Ex neighbours possessions left on our drive

HampshireH

You are not party to their sale at all.

I'd have considered it flytipping......until the point you said it could stay for a period of time. And at that point you gave consent.

Phone him give him a deadline and say that you will dispose if not collected on said date and time. Follow up in writing. Tell him you'll take it to court to recover your costs.

Then follow through.

UnderOffer

Make contact and explain that his possessions are still on the drive, exposed to the elements and you need them removed by x time and date. 

I know you mentioned he saw the items on your drive, but he may also have assumed after he left that the ex wife removed them and took responsible for storing them, so it is possible he thinks they’ve gone. Alert him ASAP. 

Scotbot

Tell him he has 48 hrs to remove the stuff (basically the weekend) and that if it is still there after that you will report him for fly tipping. If he actually values the stuff he will remove it over the weekend. If he doesn't ring the council.

youth_leader

So sorry to read this, poor you being left in this situation and poor neighbour being unable to cope with the reality of it, it's very sad.  I hope he turns up with a van and surprises you.  My friend threw her boyfriend's possessions out into the front garden when they split, was all ruined in the rain.  

Section62

Windofchange said:

If it bothered me that much I’d probably just move it all back onto next doors drive, or onto the pavement at the front. It’s your property and you can clear it if you want.

That would be flytipping and could lead the OP into expensive trouble.  There's no justification whatsoever to move it onto the property of the new occupiers, nor into public space.

Scotbot said:

Tell him he has 48 hrs to remove the stuff (basically the weekend) and that if it is still there after that you will report him for fly tipping. If he actually values the stuff he will remove it over the weekend. If he doesn't ring the council.

It isn't flytipping.  The OP has consented to the stuff being stored on their private property.

ProDave

It is not your problem.

Move it onto the driveway of the house they have just moved out of, and it is the new owners problem and their solicitor can then instruct them to come and remove it.

Thrugelmir

As you've got his mobile number. Wouldn't it best to call him to discuss the matter. No point speculating about scenarios. 

TripleH

I stand corrected on the fly tipping, I missed the point that you gave consent.

How much stuff is there?

As someone else said, if you have his parent's address, I'd leave it at their property rather than taking it to the tip unless it is a significantly longer journey.

Where is the stuff now and whatvdid you say exactly?

If you said it can be left there, I'd leave it where it is, upto him to move it from where it was put and deal with rain damage.

If you said you'd look after it, you might need to secure it from the weather etc as it might be argued you  were meant to minimise his losses by taking it in your care.

I think this is why 'you' should always agree a timescale at the start for these things. Did you agree or speak tomorrow him or his ex-wife about it as that might impact also on who can claim damages. If he never asked you, can he reasonably claim against you? 

theoretica

If you are willing to take the stuff to the tip (or would a charity shop want any?) you could present the ultimatum as being very helpful.  It wasn't collected by 5, it will get ruined by the weather, I will be taking it to the tip on X day, happy to do this for you, do let me know if you will be collecting before then so I don't need to plan this...

Section62

ProDave said:

It is not your problem.

Move it onto the driveway of the house they have just moved out of, and it is the new owners problem and their solicitor can then instruct them to come and remove it.

OP agreed the stuff could be left on their drive, so it is their problem.

Moving it onto their new neighbour's driveway is not a clever idea (unless they consent) as it could be (a) flytipping; and (b) going to sour the relationship with neighbours who will be living there going forward.