New neighbours...am I overreacting?

[3sugarsplease]

Last week we had new neighbours move next door to us. We live in a semi detached house and our house and the new neighbours house are the only homes at the end of the drive - with a little courtyard where we have two car parking spaces each.

On the day they moved in. 5 cars descended outside our house blocking our car in aswell as a removal man. No one came to our door introduced themselves, said hello - nothing. It was only when we needed to leave the house that I had to ask them to move their car so we could leave. Upon our return our car parking space has turned into their own private rubbish heap - broken chairs, ripped up carpet, electric cables etc. Our other space keeps being occupied my another one of their cars. I don't feel comfortable parking down the drive on the road as its busy street and I can't get our 14 week old DS out of the car in his seat.

It's day 5 now and the constant banging is driving me bonkers (granted I'm sleep deprived) but they are drilling up until 9pm at night. It's hard getting DS down for naps and when he goes down at 7 he's woken up but the drilling/banging.

It's now 5 days in... AIBU to pop round for a polite word?

[ExBallerina]

I would. If only to explain about the parking/rubbish (I.e. WTF don't do that)

[MatildaTheCat]

DIY isn't unreasonable when you've just moved. Blocking your drive is unreasonable.

Have a gentle word and hope they are lovely people.

[NoodleNuts]

I would give them a little longer, they have only just moved and are probably just putting up curtain poles/shelves/pictures etc. Hopefully it will quieten down in a few days once all the little jobs are done.

Or maybe you could just pop round and introduce yourself anyway, maybe they are not aware you have a baby.

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

Ask them to keep your parking space clear because you have a young child and mention that the late building works are affecting his sleep and could they do the noisy work earlier.

Keep it friendly. It may be that they have builders in and haven't properly moved in yet.

[DieRosen]

"Have a gentle word and hope they are lovely people"

I don't think lovely people would be so rude and inconsiderate.

[Orda1]

DIY is fine in my opinion.

The parking thing is ridiculous though!

[mollyonthemove]

I would be steaming at the use of parking space for rubbish. Seriously, go round and ask politely (now at least) how long they think they will be taking your spaces. Hate inconsiderate neighbours

[mollyonthemove]

Drilling till 9pm??!! Completely unacceptable too - at least without an explanation or apology!

[Booyaka]

They may not know you have a baby, or know that particular spaces belong to particular houses. Just go and have a friendly chat. I don't think they are necessarily rude and ignorant, just new and don't know the rules.

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

I would also find out what sort of work they are doing. It depends on the condition of the house but we bought a property to do up and it took months so DH and the builders were on strict instructions (from me) to keep noisy work within usual working hours i.e. no drilling after 6-7pm but painting could be done at any time.

[GlitteryRollerGirl]

I'd let the DIY go as they are obviously just trying to make improvements to their home. The blocking of driveways without your permission is not acceptable though, so this needs nipping in the bud now.

[Hatethis22]

Are the spaces yours on the deeds? If so, definitely have a word and drop in that those two are yours. I'd let the rest go for the time being.

[NoSquirrels]

I think you need to go and have a word and find out their plans, and also let them know the parking/rubbish situation is not on.

Ask nicely if they'd mind not drilling/banging at nap-time for your son (if it's lunch-time-ish) and not after 6pm. I think that's totally fair, and they should want to keep you happy. Offer them some flexibility in return if possible e.g. if you'll be out all day then you'll let them know so they can crack on etc.

Defnitely go and say hello. If it's more full-scale than a few curtain poles etc and you are semi-detached it's your business as much as theirs, really!

[ItMustBeBedtimeSurely]

You are seriously under reacting to the parking space thing. I'd have asked them to move the stuff straightaway, politely.

I wouldn't complain about the diy though. It'll probably tail off soon anyway.

[3sugarsplease]

Yeah I appreciate during the work would be done - usually most are at work so they wouldn't even need to think about the neighbours etc but 9pm at night is ridiculous. I find it hard to believe that some people are so inconsiderate, and they wouldn't even think about the fact they have neighbours who it could affect.

I think they are aware we have a baby as when I was carrying DS in the house the other day she was looking out of her window. She possibly didn't see him

[CocktailQueen]

They're not starting out very well, are they? Drilling is completely unacceptable until 9pm. And as for dumping v crap in your parking space?

They sound completely unreasonable and selfish. I'd have a word now before they do anything else insane. Good luck!

[3sugarsplease]

Hatethis we rent so I don't have the deeds but when they bought next door surely their allocated spaces would have been noted on them?

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

You can check the deeds on the Land Registry for a couple of pounds.

[StuckInARabbitHole]

They DO sound like inconsiderate twats (really who blocks cars without knocking and uses other people's parking spaces other than entitled pricks ) and I would lay the ground rules early by making it clear that you are not impressed by the noise or the parking situation as firmly but politely as possible.

If you let it be, they may think they can go on taking the piss.

[SantasLittleMonkeyButler]

I would introduce yourself & point out which parking spaces are yours. Why on earth should you have to park further away when you pay to rent a house with two allocated spaces?

The DIY, whilst annoying at 9pm at night, is more understandable. Personally, I would tackle the parking battle first as the DIY is bound to be self-resolving once they are settled.

They don't sound like particularly considerate neighbours though unfortunately!

[Brioche201]

I think making noise up til 9pm is reasonable.I can understand you don't like it but that doesn't make it unreasonable.They have a right to do their own thing You don't have a right to silence whatever MN thinks!!

[Lilipot15]

I think you should have introduced yourself.
It may be a simple misunderstanding about the parking space but the longer it simmers on the worse it will be to tackle.
DIY a tricky one - they obviously have tasks to do and if they work it is likely to be in the evening. Hopefully it'll pass before too long.

I would pop over and apologise for not introducing yourself before and welcome them to the street. Then politely mention about the parking - if they are at all reasonable they'll be mortified particularly when they realise you have a baby.

We moved a few months ago and in the craziness that is moving we didn't knock on all our immediate neighbours doors to introduce ourselves. Some lovely neighbours did pop round to say hello which was great, in contrast to some who have never said hello despite me smiling and waving. Awkward. I come from a part of the country known to be friendly and folk round here are somewhat more insular - to the point of rudeness. Sorry for my personal rant!

[MerryMarigold]

I would rather someone said something to me. Sometimes people are ridiculously inconsiderate. Perhaps it is just the dh, or some silly builders, but it needs pointing out.

We moved in the summer and I am hugely aware of the noise the kids (and dh!) make. I'm constantly asking them to keep it down. The couple next door are getting on (70's ish) and I am sure they hate the noise levels as the house is also tiled and noise screaming yelling fighting bounces everywhere. I wish they'd come round and ask us to shut up, as I feel like I'm constantly going on at dh and the kids but if they were told by a stranger who it directly affected, it would help my case!

[MammaTJ]

Totally baffled by the reasoning on here that having a baby makes you entitled to preserve your parking space! Surely you should be able to anyway, with or without a baby!

[Helmetbymidnight]

I would start thinking about moving.

These are not nice people.