Awful new neighbours

[ammeg5678]

Sorry to post another neighbours thread! I'm a long time lurker but first time poster.

I live on an estate, some houses still council and the rest are owned, we own ours. A new family has just moved into the corner house on my street (about 4 houses away, I have to pass their house on the way to and from the communal car park) they have only been here about 2 weeks but already I know they are going to cause hell.

Their back garden fence backs onto our street (the house is positioned differently from mine its hard to explain) and since they have moved in there has been a steadily growing pile of fag butts which they are obviously throwing from their garden and onto the street. Outside their house and on the small communal green has been littered with food and rubbish, shopping trolleys and just old bits of junk their kids are obviously taking from the house and taking outside. I have to walk through this to get to my car.

There has been a non stop flow of kids going past our house since theyve been here obviously knocking for their kids, I dont know how many they have. I have no problem with kids playing outside whatsoever but these kids are walking round swinging full size golf clubs (I have noticed a lot of petals from a large rosebush outside my front door keep coming off at one time, have a feeling they are swinging it at this as they go past), throwing bricks around, running round with shopping trolleys, fighting and literally spewing swear words from their mouths! 2 have just walked past now casually calling eachother the C word!

This evening I heard my lovely neighbour who lives closer to them go outisde and tell them to stop banging, the way he was asking he literally sounded exasperated and to the point of going insane.. they have only been here 2 weeks! I'm dreading how much worse its going to get.

We had a LOT of problems with kids last year, completely out of the blue.. it started off with one stolen doorbell and then another, and then I caught them doing it and shouted after them and they obviously saw it as a challenge because from then on the trouble became daily. Constant knocking of the door bell and letterbox, kicking the door and once they even fully kicked the door open from it being closed behind me, I had only just got inside and they must have been waiting. It only stopped when I caught them stealing ANOTHER doorbell and managed to keep them at the front while my friend called the police, all the while they were jumping on my recyling bin and throwing my doorbell down the road. This stopped after the police got involved and we phoned all the local schools, but I'm sure you can appreciate I'm nervous of confronting these people incase it all beings again. For the first time since last year we had 2 'knock down gingers' today, usually woudnt bat an eyelid but am praying to god this isnt the beginnings of another year like the last.

I just wanted to know where we stand if it gets any worse.. their house is council, if that makes any difference. I know its the school holidays so hoping it will quiet down kids-wise, but in terms of the fag butts and rubbish? I heard the mother outiside yesterday shouting at a kid to F off, from what I could gather it was not one of her kids. I know they arent going to be the type willing to cooperate. Is a note through the door about the fag butts sufficient?

[Singmetosleepzzz]

If they are council they are subject to certain rules regarding anti social behaviour aren't they? I think you probably need to keep a diary of everything and co tact the local housing officer. It sounds bloody awful you have my sympathies

[gamerchick]

Out of interest if they owned their house and weren't council what would you do?

As it stands you can do something but there isn't anything you've listed that the council would be interested in. Maybe the rubbish (dumpers) you could complain about perhaps. The chucking bricks you could ask the police to advise. Shopping trolleys contact the store where they're from.

Don't connect what you went through last year to this family though.. It may not be like that.

Putting a note through the door will get you nowhere I doubt.

[gamerchick]

Or you could be neighbourly and knock on her door and say hello.

[curiousgeorgie]

I would phone the council wether they owned or not, it's antisocial behaviour.

[ammeg5678]

I have been debating with whether to knock, either to say hello or to personally ask about the fag butts. When they were moving in I would walk past them and smile as I often saw them when I was going to my car but never get anything back which has put me off a bit.

The only reason I've brought up the council house issue is because I know there are certain ways you can bring it to their attention iyswim? Whereas if it was a homeowner I would assume first point of call would be the police? I'm not sure, last year was the first time we had ever had any anti social behaviour so have never had to think about this before. One night when I was indoors alone about 10pm one of them banged on the door and shouted 'open the fucking door!' I would literally dread coming home from work. I actually cried when we were able to keep them at the door and phone the police its so horrendous!

