conflict over the fence with housing managment company

werdas

hello all
briefly:
  my house has boundary with a block of flats, on one side
at the front of the house on a side ( boundary) there is hedge that belongs to block of flat

we moved in 2014, and since then we had to keep asking to maintain that hedge as it overgrows and we experience light loss due to the height of the hedge

slowly they stopped even cutting my side of their hedge, Housing Management company said their contractors are not insured working on my property, not sure is this legit claim as I imaging their contractors have their own insurance, anyway,  I keep my side of their hedge maintained by me, 
hedge is wide, 1m or so,

I have a basketball at the end of my drive, 2 meters away from their hedge,
I think it got worse since it was put there, as one tenant keeps his car in the corner of the other side of the hedge

and his wife works for that housing management company

every time my kids play ball he is watching them through his window, few times ball did land on his car , no damage though, and he aggressively rushed to tell my kids off, they are scared and intimidated by him, he threatens to knife all the balls 

he suggested I move my basketball in my back garden- not an option as I would need a crane and my garden has a lawn, so no bounce, where on my drive it is tarmac

he suggested my kids play water/pool balls---!!!!!!, btw they do not have kids, 
I said my kids will play with the balls that are the right size for their age

so not they stopped trimming the height of the hedge which overgrows, now more than 2 m height and this causes light loss in my dinning

last year after long argument we agreed that contractors will keep trimming height of the hedge closer to my house , whilst leaving the part of the hedge close to basketball growing, as this could prevent balls going over the fence

 I suggested him getting POP-UP STOP THAT BALL, but he said I should get that

Which I think it is unfair in principal as why should I spend my money protecting his old banger, AS when I had problem few year ago when tenants of that house where trespassing my boundaries, riding biked and near missing crashing in to my kids, I have asked that housing association to put a fence, they refused said they budgets are set to manage more than 1 block of flats, and that cost would be unfair to another block of flats residents. So I spend my money to put the fence, to stop trespassers and protect my kids. So my argument why he should buy that net was story about my fence

That neighbour got options to park his car in any other place as there are plenty other empty parking spots in their parking, he said these spots been assign to certain flat ( no marking can be seen ) plus his wife parks her car next to his, I doubt housing management company would assign space for 2 cars per 1 flat

His other argument was his car some sort of classing sport one Nissan Silvia or skyline, not sure and he want to keep in in the corner of their parking lot so it is less visible for vandals and other sorts…

So he has opportunity to protect his car- getting net, move it another parking space, but he chooses not to

ALSO did I mention that his wife works for that housing management company, so I see there is conflict of interest,

I did buy a petrol hedge trimmer but I only can reach half the width of that hedge, I do not want to carry any works on their property, so it still does not solve my problem

I did google and here is what I have found : Require homeowners to get permission to grow a hedge above 2m (6½ft) When a hedge grows over 2m (6½ft), the local authority does not automatically take action, unless a justifiable complaint is made.

If I make a complaint It would cost me no refundable £300 to my council, and MAYBE they would instruct them to trim the hedge, but would that be case every year? £300 every year not a solution

Im thinking do I have case for complaint that housing management company in regards to conflict of interest? I believe they would cover their employees and do nothing about it

What are my options?

Getting that stop net and then expect they will maintain the garden?

 

Here is recent reply form them:

As far as I am aware the hedge is currently no taller than 2 meters high currently.

 

I believe the resident told the gardeners that they shouldn’t cut the hedges no smaller than what is, however they will continue to trim the hedge as usual.

 

Please note that there is also no legal requirement to keep the hedge to a set height, and the residents have advised us that the hedge actually stops balls hitting the vehicles in our car park, from when children are playing in your development.

 

Many thanks

 

Looking forward for your insights

 

Thanks

Doozergirl

Too long!! Sorry, I gave up. 

Buy the thing to stop the ball going over.  That's half the problem solved.  

another_casualty

Wow! A lot to digest there ..
it seems that the 'tenant ' and his wife ( who works for the managing agents ) are annoyed that you never discussed putting  your basketball where you did . 

