don't have to socialise or chat with him - you could have simply dropped a note through the door saying "We're planning to do some weeding in the communal front garden, and would like to put up some bamboo screening and maybe put some planters out with flowers in, we wanted to let you know, please let us know if you have any thoughts about it"

In the absence of anything specific in your contract giving you the right to use any of the areas he has gated off, you won't be entitled to any rent reduction - you haven't lost anything you were entitled to. Whether you are paying more, or less, than the neighbour is not relevant - you pay the rent you agreed with the landlord.

What might be sensible at this point would be to do as G_M suggested, and try to build bridges. Even a note to the neighbour saying "We just wanted to apologize if you felt we overstepped - we understood that the front garden was a communal area so wanted to tidy it up and perhaps brighten it with a few flowers. We would still like to add some flowers in tubs but would be happy to discuss any further additions with you if you would like, just drop us a line, or knock on the door"