I've been constantly logging complaints about the trolleys and rubbish on the council website, the trolleys are frustrating because by the time someone comes to collect it the kids are moving it about and then later on that evening its back again, so annoying!

The other day as well all the houses on my side of the street had stickers put on our front doors had to spent ages peeling it off as it was so stuck on. Told myself not to assume it was them but the next day when I walked to my car I looked outside their house and saw a load of them crumpled on the floor and some sticker backing.

I'm going to keep logging everything, I'm praying it all quietens down and they keep it a bit tidier once winter comes. I've thought about sweeping up the fag butts to make a point but have a feeling they wont notice. Do you know whether if I log anything online/call with information specifically about them and if anything were to happen, it would remain anonymous? I'm assuming it will but just incase.

Thanks all.

[bauhausfan]

I rang the police a couple of times about my nest door neighbour for anti-social behaviour. They are council and we're private owners. The police didn't do much tbh. They went and had a word with them then told us to keep a diary and to contact the social housing company.

[gamerchick]

They won't find out if you log a complaint no.

I do sympathise though, before they knocked the estate down I had the kids grouped together every night outside my back wall with bottles of lambrini and the drunker they got the louder they were. My nerves were shattered. But try not to think things will be as bad though.

Keep logging and keep complaining and the council will pester them more than they will like. Well ours does I'm hoping they all do.

[curiousgeorgie]

Gamerchick that sounds awful

OP I would seriously try and nip this in the bud ASAP. I used to live in a similar housing development and luckily moved out before the influx of people as it got bigger... But I still have friends there and they complain about the kind of things you wrote in your OP and it really has escalated...

[JoffreyBaratheon]

We had nightmare neighbours move in 11 months ago. (They and us are council tenants). We have complained to the council and are about to get the noise recording equipment. I have logged everything in emails to mysewlf so is datestamped but am considering starting a blog where I will identify their address (but not name them). As that can be datestamped.

I'd contact council, police AND environmental health.

Councils vary but broadly, procedure is this. You complain. You get fobbed off/told to keep a log.
You keep a log then go back and complain again.
Then they send round Environmental Health, loan you recording machine or, I suppose if it's fag ends and stuff, photo it. Record the antisocial nuisance, anyway.
Then it gets to court.
First hearing they get let off with a little kiss from the judge. They might get an abatement notice or some kinda court order.
You go home.
Chavs continue.
You continue to log.
You return to council.
They bring it to court a second time and maybe if the evidence is compelling and with a fair wind behind you, the idiots get evicted.

My idiot neighbours are Introductory Tenants but despite our complaints we are told in a couple of weeks they will be given the automatic Secure tenancy. The reason? Council know they are antisocial but they say the procedure is rigorous and the same - they don't want to make the ickle flowers homeless. Unless they have to.

So your neighbours maybe the same - they will, a year from now, be made secure tenants but the procedures take a long time to evict.

I'd go in all guns blazing - police and council will often work together anyway. Contact EH. There may be online forms for reporting. I bet you anything these idiots have already been thrown out of another form of social housing for the same behaviours (we found out our council was rehousing the rejects from a neighbouring council district and our nightmare neighbours do indeed have form).

The poor sods living next door to these dicks are probably worth having a quiet word with, too. As they will hopefully back you up.

Our entire little stand of houses loathes the idiots our council put in here and apparently if more than one neighbour complains, it is more likely to be actioned.

[JoffreyBaratheon]

To clarify: councils are reluctant to act until court orders have been made then breached.

You have to do all in your power to get evidence and get them to court, as that is your only chance - they are unlikely to be evicted for non payment of rent (which mysteriously is a faster, smoother process) if like my nightmare neighbours, they're on full benefits so get all their rent paid. Sadly.