Trouble selling house due to nuisance neighbour *Please Help*

Noctu

We had a similar situation (although not quite as bad as what you're describing). We part exchanged with a local builder. 3 years later we couldn't be happier :beer:

Smodlet

I sympathise so much, I really do. We live the other side of a party wall from the neighbour from hell. The only thing that really got the council's attention was a catalogue of sound recordings; have you tried this?

I realise the child's noise is probably inadmissible if it has "issues" (don't get me started) but, if the mother gets off her head and makes noise at anti social hours, that should provide evidence of her neglect. It will take a long time and be even more stressful than filling out a nuisance log but, if it yields results, will be worth it.

I wish you luck... If you like, you can do the same for me; the fight continues...

mikul182

Thank you to everyone that took the time out to reply.
An update to the situation, since the 15th Jan, 3 dogs has become 2 dogs. The golden retriever that barked non stop has disappeared! The barking has improved considerably. The only problem regarding noise now is that the one of the remaining 2 dogs, a pug, has upped his barking. I don’t know if its cos it misses the other dog? The pug doesn’t get walked so is obviously bored out of its mind but it seems as if its taken over from where the retriever left off. The pug barks a few (too many) times a day. More than average and it is annoying because I have forgotten what peace and quiet actually is. Hopefully this now means that potential buyers of our property are a not put of by any activity from said nuisance neighbour.

trevormax

I would suggest you first stop being so dramatic about the situation and think about it logically and without strong emotion. Sure, it is stressful selling a house, but saying that filling in a form for the noise is "highly stressful" is unrealistic and potentially you are winding your self up a bit thinking that.

Secondly, I would suggest you take a look at new, recent legislation introduced exactly for situations like the one you find your self in. The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Specifically, Part 6 S104 (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/12/part/6/crossheading/response-to-complaints-about-antisocial-behaviour/enacted)

This deals with the responsibilities of your council, councillors and police when it comes to ASB (such as noise complaints). In a nut-shell, if they (the council) receive a certain number of complaints of an ASB nature, the relevant bodies (council/police) must carry out a response to the behaviour (an ASB case review). To get them to do this, you have to ask them to do it. They then need to come up with a solution onnce they carry out the review. The results must then be published/documented.

Basically, this new legislation was introduced to force bodies to act on ASB, and to document their actions, rather than shirking their responsibilities and doing nothing. If they don't follow the legislation, you can then complain to councillors and MP's to light a fire under them.

Bear in mind, this isn't a quick overnight fix and will take months. However, it may end up with the neighbour being issued with a court injunction (Part 1 S1 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/12/part/1/enacted), Community Protection Order
(Part 4 Chapter 1 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/12/part/4/chapter/1/enacted) or be kicked out of their house for 3 to 6 months (Part 4 Chapter 3 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/12/part/4/chapter/3/enacted). I would assume that the threat of any of these things would get your neighbour to sort out her dogs from barking.

Finally, as others have said, if the child is being cared for by someone under the influence, and is at risk of harm or injury, and is not receiving proper education, then contact child services so that they can get involved.

PhilE

Your living next to total scum and I really sympathize. Barking dogs are the worst, and people who allow their dogs to bark should move to countries where dogs bark, sewage is on the streets and human rights don't exist. Such places would suit their mentality.

If this were in Germany, a dog barking at night past the half hour mark and a kid screaming would invite a visit from the law who would promptly shut them up. Not coincidental that Germany has the best economy in Europe and we don't.

Document everything, take it to court and fight it. A child screaming until midnight is going to attract the attention of the social services.

With the ignorant, they usually will stop when there's a threat of action against them, then they revert back to their usual mode of nastiness.

During a temporary lull in the disruption, sell your home below market value and get out of there.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I feel sorry for all the many dogs in this country that spend the vast majority of their lives stuck indoors or in miserable outdoor yards. They may be physically well fed, but constant barking is surely a sign of poor mental health. We should be less squeamish about removing dogs with zero quality of life.

Smodlet

Dogs who are neglected in all but the most basic ways for instance, never taken for walks, let out only long enough to go to the loo, never played with, will bark out of sheer boredom. It does not mean they should be put down or that they suffer from mental illness. They should be removed from the scum who make them suffer so and given to people who want to take good care of them. If anyone should be put down, it is those those who neglect them.

I disagree that barking dogs are the worst form of noise nuisance: Screaming, swearing chavs are far, far worse. I have lived the other side of a wall from both and would welcome the dogs back with open arms.

mikul182

I see a lot of comments suggesting to take a financial loss and just !!!8216;get out!!!8217;. The only fear I have there is that when it comes to the conveyancing side of things and me having to disclose any issues that the buyer then pulls out!

GwylimT

What did social services and the nspcc say when you reported child neglect and exposure to drugs?

martindow

mikul182 wrote: »

I see a lot of comments suggesting to take a financial loss and just !!!8216;get out!!!8217;.

This is odd - I've noticed on other posts that MSE seems to be printing html code rather than quotation marks today.