It does sound seem to be in the wrong place and is causing them anxiety including possible damage to cars if you are not careful.

Obviously , the aggression towards the children is OTT , but it does seem that you aren't doing enough to stop the ball going over the boundary .

So much to take in , but two thoughts spring to mind ; 1)The neighbour is at end of his tether as nothing is being done by you to stop ball hitting his car , which you seem to dislike for some reason 2) This does seem to be all your own doing ,and unless the basketball is moved or taken down then it will be hard for you to get along and improve the relationship.
Eating humble pie , apologising and trying to smooth things over with your neighbours is the way forward imho .

( Edited to say that due to length of your post , what I initially responded with didn't seem to make sense. The posters who followed  are offering a lot constructive advice  ). 

werdas

Doozergirl said:

Too long!! Sorry, I gave up. 

Buy the thing to stop the ball going over.  That's half the problem solved.  

I would but no guarantees that they will maintain the fence nor that ball will find the way over the net...

another_casualty

Agree with @Doozergirl. This is briefly ??😼
Forgot to mention , that you should find out if the wife is a director or not .

Enough from me ..

werdas

another_casualty said:

Wow! A lot to digest there ..
it seems that the neighbouring directors of the management company are annoyed that you never discussed putting  your basketball where you did . 

It does sound like it is not in the right place due to them watching to see if the ball damages the cars in some way . 

Obviously , the aggression towards the children is OTT , and as a director of managing agents he should know better . 

Having 2 cars is not a great advert for them being directors in assumably ltd parking spaces. 

So much to take in , but two thoughts spring to mind ; 1) have you legal protection on your home insurance ? 2) Does your managing agents have AGM ? If so, it may be worth attending and discussing amicably with all involved ..

Edited to say that the tenants wife should know better .. messy situation as tenants shouldn't be involved in discussions such as this . 

Sounds like this tenant is using his wife's status when it is her that should be discussing things with you . 

she is not a director, as last time we spoke she has worried of loosing her job,
what is AGM?

I believ we do have legal protection , but does that cover other kids playing and causing damages? as it is not only my kids play there

HampshireH

I tried to decipher the Original Post

From what I gathered they aren't happy about balls going onto their cars which are legitimately parked on their land.

Upshot is tha if your kids are playing out then they are responsible for ensuring the ball doesn't leave your land or land on other people's cars.

Therefore prevention is your responsibility not your neighbours.

I'm confused abou he hedge issue but you say they stopped cutting your side. Again I don't see the issue with this. It's not like it's a public highway. Most people trim bushes on their side for maintenance.

Your not happy with the height of the bushes but the management next door say it doesn't exceed 2M and they are leaving it that high because your kids cause a nuisance with balls. Again I cannot see the issue here. If the kids controlled the balls then they may lower the hedge height.

End of the day the use of your basketball thing has created this issue.

Skiddaw1

I don't really get why you can't move/erect a basketball thingy in your back garden? Why would you need a crane?

werdas

HampshireH said:

I tried to decipher the Original Post

From what I gathered they aren't happy about balls going onto their cars which are legitimately parked on their land.

Upshot is tha if your kids are playing out then they are responsible for ensuring the ball doesn't leave your land or land on other people's cars.

Therefore prevention is your responsibility not your neighbours.

I'm confused abou he hedge issue but you say they stopped cutting your side. Again I don't see the issue with this. It's not like it's a public highway. Most people trim bushes on their side for maintenance.

Your not happy with the height of the bushes but the management next door say it doesn't exceed 2M and they are leaving it that high because your kids cause a nuisance with balls. Again I cannot see the issue here. If the kids controlled the balls then they may lower the hedge height.

End of the day the use of your basketball thing has created this issue.

with high hedge I get no sulight in my dinning, light loss, which is covered https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hedge-height-and-light-loss

werdas

Skiddaw1 said:

I don't really get why you can't move/erect a basketball thingy in your back garden? Why would you need a crane?

my garden has lawn, how ball will bounce? to get basketball there I would need to knock off permenat fences to access it,

Maskface

I can't understand their problem. You sound like a perfectly reasonable neighbour.