Trouble with a neighbour! What do I do?

AyJaydee

I am having a neighbour problem which is causing me a lot of anguish and I cannot see how to resolve the matter.  Sorry for the length of this, it's complicated.

For some years now, I have owned from new, a Coach-house. That means the residence is all on the 1st floor and there is a garage underneath.  When I bought it, the solicitor told me that it was a most unusual arrangement, in that the garage is on permanent lease to the owners of the house next door. There are also restrictive covenants on how the garage can be used, they can put a car there and that's about it. More on that later.  Also underneath is the accessway to a block of garages behind, which all the residents have the right to cross.

My first set of neighbours were a right bolshy couple and I continually had issues with them; leaving their refuse bins in the accessway, keeping a rally car in the garage and revving the engine in there (no silencer) causing my property to shake and be filled with fumes.  Well they eventually moved and the people they sold to are just as bad!

I moved away when I remarried, but decided to keep the property as ‘insurance’, just in case.  So I now rent it out, giving a welcome boost to my modest income.

The current neighbours keep their refuse bins in the accessway, right under my property, I had previously moved their bins onto their land and they moved them back!  I checked with Land Registry, it’s part of my freehold, meaning it’s my land. Last year, whilst doing some maintenance work there, I knocked on their door and politely asked the man to move his bin.  I received the traditional dismissal and the door was slammed in my face.  A moment later, he came rushing out looking like he was ready for a fist fight, all aggressive and shouting at me.  He’s a huge man, very intimidating, I think he’s a builder.

I tried to reason with him, but nothing doing. I believe his argument was, “It’s against the wall of my effing garage, I can put them where I effing want and you can **** off!”

He was closely followed by his wife who was even scarier and she had a go at me as well.  Her closing comment was, “No wonder no one effing likes you!”.

 

At this point, I was in near meltdown. I have Aspergers. I am not very good with conflict and cannot handle stuff like this. I am also not of big build.

 

A friend suggested that I should just leave them; I don’t live there and so cannot police it. But this has left me fuming.

 

Then recently, whilst there to get the property ready for the next tenant, I discovered that my neighbour is keeping a petrol lawn mower in the garage, presumably there’s also a petrol can too. This is not allowed (restrictive covenants) and they had previously been keeping their tumble drier in there also. As we all know, tumble driers have a habit of catching fire. A source of ignition and fuel supply underneath the bedroom and right next to the only exit!!!

 

I changed insurers last year after my encounter with the neighbours, because there was no Legal Cover included.  I have now contacted my insurers Legal team about this but it looks like they are not going to take on the case because I switched to them after this started.

 

So here’s my dilemma:

1.      You might say, ‘sell and walk away’, but that’s easier said than done. I have a tenant about to move in and I need the income for another couple of years until I retire.

2.      If the insurers legal team won’t take on the case and I fund an action myself...  Well I have heard of people losing everything over a neighbour dispute, and I could render the place unsellable due to a recorded dispute on the conveyance search. 

3.      If I do nothing and there were to be a tragedy e.g. a fire and loss of life; then that would be on my conscience and I might be held responsible/go to jail.

I see no good option here, everything is bad. Can anyone please suggest a way forward?

 

Slithery

Sell and walk away.

pramsay13

I'm not clear on what your preferred outcome is.

If it is for people to follow every rule exactly to the letter and not do something that impacts on their neighbours, this will not happen, and even if you move you will find it is almost certainly going to happen elsewhere.

My advice to you would be to relax a bit. Let your neighbours keep their bins where they want, and put whatever they like in their garage. 

dimbo61

The new tenants have not moved in yet so Sell and move on with your life.
This will just eat you up so get rid ASAP and be thankful you no longer have to live there.
If it's a garage which is used to store/park a vehicle then it should have a fire proof ceiling to stop flames/smoke from killing the people living in the Coach house above. 
Buy yourself a detached house 

davidmcn

AyJaydee said:

I could render the place unsellable due to a recorded dispute on the conveyance search.

That ship's already sailed - you know you've got a dispute which you'd need to disclose anyway (unless it's resolved by the time you sell).

But if you're not living there and your tenant isn't having problems either, do you need to do anything? No, you're not going to jail even if there were a fire, and I doubt it's quite as hazardous as you think.

AdrianC

You bought a coach-house above somebody else's garage... now you're surprised when people are doing fairly normal garage things in their garage...

No, a petrol lawnmower with a can and a tumble drier in the same space does not equal instant fiery death. It is hardly an unusual combination in garages across the land.
No, tumble driers do not "have a habit" of catching fire in general.
Yes, one manufacturer had a well-publicised problem with a recall - 800k were thought to have been sold, with 1 in 1,000 believed to have caused fires across a decade. Many of those have already been recalled, many will have already been replaced.

The bins in the passageway may become an issue for your tenant - but unless and until the tenant complains to you, it is not your issue.

onwards&upwards

 A friend suggested that I should just leave them; I don’t live there and so cannot police it. But this has left me fuming.

Your friend gave you excellent advice.  Follow it, and keep that friend! 

If you keep getting into conflict and interfering with your tenant's relationship with THEIR neighbours, you'll lose good tenants too.  

NameUnavailable

You don't live there. Do your tenants complain to you about what the neighbours use the garage for or where the bins are?

Assuming they don't then just ignore it. Keep renting for another couple of years as per your plan and then sell.

leonj

I thought there is no electricity supply in those garages to use a tumble dryer?

[Deleted User]

I have aspergers too, and can sometimes get a bit obsessive but am aware of that and try to restrict myself to what is worth it in terms of chances of the outcome I want.  Sometimes some lateral thinking is needed (i.e. are you going to be able to persuade the neighbour to stop behaving in a way you don't like without unreasonable expense.  If not, then surely it is best to walk away?)

1) Is there still a tumble dryer in the garage?
2) If there is, is it one of the risky models?  Bear in mind, even if it was, fires with them are rare.
3) The Bins are not causing you any problems, as already said on here, beyond their existence in the world.  If a tenant complains, then its more troublesome but even so, its hardly world destroying inconvenience.  Not really worth a confrontation such as the ones you describe.
4)  You can cancel the tenancy, pay the tenant whatever refunds they need and then sell.  Live off the money rather than rent .., and relax.
5) Or just rent it out, lie low for a year and then sell.  Almost certainly nothing further will happen in that time.  The year will give you time to plan selling the flat and adjust your financial plans.

kazwookie

I have owned from new, a Coach-house. That means the residence is all on the 1st floor and there is a garage underneath.  When I bought it, the solicitor told me that it was a most unusual arrangement, in that the garage is on permanent lease to the owners of the house next door.

If you bought it from new, that to me would indicate the garage was new as well, so how can the garage already be on a long term lease to another property?  something does not seem right.