Self-proclaimed Worst Neighbour Preventing Sale

G_M

csgohan4 wrote: »

What happened to tea and cakes... (GM TM)

I may be a softie, but I'm a realist too. Even I can recognise a lost cause....

wwl

Tell him as you can't sell your only choice will be to rent it to the Council to house (anti) social tenants

Casa1862

If it gets logged as a formal dispute, then come selling time it will have to be declared as a neighbour dispute, Won't do both of you any good, might need to remind him of that.

Davesnave

Without knowing the individual concerned it's hard to know how to proceed in cases like this.

A member of my family had the same sort of problems with his development. Despite consulting and trying to keep things calm, the neighbour reacted very badly, convinced that it was a speculative venture.

Only after 4 years of my relative living there has this person relented and made concilatory noises, but it's a bit late for that. All the reasoning in the world would have had no impact a few years ago and, indeed, the police had to be called on several occasions.

To be honest, the police weren't a lot of use, beyond calming the immediate situation, so talk of ASBOs may be wishful thinking. In the end, simple dogged determination not to react was the best strategy. It still is.

Only with your inside knowledge is it possible to know what's best, because it's your health as well as your wallet which is likely to be affected here. Very few people are as strong, silent and resilient as my relative. If it were me, I'd sell the lot and move on. Life's too short, and there's always a price at which any property will sell; it doesn't have to be a fire-sale one either.

anselld

Presumably you are only trying to sell one of the semis. Could you not sell the one which does not joint this neighbour and live in the other until things settle down?

moneyistooshorttomention

Check out the Protection from Harassment Act. I would think this could be used against this mans behaviour.

Quite recent provisions in the law do mean the police have the ability (think its connected with this Act) to go and warn this man that he will be subject to penalties if he continues with his conduct.

I cant remember the details of this - but I do know I was all set to use this against my nasty neighbours if they had kept up their harassment of me (but thankfully...fingers crossed hard...it seems to have stopped at last).

EDIT; I think the trigger for the police coming in was that something is done "repeatedly". I started counting incidents of one particular behaviour and logging them and only needed one more for it to count as "repeatedly" and I would have called the police - but, funnily enough, there weren't any more similar incidents.

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Check out the Protection from Harassment Act. I would think this could be used against this mans behaviour.

Quite recent provisions in the law do mean the police have the ability (think its connected with this Act) to go and warn this man that he will be subject to penalties if he continues with his conduct.

Having the ability is not the same as using it. In the case to which I referred, there was enough evidence for a charge to be brought, but one doesn't tell the police their job, and especially when there is new legislation involved.

So far, this person has put up some signs of unknown size in his garden, played loud music and parked his car badly. I have doubt that these things would, in themselves, result in a charge. The police have to be careful to remain impartial.

Despite the relatively low level of harrassment described, the OP says he is in a 'complete mess,' so I tailored my response to that.

Your idea of using the new ASBO has merit, but it's whether the OP can go through with it and to what degree his local police support him which worries me. Upping the anti can be a path of no return in which there are no winners.I'd totally agree that the PSCO should be the next port of call.

princeofpounds

So far, this person has put up some signs of unknown size in his garden, played loud music and parked his car badly. I have doubt that these things would, in themselves, result in a charge. The police have to be careful to remain impartial.

The signs are certainly intimidatory, as is the specific course of conduct with the music. I'm not saying the police would charge, but in my mind this clearly does cross the harassment threshold and I wouldn't hesitate to get them involved if it wasn't for the issue around what to declare when selling.


OP, do you have any clue at all what specifically upset this guy? Was it the disruption of the building, or the perceived loss of privacy, or do they want to disrupt the sale to knock the price down for a related party? It might affect how you tackle this. I'd be surprised if you don't have some kind of clue.


If it was me, I would actually go and try to talk to the guy (probably with a microphone in my pocket mind you). It would be a confrontation initially, but you might find that he actually tells you what his problem is and if someone is angry and frustrated, sometimes just being heard can clam them down. But I know that wouldn't work for everyone, and I'm not advising that course of action just yet.

moneyistooshorttomention

princeofpounds wrote: »

OP, do you have any clue at all what specifically upset this guy? Was it the disruption of the building, or the perceived loss of privacy, or do they want to disrupt the sale to knock the price down for a related party? It might affect how you tackle this. I'd be surprised if you don't have some kind of clue.

Many people don't have logical motives for their actions. In the case of my own neighbours:
- one seems to have been motivated by ego, greed and nationalism
- the other one by ego, greed and jealousy.

None of those motives are logical in that instance.

However, sometimes people have logical motives for their actions and this man might have ones other than emotional ones.

So - I tend to think its worthwhile trying to figure out if there is a logical reason behind peoples actions - as its so much easier to deal with them IF there is.

csgohan4

G_M wrote: »

I may be a softie, but I'm a realist too. Even I can recognise a lost cause....

I am disappointed with you...