Problems with neighbour

[pps076]

Me and my FI have been experiencing problems with our neighbour on a number of occasions and are reaching out for honest advice from everyone on this website.

We live in a semi detached house and our neighbouring neighbour has a right away to enter the rear of their back door / back yard.

THe husband and wife are generally sociable to us and we are equally sociable to them.

However the husband has done a number of things to us and last night was the breaking point

1/ Climbed onto our kitchen extension roof in order to make modifications to the drainage system that would apparently benefit us both without asking our permission.

2/ Cut down a number of tree branches and threw them in our garden.

3/ Threw a number of old PVCu window frames only our back yard claiming that he had dropped his cell phone down the side of our shed and found the window frames and threw them into our back yard.

4/ Ripped off our 'Caution - Beware of the dog sign' which we had put on the gate for security purposes (He knows this is why it was attached).

Incident number 4 happened last night and I know that nobody else would do that. We live in a quiet neighbour hood whereby all the other neighbour don't have kids and keep the self to the selfs.

We have challenged him on each occasion, talking very softly as we are both really nice people and don't want to upset them which cold cause bigger problems.

Please help.

[MyDarlingClementine]

when you say challenged what have you said?

Whatever it is, its clearly not working.

How did you know he climbed on your roof? I would have been so scared?

[BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack]

It doesn't sound to awful to be honest.

1. If this really is beneficial to you why do you mind??
   

1. I think if he cut down branches that were on your side he legally has to give them back to you?
   

1. Could this be true??
   

1. That one is odd!!
   

What is he like when you challenge him about it?

[SarahAndFuck]

It sounds a bit weird.

He is trespassing on your property if he comes into your garden or onto your roof without permission.

You have no guarantees that any work he does is fit for purpose and poking about with your drainage system if he doesn't know what he's doing could cause damp etc. He could invalidate your insurance. He could have an accident and sue you.

If the branches came from your tree, he still didn't need to throw them about all over your garden. If they came from his tree, why throw them in your garden?

Likewise with the windows. If they were on your property, even if he had a legitimate reason to move them, he should have put them back as he found them. And surely you'd know they were there.

In ripping off the sign he has damaged your property and if he took it or threw it away he has stolen it.

[BlessedDespair]

Meh I'd rip the beware of the dog sign off too as it's for your benefit if anything happens - That sign is you admitting you knew the dog would bite/be aggressive. You need a Be Aware of the dog sign :)

[WTFisABooyhoo]

is there a dog?

[Footface]

Is it a shared fence?.

He has to throw back branches as his property.

Where were the windows?

[Footface]

As your property not his.

[blondefriend]

1. Maybe he really did think this was beneficial. He should have talked to you but it sounds like the sort of thing our helpful pain in the bum, nosey neighbour would do.
   
   
2. If these were branches of your tree overhanging his property then legally he must throw them back to you.
   
   
3. I don't think I understand what happened here. He went into your garden and moved windows from behind your shed to the middle of your garden? Very weird.
   
   
4. Is this a shared gate? If he was there first and you put it up without his permission then YABU not him. However he should have posted it back to you.

[evansthebread]

No advice, just support. Nowt worse than neighbour problems.

[ClearlyDad]

Hmmm, complicated.

Legally you're partly talking PartyWall Act. He does have "right of access" to do access shared drains/side of his house for repairs/maintenance... and doesn't really need to give notice... Also, if it's your tree and he cuts bits off it, then by law he has to return them (comes from the days when everyone had log fires, as back then it would have been seen as "stealing fuel" otherwise... The frames, I'm not so sure without a diagram. If they were on his land but yours (or "belonging to your property" if left there by a previous owner) then again he's returning them to be on the safe side. If they were on your property, he'd have been better to tell you about them. The dog sign... could have been him, but strong winds?

It doesn't sound that bad... he probably thinks he's being "nice". A non-confrontational way to get round this might be "you've done a lot the last few weeks... we'd like to help out, next time you see something tell us first", because that's really your issue... the "surprise factor"