neighbour issues

worried123

I have had ongoing issues with my neighbour since she moved in. Dogs barking outside all night long for months on end, dog fouling, gate banging and door slamming at unearthly hours etc etc...she does indeed have issues...mental health issues but is also a horrible and selfish woman - if you complain she becomes vindictive.
After many sleepless nights i found her housing association`s details, complained to them and they eventually intervened opening an asb case and the dog barking throughout the night and weidespread dog fouling has stopped....but other things continue that you just turn a blind eye (and ear) to.
The night going into christmas eve - it was 12.30 AM - she was mowing her lawn with a loud electric lawn mower (she has not cut her grass all year and lives surrounded by mess)......I couldnt believe what i was hearing so opened my front door.....when she looked over at me I said, `Its 12.30!` (i have not spoken to this woman for about a year...she freaks me out and i want nothing to do with her) ...to which she politely said, `Just `F**K off` and continued to mow.........
She has done many things that have astounded me but this time enough is enough.
I have been onto the website of my council`s noise nuisance etc....and you can fill in a form but it says dont if its a one off....well the lawn mowing is a one off but many other things arent...indeed her astounding unacceptable behaviour at all hours is practically continuous.....but i wanted them to send her a letter of a list of things that are deemed unacceptable, illegal or that should be adhered to.
Family that i have mentioned this last inccident to have told me to let it go...she is mentally ill etc. However, she may well be mentally ill...who else would mow their lawn in december at midnight...she doesnt work and has all day to do it....she will be home all day and then noisily drag her bins and recycling out for collection at 2.00am etc.......she lives in a world of her own...things we wouldnt dream of doing.....however, she is also an intelligent woman and she is also very, very selfish.......she knows what she is doing....i also feel that she maybe feels that because she does have mental health issues she can do just as she wishes and nobody will touch her but tip toe around her....she is also carrying loads of baggage etc and is immensely vindictive if you complain (when i complained about masses of dog fouling right outside she continued to allow it and dropped a bag full of the stuff outside my front gate, tipping half of it out and i had to contact the council - fix my street` to clear it up......gaggingly revolting.
She also is now behaving like a victim to any authority involved - her HA by complaining that i am `picking on her`for complaining about outrageously unacceptable things...
I am at the end of the line with this woman and feel she needs to be told...really told...that some things are simply unacceptable and to be mindful of other people who have to get up for work etc....
Will environmental health do anything about the grass mowing in the middle of the night do you know?
(i am also a bit concnerned that should i approach environmental health it may go against me if i decide to sell and move).
I just want somebody in authority to actually say to this woman `look, this is what is and isnt acceptable or even legal - this is what you should adhere to`.......

any thoughts please...sorry for long ramble.. thank you.

sevenhills

worried123 wrote: »

The night going into christmas eve - it was 12.30 AM - she was mowing her lawn with a loud electric lawn mower

Electric mowers are quieter than petrol

worried123 wrote: »

i am also a bit concnerned that should i approach environmental health it may go against me if i decide to sell and move).

If you have already contacted the housing association, that may need to be declared.

worried123

Gee thanks!

comeandgo

Can you not put your big girl pants on and explain what is unacceptable and ask how you can help her? You have complained to authority so it will need to be declared. How do her other neighbors put up with her? Are they complaining about her?

EssexExile

I apologise for the previous answers given in this season of goodwill, they obviously never had such challenging neighbours.

I don't know the legal or official routes but the first thing I would do is keep a log of everything that happens, the things she does & times, plus any interaction between you. The facts are always better than just saying "it's going on all the time". After you have a month or two written down read it & think "Does this really look bad to anyone else or am I being paranoid?" If it really looks bad then I'd give a copy to the HA and/or the council & see what transpires.

Meanwhile pray that she moves, our one did eventually.

worried123

EssexExile wrote: »

I apologise for the previous answers given in this season of goodwill, they obviously never had such challenging neighbours.

I don't know the legal or official routes but the first thing I would do is keep a log of everything that happens, the things she does & times, plus any interaction between you. The facts are always better than just saying "it's going on all the time". After you have a month or two written down read it & think "Does this really look bad to anyone else or am I being paranoid?" If it really looks bad then I'd give a copy to the HA and/or the council & see what transpires.

Meanwhile pray that she moves, our one did eventually.

Many thanks.......will do as you suggest. so glad your neighbour fom hell moved...wish mine would too.

thank you - happy christmas.

Davesnave

You have had ongoing problems with this neighbour for some time, but nothing she does seems bad enough in itself to get her evicted.

She slams a gate a lot, she cuts too far into a boundary hedge, she cuts her lawn in the middle of the night etc etc. It's annoying, but pretty low level stuff, compared with what some tenants get up to.

Keeping a diary of events is a good idea. It will maybe help you be more concise if you do decide to report her to the HA. You should certainly keep your own psychoanalysis of her behaviour out of it; even if she is mentally ill she still has to live somewhere. Stick to the facts.

Dealing with difficult neighbours means being smarter than them, keeping the big picture in mind rather than reacting to every instance of provocation. For example, she got exactly the reaction she wanted from you when mowing at 12.30. If you'd done nothing and just let her get on with it, the ridiculous behaviour would have been a failure from her point of view. She'd have much less incentive to try it again.

pollypenny

Mowing the lawn in the middle of the night in December suggests that her mental health issues are pretty bad and she need help, as do her neighbours.

Definitely log everything and perhaps contact the police if she does something like that again.

Norman_Castle

pollypenny wrote: »

Mowing the lawn in the middle of the night in December suggests that her mental health issues are pretty bad and she need help

I've got a neigbour who annually piles junk in the front garden just before Christmas. Nothing vindictive or suggesting mental health problems, just their version tidying their home for Christmas.

LadyDee

If you can't get anywhere with the Council/HA, perhaps it might be worth contacting your local Councillor. They can often be extremely helpful.

bris

Allies would help your case, do you have any neighbours who feel the same way?


The HA would have to act as their licence states they have to deal with anti social tenants so the more people complaining the better.