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voyeuristic neighbours

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Comments

  • ThisIsWeird
    ThisIsWeird Posts: 7,660 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 10 July 2023 am31 6:29AM
    SNAPP_2 said:
    Thank you so much for all your further responses and for genuinely understanding how intrusive and unsettling the situation is.  @ThisIsWeird thank you for taking the time to write such an extensive response with some very sound advise.  I have already taken your advise and used the 'what the hell' gesture, which is what ive wanted to do the minute it started to happen but for fear of making things worse i had, so far, not reacted at all.  This time it was just the man at the upstairs window staring across, right in to my upstaris office (converted from a spare bedroom and where i have worked in privacy for many years ) the reaction form him was to continue smoking his cigarette turn to call his wife to join him at the window, then they both just looked across and laughed! unashamedely! I guess the next step is to actully confront them about it but as you say I will do this in a friendly manner regardless of their reaction / response. 

    Ive been adjusting blinds in an atempt to get the angling corret with enought privacy but also allowing light in and a view out! not sure if ive found the perfect angle just yet as i can get an 'upstairs' view point to check.  I will start a log too, maybe I could very pbviously take a picture of them when they are staring acrosss this might make them think twice if they think im recording it all.

    Thank you so much once again for all the advise I will update on further progress asap.


    "the reaction form him was to continue smoking his cigarette turn to call his wife to join him at the window, then they both just looked across and laughed! unashamedely!"

    Now, that is what I'd consider crossing the line into potential harassment. And that is why you need to have a camera recording it.
    "What is harassment? The law states that harassment is when a person behaves in a way which is intended to cause you distress or alarm. The behaviour must happen on more than one occasion. It can be the same type of behaviour or different types of behaviour on each occasion."
    Now, I'm not suggesting that it is harassment, as I simply do not know, but it is certainly thoughtless, ignorant and inconsiderate.
    I'd email or call your anti-soc dept at your LA for their thoughts, and they may be able to suggest the next move.
    Can anyone else in any other house look into yours like this?

    (I do have an idea for a possible deterrent - not quite sure it's legal - but see what the LA says first...)




  • sevenhills
    sevenhills Posts: 5,938 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Paulpen said:
    Privacy window tint could be your best option - they will just see a reflection like a mirror and you can still see out (and nw watch them if you want) !

    My neighbours that live across the way told me that they could see into my bathroom, too much. The bathroom window is not see-through and it has an extra plastic film on. So what ever they can see, its very blurred and only for a few minutes.
    I really did just ignore their comment. This is what the OP should do, people have a variety of TV channels, watching the OP would be like watching paint dry. Unless there is something she? is not telling us.
    Only a female would think this way?
  • RedFraggle
    RedFraggle Posts: 1,351 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    One very simple thing, get a window cleaner. The cleaner your windows are the more reflective they are and the less someone else will see in. 
    Officially in a clique of idiots
  • housebuyer143
    housebuyer143 Posts: 4,011 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    Paulpen said:
    Privacy window tint could be your best option - they will just see a reflection like a mirror and you can still see out (and nw watch them if you want) !

    My neighbours that live across the way told me that they could see into my bathroom, too much. The bathroom window is not see-through and it has an extra plastic film on. So what ever they can see, its very blurred and only for a few minutes.
    I really did just ignore their comment. This is what the OP should do, people have a variety of TV channels, watching the OP would be like watching paint dry. Unless there is something she? is not telling us.
    Only a female would think this way?
    If you turn on a light in a bathroom even if frosted glass when it's dark outside you can see really clear outlines of bodies... Depending how low the window is your neighbours can be in for a shock. I imagine they were just trying to save your embarrassment. Take a look next time it's dark and hang a blind.
  • no.1swimmum
    no.1swimmum Posts: 1,509 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Have you considered a reflective film on your windows, this will allow you to still see out but unless you have a light on they can't see in - its quite easy to fit, it does have a slight effect on how light the room is but not too much - I have not experienced your problem but the sun shines in the back of my house from midday onwards and this has helped to keep the rooms cooler.

    I am sorry that I have no more constructive help for how to handle this.
    Fibro-Warrior
  • twopenny said:
    2 naked men staring out. Not what I want before I've had breakfast!
    Or the weird neighbours son watching me doing tai chi in my pyjamas
    Where is that laughing emoji? I hope the new forum has them
    Old enough to know better...........




  • RobM99
    RobM99 Posts: 2,641 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Try waving to them or make a sign up that says 'Hello' and hold it up when they are staring at you. Turn a problem into a fun time.
    Give them a cheery wave. It acknowledges that you have seen them spying. I have a neighbour that's a curtain-twitcher too. 
    Now a gainfully employed bassist again - WooHoo!
  • Postik
    Postik Posts: 416 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    It sounds like this might be happening when they are at their windows smoking.

    I think in reality it's going to be virtually impossible to stop.  There's no law stopping you from looking out of your own windows. In terms of harassment, if they were yelling at the OP or making obscene gestures then it would be easier to prove.  Whilst I'm not saying it isn't a form of harassment, it's going to be impossible to prove.  I mean, are they not allowed to look out of their windows 100 times a day?  How about 10 times a day?  Twice a day?  Who decides how much starring out of the window is too much? The OP?  The council?  Their landlord? And then who keeps count and punishes them if they look out of their window one too many times?  Once you think about it logically there is no law being broken and no sensible way of policing this.

  • Hi,
    Where is that laughing emoji? I hope the new forum has them
    plenty HERE.




  • ThisIsWeird
    ThisIsWeird Posts: 7,660 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 10 July 2023 am31 9:08AM
    Postik said:
    It sounds like this might be happening when they are at their windows smoking.

    I think in reality it's going to be virtually impossible to stop.  There's no law stopping you from looking out of your own windows. In terms of harassment, if they were yelling at the OP or making obscene gestures then it would be easier to prove.  Whilst I'm not saying it isn't a form of harassment, it's going to be impossible to prove.  I mean, are they not allowed to look out of their windows 100 times a day?  How about 10 times a day?  Twice a day?  Who decides how much starring out of the window is too much? The OP?  The council?  Their landlord? And then who keeps count and punishes them if they look out of their window one too many times?  Once you think about it logically there is no law being broken and no sensible way of policing this.


    Yes, it isn't at all an easy one. It really comes down to just how intrusive and deliberate their behaviour - whether it goes beyond reasonable and into harassment. From what is described, these dullards are either enjoying what they are doing to the OP - harassing SNAPP - or are just lacking in self-awareness and social boundaries.
    It might also come down to how much difference it makes that the voyeur is within their own home? I mean, many folks will occasionally look over a boundary fence at a further-away viewpoint, but if they were to stand there for hours, grinning and gurning at their neighbour, that would surely be a pretty definitive case of harassment?
    That's why SNAPP needs to gather evidence. If these folk respond the same way each time the OP shows displeasure - they laugh and call their partners to join them - then I'd hope a quiet word from the LA's A-S officer would be in order.
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