Pet Menace by Tenants in Flat Upstairs

diya_2

Hi, Hope someone can advise me.

We recently bought and moved into a ground floor flat in a block of 4 flats. Of the remaining three flats, two are the landlords and the third is a tenant who lives right on top of us. They have a big dog which they let it wander in the communal gardens and it goes around the whole garden littering about. And the tenants do not clean it up and leave it there for weeks together. The garden faces my lounge windows and am not able to even open it.
Also have a 3 yr old son, who loves to play in the garden but is unable to do so now.

Our lease clearly states that pets are not to fowl in the garden. The other 2 Landlords, have spoken to this tenant, only to be banged by the door on their face. They have also complained to the Landlord, who just does not call back.

The managment is by the 4 Landlords.

What can I do..as having bought the house, we are not able to walk into the garden..also, surely its not hygenic in any way...

pls advise...mny thnkx...diya

poppy10_2

Feed the dog chocolate....

maninthestreet

poppy10 wrote: »

Feed the dog chocolate....

Chocolate is poisonous to dogs, so that should get rid of the problem.

pboae

It would also be illegal, and far from guaranteed to work, not all dogs are affected by chocolate. Plus, surely they would just get another dog.

Diya, I don't understand who all these landlords are. You have bought your flat, so presumably you are a leaseholder. The management company is run by 4 landlords, 2 of whom live in 2 flats (is that right? When you call them landlords, do you mean they are your freeholders?) Where do they other 2 landlords come into it? Who owns the freehold?

Who is the leaseholder on the flat with the dog in it?

What does it say in your lease about your rights to use the garden?

What does your lease say about pets?

If it was a neighbour you could report it to the Environmental Health on the grounds of a foul smell. I don't know for sure if this would apply to communal areas, but I can't think of any immediate reason why not. You might want to check that first though, in case it resulted in a fine or something that applied to all the flats in the building, I'm not sure how that would work.

joolsybools

Is there a managing agent of the block of flats? Not sure if that is the right phrase but most flats also have to pay a fee to an agent who oversees the whole building? Maybe they can give you some leverage?

drc

Does the garden belong to your flat solely or is it a communal garden with everyone in the block having access rights?

Norma_Desmond

I'm sorry, I know it's not a very adult thing to do, but the 'dog's mess through said tenant's letterbox' trick IS effective.

diya_2

Thanks for all the replies...

Sorry if am not phrasing right!

Each flat owner shares 25% of the freehold..and all the four flat owners form the management company...The leaseholder, who has let out the flat with the dog is part of the management and whom we are not able to get in touch with...left messages on his phone..no replies...no one has his adress, as he always gives his parents address...

The lease says that pets are not allowed to fowl in the garden..

diya_2

:rolleyes: cant do this...its again a common letter box for all the occupants

Norma_Desmond wrote: »

I'm sorry, I know it's not a very adult thing to do, but the 'dog's mess through said tenant's letterbox' trick IS effective.

diya_2

Its a communal garden for all the 4 flat owners...but my lounge window and bedroom window sopens into this garden.

drc wrote: »

Does the garden belong to your flat solely or is it a communal garden with everyone in the block having access rights?

tomstickland

If they are breaking the terms of the lease then the law is on your side.

www.lease-advice.org have a free phone helpline, always worth a call.

You need to start digging round the internet trying to locate the leaseholder of the flat above yours. It might take some effort. Phone him every day, phone his parents every day (both of you). ie: at least 4 phone calls a day every day. Eventually they'll decide that talking to you is easier than ignoring you.

You can download the deeds for the flat above yours for something like £2.50 on the land registery website. That should give you the contact details. Also look up the management company data on companies house website.#

I'm not sure of how the law deals with this, but I think the leaseholder is responsible for making sure that their tenants adhere to the terms of the lease.