Can’t afford new neighbours requests.

Lbuk

Hi, I’m asking on behalf of my parents who live in an end of terrace.

In short. They made some really poor loan choices and are skint. Utterly. Completely. Skint. They have always worked full time and are just making ends meet. No car, only a budget weekend away per year, supporting my sister.

All that they have is the house and it’s in poor shape. They try…

So after 40 years they’ve got some new neighbours who seem to have bought with the intention to change but not pay.

They want the roof and gutters cleaning because water is dripping on their garage door.

They have a leak in the garage ceiling and asking about the condition of my parents plumbing.

There is a row of overgrown trees straddling the boundary - which my mum did trim recently but with a chainsaw herself because she can’t afford labour!

She’s worried sick that she is going to have to pay out all this money to contribute.

Even an increase in their home insurance (assuming they have any) would cripple them.

Any knowledge or advice?

Lbuk

Oh btw, my parents lease the garden and the neighbour own their garden.

Jeepers_Creepers

And you are? I mean, able-bodied? Competent? Capable of some basic DIY?

IF your parent's gutters are causing water to be deposited on your neighb's garage floor, then it's almost certain that your parents are liable for this. IF your parent's plumbing is leaking water through the neighb's garage ceiling, then it's almost certain that your parents are liable for this. (Forget 'almost'.)

(What layout are we talking about - does your parent's property go over the neighb's garage, flying-freehold style?)

I have no idea what having their garden 'leased' implies in terms of liability, but in most circumstances there's very little a neighb can do to oblige boundary trees to be trimmed back (I presume these are on your parent's 'responsibility' side?) There are exceptions to this, certainly if they are at risk of causing damage. But if your parents wanted to (in an unneighbourly way) simply say "Tough - if you don't like the trees at this height, then I give you permission to have them trimmed back to X height", I understand there's little the neighbs could do to oblige them otherwise. (Worth reading the terms of the deeds, tho', as this could have a different interpretation).

I can sympathise with your parent's financial difficulties, but that doesn't negate their responsibility to prevent damage to other people's properties. 

I have to say, they do all sound like easy-to-solve issues, tho' - a cleaning of the gutter, a check of the plumbing, and the probably more challenging trimming back of trees. And it's not unreasonable of the new neighbs to bring these issues to their attention - I think most people would. They may well be perfectly decent folk who, if your parent's situation was explained, might offer to have some of these issues sorted as they have them done on their own side too - I mean, to clean an extra gutter would be for be very little additional cost. And whether they plan to DIY their garage roof repair or get someone in to do this, the first task would be to confirm where the water was coming from; if getting a tradesperson in for a quote, that's the first thing they would do.

elsien

Who cleans a roof? Makes no odds to anything. Gutters is a reasonable request though, if the overflow is impacting in the neighbour. How old are your parents? Do either one of them, or you, have enough of a head for heights to go up and do them yourselves? 

Is there a possibility your parents plumbing is affecting the 
neighbours roof? If yes, they need to fix it, if not it’s not their problem but the neighbour asking them to check as part of trying to track down the source is a reasonable request.
FWIW, your parents may find that damage caused by the house not being maintained may not be covered. Some insurers have a question about this on the renewal form. 

The trees are only an issue if they are dangerous. Otherwise the neighbours can trim anything over the boundary themselves if they want to. If your parents lease the garden from someone they need to check the specific terms of the lease, but it is likely that the trees are your parents  responsibility. 

Doozergirl

Perhaps they should be looking at the Debt Free Wannabe board. 

If they are paying high loan rates that they can't afford, then a conversation with a free debt advice service, someone like Step Change, will provide relief.  Whether it's a debt management plan that gets the interest stopped and the payments reduce to something that allows some breathing space, or something else.  

We all need to be able to afford to live.  

ryan7

If their guttering is affecting the neighbours then it will be affecting your parents or soon will be.
The local window cleaner might be willing to clean them for an extra £20 or £30.
Its a 15 mins job at most.

Rosa_Damascena

Jeepers_Creepers said:

And you are? I mean, able-bodied? Competent? Capable of some basic DIY?

Classic Jeeps philosophy

carefullycautious

What about applying for  sheltered housing, they could then sell the house and have a secure tenancy for the remainder of their days. A house and garden only becomes a liability as you age and are no longer able to afford the upkeep.

Jeepers_Creepers

Rosa_Damascena said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

And you are? I mean, able-bodied? Competent? Capable of some basic DIY?

Classic Jeeps philosophy

:-( I think I'm developing a reputation :-(  I've already had a post deleted for being too sarcy :-(

Moss5

Now that it has got personal, I always enjoy the effort that Jeepers makes, even though I hate his screen name.He is a one-man not-for-profit organization.

I also think Rosa would be someone to share a Gin & Tonic with and Doozergirl is a 'Nice' person. It's odd that we form impressions of people we have never met. 

-taff

I'd always thought of doozer as terrifying competent, suffering no fools and very free with handy information