Neighbour issue

BungalowBel

If there is a complete smoking ban, then I hope the facilities and support networks  for helping people give up is put in place.  Nicotine is very addictive and many people need help.

(I am an ex-smoker who has now not smoked for over thirty years and now hate it, but I do remember the addiction and how hard it was to stop).

CurlySue2017

diystarter7 said:

An option I had forgotten about may be a solution is build an extension to max height right up to the fend and have sealed windows nearest to next door and windows that open on the other side.

Thanks

That seems very extreme for a bit of cigarette smoke!

LifeisYours

diystarter7 said:

John_the_Boy said:

I remember a thread where someone's neighbour had a hot tub and it was causing them noise distress. They put some comfrey and water in a lidded container which stinks when it starts to rot and whenever the hot tub was used they took the lid off and it soon stopped them using the hot tub.

Might be something to consider every time the neighbour has a cigarette by the back door   

Hi
I know you are not being serious but that was funny, lol.

An option I had forgotten about may be a solution is build an extension to max height right up to the fend and have sealed windows nearest to next door and windows that open on the other side.

Thanks

gingercordial said:

If you have a fence between you, could you make it higher, add some trellis & dense plants, high bamboo, a sail or something?  It might be enough to deflect the smells away or reduce them a bit.

Yes there is a fence between us and the back doors are quite close together. Thanks for the trellis / dense plants suggestion I will look into this!

housebuyer143 said:

Reminds me when Homer makes that webpage and it opens with a barking dog 😆😆 

The Mr X episode - this made my chuckle!

sammyjammy said:

As has been suggested you don't say what the actual set up is but could you put a physical barrier in the space between your houses?

The back doors are quite close together and there is a fence between them.

Skiddaw1 said:

As I say, it wouldn't bother me but again, to be fair, the OP didn't indicate they'd asked the neighbour not to smoke on their own property- only if said neighbour could perhaps move a little further away from OP's door/window when so doing. I don't think I'd have an issue if I was asked to do that (though I agree that cooking smells is a different issue altogether).

All I mentioned was the smoke is coming through my back windows and door.

diystarter7 said:

An option I had forgotten about may be a solution is build an extension to max height right up to the fend and have sealed windows nearest to next door and windows that open on the other side.

Thanks for the suggestion - an extension would be really pricey and then there is planning permission etc. 

[Deleted User]

CurlySue2017 said:

diystarter7 said:

An option I had forgotten about may be a solution is build an extension to max height right up to the fend and have sealed windows nearest to next door and windows that open on the other side.

Thanks

That seems very extreme for a bit of cigarette smoke!

Though it is a step down from the earlier suggestion of buying a detached house with 16 acres of free space on each side, to avoid a bit of ciggy smoke and, presumably, the smell of garlic bread, or something. (Just avoid rural detached, if smells are offensive; definitely avoid anywhere near a pig farm.)

diystarter7

LifeisYours said:

diystarter7 said:

John_the_Boy said:

I remember a thread where someone's neighbour had a hot tub and it was causing them noise distress. They put some comfrey and water in a lidded container which stinks when it starts to rot and whenever the hot tub was used they took the lid off and it soon stopped them using the hot tub.

Might be something to consider every time the neighbour has a cigarette by the back door   

Hi
I know you are not being serious but that was funny, lol.

An option I had forgotten about may be a solution is build an extension to max height right up to the fend and have sealed windows nearest to next door and windows that open on the other side.

Thanks

gingercordial said:

If you have a fence between you, could you make it higher, add some trellis & dense plants, high bamboo, a sail or something?  It might be enough to deflect the smells away or reduce them a bit.

Yes there is a fence between us and the back doors are quite close together. Thanks for the trellis / dense plants suggestion I will look into this!

housebuyer143 said:

Reminds me when Homer makes that webpage and it opens with a barking dog 😆😆 

The Mr X episode - this made my chuckle!

sammyjammy said:

As has been suggested you don't say what the actual set up is but could you put a physical barrier in the space between your houses?

The back doors are quite close together and there is a fence between them.

Skiddaw1 said:

As I say, it wouldn't bother me but again, to be fair, the OP didn't indicate they'd asked the neighbour not to smoke on their own property- only if said neighbour could perhaps move a little further away from OP's door/window when so doing. I don't think I'd have an issue if I was asked to do that (though I agree that cooking smells is a different issue altogether).

