my NDN's unwanted guerrilla gardening?

[RobotsAteMyWashing]

Lived here for twelve years. Next door neighbours have been quite odd/unfriendly.

Now their house is on the market and their son has been onto my driveway to trim the top of our shared hedge, without asking. This annoyed me as I have had him trim my front hedge previously and he has charged top whack for doing it, and now hes only given me a freebie to benefit them, and without the courtesy of asking/offering first.

Now he's been onto my drive, pulled up a couple of thistles that were under my hedge and put them in my garden waste, again without asking (my DC saw him)


Some examples of previous behaviour (dont want to drip feed)
When they first moved in I lent them my gardening equipment as they had none and their garden had been neglected. I was in the garden and through the hedge I heard NDN cut through the cable on my hedge trimmers and swear. When he handed them back he said nothing but the cable was two metres shorter where he had moved the plug along ( I know accidents happen, but it would have been polite to mention it)

Having BBqs when my washing is out without knocking the door first

We have a shared ridge at the back which needed repair. We had it done at the same time as our main ridge. I kept knocking their door to get permission and a contribution but got no response, I put a note through saying that the work (on the shared bit) would cost £600 and would be happening on "x" date. They ignored my note and never contributed or thanked us for getting it done.

They had an extension done at the back of their house. They came round to tell us (after the work had started) I asked if they had a party wall agreement for me to sign, they looked cross, never produced one, never had planning permisison (its on our boundary and affected our outbuilding)

[DontTouchTheMoustache]

Tbh they are moving so not sure why you are getting worked up by it. They should have asked permission but ypu got your hedge trimmed so its not the end of the world. Some of the examples ypu give they seem like CF but the example of them not contributing is fair enough if you chose to get the work done because you were getting other work done, you cant expect them to fork out £300 because it suits you, they may have been in a difficult financial situation at the time.

[MartinJD]

"Having BBqs when my washing is out without knocking the door first"

One suspects your neighbour may be getting a lucky escape.

Best,
MJD

[ADishBestEatenCold]

"They came round to tell us (after the work had started) I asked if they had a party wall agreement for me to sign, they looked cross, never produced one, never had planning permisison (its on our boundary and affected our outbuilding)"

And you just let that happen? Didn't follow it up in any way?

[Bluntness100]

Well he should have mentioned the cable and the extension. But I wouldn’t expect them to knock on my door if they were having a bbq, and I wouldn’t be concerned about him standing on my drive to trim the hedge or to have to ask permission to pull weeds, nor would I expect a contribution on work I’d unilaterally decided.

I guess they don’t like you very much and you don’t like them very much so they are movjng, and it’s all good. Hopefully you like thr next ones.

[JonSnowsWife]

Having BBqs when my washing is out without knocking the door first"



If my neighbours knocked on the door every time they had a BBQ I'd be up and down like a yo-yo!

[Passthecake30]

Note to self.... tell neighbours when planning a BBQ

I can't see why pulling a couple of thistles are upsetting you... weren't they weeds? Maybe they wanted to get the roots out if they were spreading into their garden. Send them round, I have some weeding to be done.

[JonSnowsWife]

OP could you send your NDN around to me please. My Gardens desperately need doing!

[Withhindsight]

What are you posting for? Are you happy to see them go or do you want to cause problems/ tie up loose ends? If you want to cause problems, I'm sure it's illegal to build on party wall without signed consent from the other side i.e. you. I think you could make things difficult for a potential purchaser if you want to. If I were you I'd get the work they've done, affecting your wall looked at by a pro, get a written report, then I'm sure you can get the cost refunded from the neighbour ( whether they will pay is another matter) also neighbour will be liable for repair work if the party wall work was not done properly. Sadly it would all have been easier to sort if you'd phoned the council when they started the work in the first place. You should do something now though before the house is sold as it will be easier than trying to find where they've gone if you have bills to try and get repaid once they've moved.

[MadMags]

If I got a note telling me I owed £300 for work I didn't want to do, I wouldn't be paying it.

However, nor would I sit back while someone did building work that affected my property.

The BBQ thing is mental, the garden equipment think is out of order on your neighbours' part.

The hedge thing probably wouldn't bother me as long as he disposed of it in his bin. The thistle thing is weird and cheeky and I'd tell him not to do it again.

All in all, it's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.

Although, you've probably squeezed into gold position with the building work, in fairness!

[CredulousThickos]

Such a weird post. A list of non issues and then a random illegal extension added on like an afterthought.

[coddiwomple]

I asked if they had a party wall agreement for me to sign, they looked cross, never produced one, never had planning permisison

I would get onto that now before they sell! It's great news they are leaving, it will (hopefully) make your life easier, but you should address the above urgently. If nothing else, that might come back to you when you try to sell yourself.

And for the poster smirking about bbq and washing line: it's a polite and common thing to do. My neighbours always have. Don't you?

[Sparkletastic]

I think you’ve missed your moment on being appropriately assertive with your neighbours.

[MrsPicklesonSmythe]

Do people warn their neighbours when they have bbqs? is that normal?

[coddiwomple]

Do people warn their neighbours when they have bbqs? is that normal

It's normal where I live, but then I have lovely and respectful neighbours all around. When I read all the threads about neighbours from hell (smoking, screaming, drinking, unruly children, late night parties) it seems that we are extremely lucky to live in a family friendly area.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Having BBqs when my washing is out without knocking the door first why should they check first? Why does your washing trump their dinner?

It's a shared hedge,again why would they check with you?

They're moving, let it go.

[RemainOptimistic]

I see MJD is back with his unique blend of farce.

Best
RO