Episode 3: I've ran out of options with noisy neighbours, what can I do now?!

Noctu

lhg91 wrote: »

Unfortunately there is only one new development where we live, and as mentioned above, the last few plots available are surrounded by affordable rented homes. I'm just worried if we part-exchange to these homes, the problem may be just the same!

What about looking further afield - within commuting distance?

NaughtiusMaximus

sal_III wrote: »

If you can afford to take a hit on the sale price, market the property at lower than market price. The formal complaint needs to be disclosed, but is not stopping you from selling the property to someone who doesn't care about the problem, like an investor or unscrupulous LL who won't live there himself and doesn't' care that much about his tenants.

In the absence of a part exchange at a new build development the OP would be interested in, unfortunately this is the best of limited options IMO.

ReadingTim

lhg91 wrote: »

So, in essence, do any of you have ANY recommendations of what we can do without losing out on a ton of money? Right now, I just want them out, which isn't going to happen. And so the only other alternative is for us to move.

Sometimes there isn't a "best" solution, just the "least bad" one.

So, would you prefer to:

- lose money; or

- keep living next door to these people?

There will be costs associated with moving, but if there's any way you can afford it, then do it and get away from them - if they're as awful as it sounds, it seems like money well spent.

[Deleted User]

CurlySue2017 wrote: »

I think you have answered your own question......you need to move.


Just keep in mind however that this problem could happen anywhere, not just with HA tenants, because your post comes across as very judgemental and stereotypical to be honest.


Neighbours from hell appear in all walks of life and you would do well to remember that.

As you are so tolerant perhaps you'd like to do a house swap with OP ?


OP is an awful situation and likely to come out with a best worse case scenario, lose you sanity or your finances, not a choice most would like to make.

xylophone

Since then we have got the housing association, local police and child protection services involved.

http://www.environmentlaw.org.uk/rte.asp?id=115

If the noisy neighbour is a tenant, you can make a complaint to the landlord. Most tenancy agreements require tenants not to do anything that would constitute a nuisance to neighbours. The landlord can use the tenancy agreement to deal with the problem if it persists, with eviction as the last resort.

In England and Wales, Schedule 2 (Ground 2) of the Housing Act 1985 allows excessive noise nuisance to be possible grounds for eviction. Councils, housing associations and the police have powers to tackle anti-social noise from residential premises under Part 1 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
In Scotland, section 35 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 allows a landlord to convert a secure tenancy to a short secure tenancy if the tenant has been served with an antisocial behaviour order.
If informal approaches do not work, you may have to complain to your local council. The environmental health department can investigate your complaint and put a stop to the noise if it is excessive. To help the process, keep a record or log of the problem including the times and duration of the noisy activity, and the effect it is having on you.

If you don't want to move then you are going to have to persevere with your formal complaints.

pmlindyloo

lhg91 wrote: »

Yes it is noise from the garden, but also noise in our bedroom, living room and also drug use (smell of cannabis comes in through our windows if we have them open). There is also threatening behaviour (the tenant has pushed a cigarette in front of my face and shouted at me before when I approached her about the cannabis smell), and they have also threatened to damage our property.

Anti social behaviour from any neighbours is not acceptable.

I presume you are keeping a log of any of the behaviour that has occurred and reported it to the appropriate authorities?

What did the police say about the use of cannabis and the threats?

What did social services say about the use of cannabis where children are present?

I mention these things in particular because noise from children is a difficult one to complain about.

Has the local authority housing officer been to speak with the family?

Did the police investigate? Did social services?

There are still complaint procedures that you can use. Have a read of this:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/problems-where-you-live/complaining-about-your-neighbour/

Have you tried mediation with a third person?

Concentrate on the ones I have highlighted as these are the ones which are likely to be viewed as anti social.

Housing associations are notorious for not dealing with anti social behaviour and the person who said that courts do not like splitting up families is a typical response.

At the very least the local housing association should be sending letters/speaking to them about their behaviour.

Are the children's behavioural issues being addressed?

I would not be put off by the HA's response to your visiting a solicitor. I would be, at the very least, sending a solicitor's letter advising that legal action would be taken if they did not stop this anti social behaviour.

I am appalled that people have to try to sell their house (taking a huge financial loss) to get away from anti social behaviour.

I am also appalled that housing associations and councils do not live up to their promises to stop such behaviour. There is no doubt that the tenants are in breach of their tenancy agreement and the HA and council should be making some efforts to put things right.

Also social services should be protecting the children from their cannabis smoking parents, lack of parenting skills etc etc

It is not good enough for the council to say it is difficult to rehouse them - where's there a will there's a way. Make a formal complaint to the HA and the council, social services and the police (if they have done nothing)

And get that letter written from the solicitor - money worth spent.

I know I would rather explore absolutely all avenues before I suffered the loss of thousands of pounds through no fault of my own.

End of rant!

NaughtiusMaximus

xylophone wrote: »

If you don't want to move then you are going to have to persevere with your formal complaints.

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I know I would rather explore absolutely all avenues before I suffered the loss of thousands of pounds through no fault of my own.

From reading this and the earlier threads I think the OP is past the stage of exploring options around resolving the issues at hand and just wants out, as would I in the same situation.

lookstraightahead

I feel your pain op. I hope it's sorted soon

outofworksch

Are you able to make an appointment with your local councillor and ask them for help?

shayne7779

We found ourselves in a similar situation a number of years ago ....
we would have took a big hit to sell at that time .... we explored the authorities route & found that more inciteful of our then neighbours
Our solution was to become landlords & we rented the property out - we rented elsewhere - the offset between rental income & our new rental outgoing was within what we felt was acceptable -

We did all above board with lender & via letting agent & continued to do so for a few years & varied tenants & maybe we got lucky but it worked out for us in the end ... few bumps nothing insurmountable

Our Mortgage paid via rent - so our rent payments didn!!!8217;t feel like a drain to us
We maintained property to good std
We got to live peacefully in better area
House prices didn!!!8217;t take off like a rocket ship but we were able to sell at better than we could back then
Neighbours were long gone by time our last tenant served notice & we sold - exchanged in 4 mths

Is this an option for you O.P ... it may seem daunting at first & it may seem extreme but if your neighbours are like what ours were back then you!!!8217;ll understand why we did this

Just a thought alongside other useful suggestions