All I mentioned was the smoke is coming through my back windows and door.

diystarter7 said:

An option I had forgotten about may be a solution is build an extension to max height right up to the fend and have sealed windows nearest to next door and windows that open on the other side.

Thanks for the suggestion - an extension would be really pricey and then there is planning permission etc. 

Hi
Thanks, so what is the solution?  I do feel for you.


You could wait it out and as per my posts about banning smoking gradually or more quickly, read this today

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/16208308/pre-payment-meter-top-up-energy-bills/#:~:text=The price cap varies on,those paying by direct debit.

Thanks

Murphybear

jrawle said:

OP: a sympathetic reply here. Cigarette smoke is disgusting and there is no reason you should have to tolerate it on your own property. It can constitute a statutory nuisance and councils are obliged to investigate complaints. The process is similar to making a complaint about a neighbour's noise.

As someone suggested, the first approach may have been to ask the neighbour in a friendly way whether she would mind smoking further from your home. However, I fully understand why you may not feel comfortable doing so. Many people resent the smallest complaint, even put most politely, about some aspect of their behaviour. With smoking, the situation is far worse as, after all, it is an addictive drug.

As with noise issues, you should keep a diary of all the times that the smoke has caused you a nuisance, how long it lasted for each time, etc. Do this for a week or two, then contact your council's environmental health department, and see how it goes from there. You can emphasise that you would be happy for the neighbour to smoke further away from the property so that it would not impact on you.

Is it an attached property? Do you think the smoke would enter your property from inside the neighbours house? The question is why she is smoking outside. Could it be a rented property? If so, you could also contact the landlord to complain about the nuisance. Some rental agreements will include a clause about not causing nuisance to the neighbours. You can find the owner's details from the Land Registry website for £3.

I hope you find some of these suggestions helpful, and that it makes you feel better to know someone understands what you are going through. Someone who isn't bothered by cigarette smoke (or noise for that matter) simply could not understand why this is such a big problem for you.

From our council’s website

” Smells from cooking at a domestic residence would not be deemed a statutory nuisance. Complaints of odour from cigarette smoke, tobacco smoke, pipe smoke, cannabis smoke etc. going from one property to another is not a matter that can be investigated under the Statutory Nuisance regime.”

ayupmeduck

Alderbank said:

elsien said:

I wonder what enforcement agencies would be forcing their way into people's private property on the grounds they are having a cigarette? 

The enforcement agencies successfully stopped people smoking menthol cigarettes. 'Cool as a mountain stream', they were once very popular.
They did this not by forcing their way into people's houses to catch them smoking menthol cigarettes but by the simpler action of banning the sale or importation of them.

They could do the same for other cigarettes if they were minded to.

Yes if it happens, then there would be a ban on sales, they are looking to go the NZ way.

Silvertabby

[Deleted User] said:

CurlySue2017 said:

diystarter7 said:

An option I had forgotten about may be a solution is build an extension to max height right up to the fend and have sealed windows nearest to next door and windows that open on the other side.

Thanks

That seems very extreme for a bit of cigarette smoke!

Though it is a step down from the earlier suggestion of buying a detached house with 16 acres of free space on each side, to avoid a bit of ciggy smoke and, presumably, the smell of garlic bread, or something. (Just avoid rural detached, if smells are offensive; definitely avoid anywhere near a pig farm.)

Our occasional whiff of eau de pigfarm is definitely preferable to a friend's eau de (human) sewage farm !

Morglin

It looks as though any sort of ban has been kicked into the long grass, for at least an extra 10 years, because of the cost of it stopping.  Taxes would need to rise a lot to make up the shortfall.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11579111/Government-DECADE-target-England-smoke-free-2030.html

jrawle

Morglin said:

It looks as though any sort of ban has been kicked into the long grass, for at least an extra 10 years, because of the cost of it stopping.  Taxes would need to rise a lot to make up the shortfall.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11579111/Government-DECADE-target-England-smoke-free-2030.html

Fortunetely, we won't have the same government for "an extra 10 years".

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk/labour-could-ban-cigarettes-to-wipe-out-smoking-by-2030-if-they-get-into-power/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/health/20977739/cigarette-ban-proposal-labour/
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/wes-streeting-labour-banning-sale-cigarettes-2071086