Neighbours smoking

[thesnailandthewhale]

I live in a flat and my lounge window is next to my neighbours bedroom window, we both have velux windows. My neighbour has moved her new boyfriend in about 3 weeks ago and he smokes out the bedroom window roughly every twenty minutes . The smell drifts in to my lounge and I am constantly getting up to close the windows as the smell is foul.

I know they have the right to smoke in their flat (well they aren't meant to as it's rented and previous tenants used to smoke out the front as the contract said they couldn't smoke indoors) but I'm not going to contact the landlord), I have tried speaking nicely to them but they just laughed. I do make a big thing of slamming the windows shut, downstairs neighbours have fallen out with them due to them flinging their butts out the window onto their garden. Can anyone recommend anything I can do to minimise the smell as I really can't bear the windows shut all day when the weather is like this??

[ThisIslandGirl]

Why have you ruled out telling their landlord? It sounds like that could solve the problem.

I wouldn't like it either, tobacco smoke is vile.

[thesnailandthewhale]

I didn't want to involve the landlord as I am up for sale and so don't want to have to state there is a neighbour dispute. I've lived here for years and never had any problem with any neighbours before.

[FurryDogMother]

On a practical level, could you put a fan near your window so it blows outwards and disperses the smoke?

[acasualobserver]

You're selling? Tough it out until you move.

[LimpidPools]

I don't think mentioning to the landlord that his tenants are in breach of contract constitutes a dispute though, does it?

You'd just be passing on information.

[AyOhRiver]

We once had a PCSO knocking at our door warning us not to throw cigarette ends out of our windows as the ground floor flat had a toddler who played in their garden. We don't smoke but now we live in a house and have a toddler of our own I can imagine how gross it must've been - we were on the thirteenth floor of a tower block so potentially dozens of flats chucking fag ends.

I'm not saying call 101 - the fag ends aren't your problem anyway - but don't hesitate to contact the landlord.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Tell the LL, I'm pretty sure you only have to declare if it's serious and goes to mediation/official. You're just telling the LL, no biggy.

[thesnailandthewhale]

Thanks all, I can't do the fan thing as it is a velux window so quite high up and nowhere to put a fan near it. I will call the landlord tomorrow morning, I like to live and let live but the smell is horrible and I have asked them politely if they could smoke out the front.

[specialsubject]

tell the landlord - that's not a neighbour dispute. If he didn't meet them he wouldn't know they are smokers (if he did he would!) and they are breaching their tenancy. He'll have a lot of extra work to do when they leave so he needs to know.

they clearly have a serious 'stuff you' attitude - not just a case of the thicko magic curtain idea, they really don't care about stinking you out. Why they can't shut their windows is beyond me.