Trouble with my neighbours

thelem

I don't understand the shocked / aggressive tone of many of the responses to this post. The way I read the situation is that your neighbour is a bit cheeky and not particularly afraid to ask for something, where as you're more reserved. If you communicate better both issues can probably be resolved and everyone happy.



Bins: Her bin is full due to the size of her family, but she knows you live alone so will usually have space in your bin. You're not charged by the council, so what's the harm? It sounds like there is only one time she has used space that you needed, and that was after a few months of using your bin with no complaints. You don't need to confront your neighbour about this, just politely ask her not use your bin. If that doesn't work, then you can move on to returning the rubbish / bin locks etc.


Car: Most people would like to park directly outside their own homes. Again, she's been a little cheeky asking you not to, but it was a polite question and you have the right to say no. Personally, since she's asked, I'd try and avoid parking outside her house, but if it was the only spot available then I'd park there.

Jane_B

I feel your pain, in our old home we had a neighbor who thought he owned the public parking area across the road from his house (a house with 3 parking bays I may add which were filled up, but he had a van on top!)
I had the cheek to park on this patch of claimed land and it got ugly, he blocked me in with his van and his daughters car, he got his daughter to stand on the spot between 17:00-18:00 (when I usually came home) to stop me parking there...didn't work...I just made her get out the way to be petty.

In the end a fist fight ensued and the police were called, all over a bit of public land! crazy...so I get you.

I would park there, if the neighbour asks, say its public land, and you'd be a lot more amenable to granting her favours if they hadn't used your bin!

pkmid

thelem wrote: »

I don't understand the shocked / aggressive tone of many of the responses to this post. The way I read the situation is that your neighbour is a bit cheeky and not particularly afraid to ask for something, where as you're more reserved. If you communicate better both issues can probably be resolved and everyone happy.



Bins: Her bin is full due to the size of her family, but she knows you live alone so will usually have space in your bin. You're not charged by the council, so what's the harm? It sounds like there is only one time she has used space that you needed, and that was after a few months of using your bin with no complaints. You don't need to confront your neighbour about this, just politely ask her not use your bin. If that doesn't work, then you can move on to returning the rubbish / bin locks etc.


Car: Most people would like to park directly outside their own homes. Again, she's been a little cheeky asking you not to, but it was a polite question and you have the right to say no. Personally, since she's asked, I'd try and avoid parking outside her house, but if it was the only spot available then I'd park there.

Sorry but I don't agree, how rude is that to assume the space in someone's bin is their own to take? Everyone pays council tax but she doesn't pay more than the OP to start using their facilities. Not sure if the council in the area allow you to have two bins if you have a young family but again this isn't OP's job to sort out.

OP - I'd get a lock and not think twice about it. Why would you need to explain yourself when it's part of your property?

financegeek

If this were me in your situation i think parking wise i'd try to avoid parking outside her house if possible, although it's not something I'd ask someone else to do, it's not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things if you have to walk a few metres more.

with the bin though i'd definitely be getting a lock! is she aware you know she uses your bin for her overspill? if not, i'd simply lock it and if she asks say someone is filling it up to the point you can't use it, so you've put a stop to it.

if she knows maybe ask her to stop first while pointing her in the direction of where she can get a further bin (or by giving her directions to the tip in her car!) then lock it if it continues.

Good luck!

Bass_9

Simona_Fire wrote: »

I have actually. I think it is the only time she gets any peace. She has three kids around 5 or under and seems pretty stressed most of the time.

I think I’ll let the parking issue slide and try to park somewhere else but if she keeps filling our bin up I think I’ll have to have a word. A lock is perhaps too passive aggressive? I don’t mind one bag but filling it to the point where there’s not enough room for our rubbish is too much!

I think you are being far too passive here. You have been given a lot of good advice here (particularly from the poster with the swan avatar). I understand not wanting to start an argument but if you don't put your foot down now they may start to take more of a lend in the future.

Effervescent

I have similar but slightly different problem with my neighbours. They have part built a huge outbuilding in their garden which they have been working on noisily every weekend/evening for the past year. They continually park their bright red van directly outside my kitchen window blocking all light into my kitchen and leaving me nowhere to park outside my own house. They park their car outside their house. They don't put rubbish in my bin but mainly leave it in their own back garden. They never do any gardening in the front or back gardens, nor any decorating or cleaning to the outside so the place is just a dump!

Effervescent

I have similar but slightly different problem with my neighbours. They have part built a huge outbuilding in their garden which they have been working on noisily every weekend/evening for the past year. They continually park their bright red van directly outside my kitchen window blocking all light into my kitchen and leaving me nowhere to park outside my own house. They park their car outside their house. They don't put rubbish in my bin but mainly leave it in their own back garden. They never do any gardening in the front or back gardens, nor any decorating or cleaning to the outside so the place is just a dump! They have a baby - I can't imagine what sort of condition the baby is living in inside the house.

moneyistooshorttomention

On the other hand - maybe they do weigh up possible consequences and think:

- They're obviously not exactly bright/don't know the law very well/have got a bad reputation already for other things

- OP is obviously noticeably brighter/has at least some idea about the law/errr...it has to be said "Middle class and the other person isn't"/not done a thing wrong and can prove many years of "not having done a thing wrong".

Put like that - the odds would be against the "naughty" one of the two....:cool:

Cheeky_Monkey

I can't believe that posters, including the OP, are putting more importance on the damn bin than the safety of 3 small children who could quite easily be snatched from the car before the mother knew anything about it :mad:

If it were me, I would definitely put a lock on my bin and park wherever I wanted to. If that means that the neighbour leaves her small children in the car napping further from her house, I'd be phoning Social Services.

PasturesNew

Rather than an ugly lock, even if only £15, with the bins in the front yard I'd look at getting a smart/lockable "bin store" to keep them in until the day.... less chavvy than a fat lock that draws the eye of feral nuisances who are looking for "something to pratt about with"