To not want to live near a crack and heroin addict?

[Flatsfromnowon]

Just that really; we moved into a block of six flats about two months ago.

One set of neighbours in the block have had a few arguments, smoke in the shared hallway, and have asked for money which I was a bit about. However...

This morning we were woken at 5.20 - one of them was being arrested and the other was being questioned by police and said that the one being arrested wanted to sell some of their property to buy heroin. The one not being arrested had self harmed and it was just all so horrible.

The police took both of them away. Then later on we were off out and the one whose property was being sold and had self harmed came back. I asked if they were okay and said that I has overheard them telling the police officers that the other one was addicted to crack and heroin and they confirmed this is the case.

I have a small child and just do not want to be in close proximity to them. I certainly do not want to use the shared garden (which their flat overlooks)). I feel such a snob but I am worried about needles, them falling asleep after a fix and causing a fire, all sorts of things really.

It is all young families here apart from this couple (who I think are late forties). I don't think the drug habit is new - they both look haggard and skinny. It is all so sad and tragic, I mean once they were young and probably just fell in with the wrong crowd but that doesn't make me want to stay living here.

We are shared owners so spoke to the housing association who weren't very helpful.

We also lives happily in another shared ownership place for 6 years and never encountered anything like this.

AIBU?

[The5DayChicken]

YANBU at all. Did you put in an official complaint with the HA or just have a chat? Mine is very strict about drugs, especially when there are communal spaces shared with children.

[ilovechristmas1]

dont blame you not wanting to life next door to addicts

fingers crossed they,move,end up in prison,or the HA get involved

though im sure some on here will tell you what a hard life they may of had and addiction is not their fault etc etc

yanbu

[Babymamamama]

That sounds tricky and worrying. In your shoes the thing I'd want to establish first off is are they actual shared owners ie they have the mortgage or are they subletting off an owner? With shared ownership you usually need the permission of the h association to let out. And if by any chance they are subletting this may give you some grounds to question the appropriateness of this. Do you have a residents committe or rep. I would feel the same in your shoes though. Although all addicts have my sympathy I wouldn't want hard drug taking anywhere near my family.

[Pumpkinette]

YANBU. When DH and I first lived together (pre children) our upstairs neighbours were addicts. The were forever arguing and one time they threw a man out if the window - blood and glass everywhere - not a pleasant thing to witness. One time the woman was down at ours complaining about the noise we were making. We had no TV or music on so the noise that was bugging her was actually the fridge, I think whatever she was on made her pick up on every little noise. We moved out pretty quickly as we weren't happy with them as neighbours. I was worried about the people coming and going to the flat all hours of the day and night and very conscious of the higher risk of being burgled. It's shame really as it was a lovely (if not very small) flat in a good area.

I can completely understand why you would not want to bring your family up near addicts. They might be nice people in themselves but as you said there are all sorts of risks for you and your family living near them. Do you know how long they have lived there? They might end up moving on pretty quickly if it's a private rental. If they are shared owners or even 100% housing association then not sure what you can actually do.

[CarbeDiem]

Yanbu! Not at all. I would feel exactly the same.

[Moopsboopsmum]

DH1 and I had this in our first flat. Ex council block with council tenants still on GF. The guy and his son were heroin users. They robbed our flat of all electricals and stole our car. Then after the son had been arrested, the dad came up to our front door at 2am and kept just lifting the knocker and letting it drop. It took the police 2 hours to get there and persuade him to go back downstairs. They moved on fairly quickly, it is likely that your neighbours will move on but be very careful about your security. We used to go out quietly etc. as it was obvious that they had been watching us and knew we were at work all day. Check the sturdiness if your front door and if you can get a 'London bar' fitted to stop them kicking your door in as well, that would be good.

[Sycamoretrees]

I think you're very sensible to be cautious and not use the shared garden. I'd also caution you about the increase risk of being burgled, make sure your property is always left as secure as possible. Try to keep a log of any incidents that cause you concern, and report everything no matter how small to housing association and police if you feel threatened. It's not a pleasant situation, I do hope it get resolved soon.

[Flatsfromnowon]

Thank you all.

I did establish yesterday that they are direct renters from the HA, but because they rent, as oppose to own a share, they have a different housing officer.

I have asked what the HA policy is for drugs and renters and hopefully they will come back to me today.

However when I spoke to the HA she wasn't very understanding about my concerns as kept saying 'alleged' addict,' alleged' drug taking; it is not alleged; the police have a record and one of them actually confirmed to me - I am so worried.

We can't even move again as we have a fixed rate mortgage for a number of years and cannot afford the penalty at this early stage and we moved here as it is a good commute for me and partner and close to daughters nursery.

[3littlefrogs]

Write to your MP.
Sometimes that is the only way to get anyone to take notice.

[Hadron21]

There will be a clause in their tenancy agreement about causing nuisance or similar.
Some HAs have a clause that states if a crime has been committed at the property then the HA can take action to remove them. Ask for a copy of the tenancy agreement and the Anti social behaviour policy.

