Skip outside my house

[ridemesideways]

There has been a skip outside our house for weeks and weeks.

We live in a mid-terraced house with on street parking. We don't own a space, it's a first-come-first-served deal. It can be really busy at times with no spaces available at all.

A house across and down the street a bit is having a lot of work done on it.

There's a skip in the road to accommodate this, but it's outside our front door rather than immediately opposite the house in question. I guess this was the best space available when the lorry was here putting the skip down...

It's very annoying. Our front door is completely glass and opens directly onto the skip pavement and we don't have a hall. When sitting in the front room I'm literally looking at and hearing the sounds of things being chucked into the skip.

I work from home, which requires a certain degree of peace. I'm having to reorganise things as I don't know how much noise there will be during weekdays.

WWYD? I don't know who has bought the house, but there's contact details for a builder on a hoarding fence thing.

Am I being precious and should I have thought this kind of thing through before buying a terraced house?

[tigerdog]

Nope YANBU. We live in a terrace and have had at least 6 skips in the last 3.5 years, as we've done loads of work on the house. We would not have put a skip outside the neighbours' house! As we knew when they would be delivered, we used cones or bins (or our car) to block the space, so that the skip could be placed there. They should have done the same, imo.

[CrazyNewDogLady]

YANBU because I totally get the need for peace and the desire to not look at someone else's skip all the time through your front door.

But YABU because it's a public road so you can't 'claim' the space.

You could pop round when the builder is there and ask how long it's likely to go on for? If you're worried about neighbourly relations you could always say that you might be getting a skip soon and wanted it outside your house but wanted to know their timescale. No need to explain when said skip doesn't show up

[NotAWhaleOmeletteInSight]

That would be annoying but I'm afraid yabu. It's one of those things and it won't be forever.

As long as they have a skip licence to have it on the public highway then they're not breaking the law.

Maybe have a friendly word with the householder and find out how much longer it'll be there for.

Ask them to try to ensure any replacement skips aren't outside your house. Maybe get the builders to reserve the space outside their house with their van on the day.

[CrazyNewDogLady]

When we had work done last year, we coned off a space the day the skip was coming. Some twat then moved the cones so the skip had to go outside someone's house half way down the road.

That evening I nipped around to apologise and got them a box of chocolates once the work was done about a month later. I felt awful because they had baby twins so getting between the car and the house was a nightmare for them.

[MsMommie]

I would be a bit annoyed to. Though I don't think legally you have a leg to stand on. Call environmental health and ask then for advice x

[ridemesideways]

Thanks tigerdog - that's good to hear, and yes - I guess they could have reserved space nearer to them with cones. There are cones out there - just all around the skip outside our house!

Nobody has even knocked on our door to apologise or let us know when it'll be gone!

[trevortrevorslatterfry]

AH I thought this was going to be a Tommy Cooper thread .

‘So I rang up a local building firm, I said ‘I want a skip outside my house.’ He said ‘ I’m not stopping you.’

[ridemesideways]

Thanks, no - I know I don't have a right to the parking outside my door, and that it's there legally. It just feels like an imposition, really. And it's been assumed by either the builder or the homeowner that we're fine with it.

I would have been fine with it if it had just been for a week or so. But I think it's been there for 4/5 weeks now.

[NotAWhaleOmeletteInSight]

How full is it? It'd be such a shame if other people started putting their rubbish into it...

[ridemesideways]

CrazyNewDogLady - we actually do need to do some work on our roof which requires that space for scaffolding / ladders.

[MartinaJ]

Do you have some stuff to dump? I'd use the occasion ....

[ridemesideways]

How full is it? It'd be such a shame if other people started putting their rubbish into it...

Ha. I think they have. A noticed some stuff was in it one day, then placed next to it in the road the next day. There's also now an avocado green toilet in it that's been ripped out. At least it looks clean

[ridemesideways]

We do actually have loads of stuff we could put in there... Hmmm. Problem is doing it when nobody is looking... Would have to be super quiet in the middle of the night.

[PovertyPain]

Have you any friends looking rid of rubbish?

[lizzydrippingsghost]

it might be worth phoning enviromental health and reporting it.
you have to have a permit now to put a skip on the road its about £10 to £15 per week depending on where you live.
some councils only allow a permit for 7 days abit longer in special circumstances.
if the skip company hasnt applied for a permit they will get a hefty fine over £100

[BarbaraofSeville]

You need a permit and lights to put a skip on the public road. I don't know if permits are time limited but could be. Worth asking the council if there could be any breaches that could lead to it being removed sooner rather than later.

In my experience of skips, the skip company don't tend to come and pick it up until they need the skip to send to another customer - this could often be ages.

[BarbaraofSeville]

Cross posted Lizzy.

[TippyTappyLappyToppy]

I would go and knock where they are working and ask is it going to be there much longer because it's causing you some considerable inconvenience and if there is to be another skip replacing it could they please make sure they cone off an area directly outside of where they are working, so as not to inconvenience you a second time.

Don't they have to get permission from the council to put it in the road? You could check to see if they did. I'm sure there must be a reasonable time limit. Several weeks seems excessive.

[malmi]

Trevortrevorslatteryfry

Actually, that's a Tim Vine joke, as are most if not all the jokes on the page you linked to.

[Goingtobeawesome]

Chocolates should have been on the first day, not after a month of the stop being there.

[fadingblonde1]

I'm surprised a skip that's been there that long hasn't been filled up. My partner sometimes has to hire a skip to empty out properties. They literally have to have the skip as close to the property as possible and someone there guarding it whilst they fill it up otherwise it gets full of everyone else's rubbish. It get taken away the same day as well (think they can leave it for a week), seems very odd that it has been left for weeks.

[slebmum1]

Have they got a licence for it?

[Goingtobeawesome]

*skip

[GlindatheFairy]

Weeks and weeks? Good grief. Definitely ask them how long it's going to be there. Does it have lights on and so on?

[ridemesideways]

At first, a couple of months ago, there was a rapid turnover of skips in the road (in whatever road space they could find at the time) whilst the bulk of the work was being done.

One of the changeovers was slap bang in the middle of the school run. It's a narrow street, with parking up one side and only room for 1 other vehicle passing on the other. There were about 10 cars waiting and being held up.

Now there's this skip which has been there for weeks, and is having small (but noisy) amounts chucked into it most weekdays.

Builders seem to have disappeared for the day now so have sent an enquiry to the council to see if it's licensed.