[bimandbam]

Keep a diary of every little incident. Absolutely everything. You need to build a case to the ha to get them to move.

I lived for 5 years next to drug addicts. Heroin (him) and ampethamines (her). If he wasn't smashing the house up and screaming at her for money she waa hoovering or banging about with a hammer. I had a young dd and it was hell.

Unfortunately they owned the property so other than phoning the police every fucking Friday and Saturday night when things got violent in there and the council noise people there wasn't much I could do.

But your neighbours are tenants so you need to stick at it.

[gamerchick]

What makes you think they're injecting drugs? Have you seen the actual needle marks?

Not using your garden is ridiculous... Seriously? And you're going to try and get them evicted now Is that right? And living in a block any one of you could have a fire.

I can't believe this thread.

[duckydinosaur]

YABU. Addiction is an illness. What do you expect the housing association to do? Kick these people out? Move you and all your neighbours and leave these properties empty? These people need support and as much stability as possible. If you don't want to live there then that is obviously your choice to make and you could move couldn't you? Maybe you should think about saving for a deposit and buy in a 'nice' area. Housing association and council properties are always going to have a high proportion or troubled people and families - just the way it is.

[maxxytoe]

Yanbu.
We used to live next door to addicts and it was a nightmare.
They left needles in the grass, pools of blood in the communal hallway, police were round every night, strange people round at all hours, it was always kicking off.

I agree they need help but as they are the ones in the wrong , anti social behaviour etc they should be the ones to move on , not the OP

[ThisIsClemFandango]

I don't think YABU to not want to live next to them and I can understand why you're concerned - I grew up in an area with many addicts and it wasn't lovely.

But.. Where do you want them to go? Sent to prison? To be moved next to another family who don't want them there? No one wants to live next to addicts. So where can the addicts live? They could get moved on forever and ever because of their use - in this country we don't help them, we punish them, marginalise and criminalise them, so how can we expect the problem to go away?

In the meantime I would teach your DC about what to do if they did encounter a needle, though this is unlikely tbh - I don't see why they would use in the garden or hallways when they have the flat. IME homeless addicts are the one that leave needles in other peoples gardens etc. and your neighbours may well be smoking not injecting.

[MaximiseProductivity]

I understand that moving isn't always easy, but FWIW, if you did decide to move, you can take your fixed rate mortgage with you to a new property without paying a penalty.

[ihatethecold]

Gamer and Ducky. Have you ever lived next door to anti social neighbours?
Op you have my sympathy. Sounds bloody hideous.

[ClashCityRocker]

Yanbu for not wanting to live near drug addicts.

However, IME there is little the HA or council will do about it - indeed, many drug support charities work hard to get users into secure accomodation in order to facilitate recovery.

Keep a log of any anti-social behaviour - they are more likely to be evicted or moved for that than drug use in their flat. We have had similar problems at my mums flat.

[Charis1]

Addiction is an illness. What do you expect the housing association to do? Kick these people out?

becoming a drug user is a choice.

deciding to put your own selfish pleasure above the safety, security and welfare of everyone around you is a choice.

yes kick them out. They are not entitled to a home if they cannot fullfill the basic behavioural requirements of living in a home.

Why should anyone else have to put up with living next to that?

[MaximiseProductivity]

Oh Charis. Whilst I agree no-one should have to live next to it, it's attitudes like that that mean there's no effective treatment programme and the problem just gets worse.

[AliceScarlett]

Charis1 Your opinion is based in part on the mental health stigma that is currently pervasive in our culture. In the (hopefully near) future we will look back on opinions like yours in the same way we look back on homophobic remarks made when being gay was stigmatised.

OP yanbu to not want to live near this. I'd worry too. I hope that either you guys can move or the couple receive support and are able to recover.

[prorsum]

You landed on them, they did not land on you. Why should they move?

[afreshstartplease]

I don't think you are being unreasonable at all

But I also don't know where you want them to go as others have said

It's unfortunate that anyone is in this kind of situation

[TheHobbit]

Did you know before this incident they were addicts? Its seems you've only just found out by reading you OP. If so its a bit harsh you want them to move when you could've been staying next door to them for months and didn't even know. I live in an extremely affluent village and alot of people are retired and the amount of addicts and alcoholics is astounding and when i mean rich the majority of houses are well over a million (not anywhere near london). They even shock themselves lol

[ThisIsClemFandango]

yes kick them out. They are not entitled to a home if they cannot fullfill the basic behavioural requirements of living in a home.

wow..
Fwiw I think addiction is an illness. These people often have horrific starts in life and quickly fall into a downward spiral where they end up using, through coercion, force, pressure, desperation of whatever else. I don't think anyone wakes up in the morning and thinks "I'm going to become a heroin addict today".

Are they very noisy / have lots of visitors making noise OP?
You mention they've had a few arguments but I'm not sure if that counts as antisocial if you know what I mean. So, I'm not sure if they would get evicted for that. It sounds like the police are onto them anyway so they might not be there for long.