Neighbour smoking on balcony

I’ve never seen a rental contract that states you can’t smoke weed in outside spaces. However obvs it is illegal, so it’s not about the contract as such. More he’s undertaking illegal activity. Will the landlord care, will the police. Doubtful on either to be honest. And how does she prove it.

What can environmental health do?

Not a lot I'd guess

It's really shit for you, but he's entitled to smoke on his own balcony and there isn't much you can do about it. I do feel for you, though. It might be worth knocking and letting him know how it's affecting you.. but in a flat, unless he's going to go all the way down and out, it's the only place he can smoke.

Every time I go to a public event I'm horrified by the number of people smoking around me. It stinks and makes me gag. Seems to be on the increase. What is wrong with people?

I had the same problem in London, neigh our had an illegal garden on the flat roof next door outside the bedroom window while it was 32 degrees and I had a newborn. Didn't day anything as we weren't staying as moving to bigger place but I pointed a fan at the window when he sparked up to blow it out a bit, as counter productive and a waste of electricity it is! It was on anyway due to the heat but would rather have had it pointed in the room.

He’s not considerate, otherwise he wouldn’t smoke there- he must be aware of the effects of it

If it's weed he's smoking then it will.

i would def speak to him. If he is not responsive then I would contact environmental health as he is creating a nuisance to you in your home. We do not have the right to do whatever we want in our owned/rented space if it causes a consistent nuisance to others.

Nothing you can do OP

It's what happens when you live almost on top of people

I feel your pain.

From personal experience there is nothing you can do.

I own a first floor flat and the elderly couple below me are both chain smokers.

They spend all day either smoking indoors (and the smoke permeates through the pipe work gaps into to my flat).

Or they stand in their section of the garden and the smoke comes up and through my lounge window.

Their own flat - the walls are yellow through the stained nicotine.

I’ve tried talking to them (they just laugh it off).

I’ve tried it the council (who tell me that unless they are smoking in communal areas there is nothing they can do).

I’ve tried speaking to the management company who tell me that everyone who has owned my flat over the last 20 years has had the sane complaint and there is nothing they can do. Last time I spoke to them they said they had been chain smoking in their flat for 20 years and there had been numerous complaints over the years. They weren’t going to change so my best bet was they died from the smoking!!!!!

It’s so utterly selfish. Smoking f’ing stinks. It’s such a selfish habit. My own dad died from lung cancer caused from smoking - it’s such a disgusting habit that affects everyone.

Good luck 🤞

I used to smoke on my balcony and then the person next door asked me not to so I don't.

It's probably that simple

There's nothing much you can do OP.

He's entitled to smoke. I don't think whether he's a tenant or an owner matters, I don't really see that as being your business as other posters have suggested. Even if he does have a no smoking term in his contract, you don't know if it includes the balcony and, even if it does, they'll likely do an inspection and if he's being careful not to let smoke get in the flat, they'll likely find nothing to complain about. You just risk creating a hostile relationship.

You COULD report him for the weed, he's technically committing a crime but, in reality, the police aren't going to care unless he's secretly running a weed farm. Even if they do show up, there's little chance of any consequences and, as a smoker, he'll know that. Even if a knock from the police does make him stop smoking weed, he'll probably just smoke more cigarettes to compensate.

Your only real option is to casually mention it to him and ask if there's anything he can do to avoid/minimise the impact on you. If he says no, he says no. Hopefully, even if he says no, he'll be decent enough not to take offence.

Are your balconies adjoining? The other solution I can think of (if it's a big enough problem for you) is to put an extractor/fan on your balcony that he can reach. You could explain the situation and ask if he wouldn't mind switching that on while he's smoking. You'd probably want to explore the options first before actually doing that in case he say's no and you've wasted money. I don't know how much that would help with the problem? Would a fan/extractor work? You never know, he might even offer to contribute - I would as an ex-smoker who always tried to be considerate but that's just me.

It's a shit that the burden of finding a solution is on you but there isn't much you can do otherwise. It's the downside of communal living.

Huge industrial fan so that he'd struggle to even light up😆

Can't stand the smell of smoke but if he's a smoker how is he supposed to smoke more considerately if he lives in a flat? Your only outdoor space is the balcony.

It's just one of the things you have to deal with if you live in a block of flats unfortunately along with some noise and parking.

If he's otherwise quiet and considerate, I wouldn't make a fuss. Just not worth it.

@Cattery I only suggested it as a last resort, if other avenues don't work.
There will be bad feeling anyway if he refuses to stop.

@BlackStrayCat You have serious issues, I'm stopping replying to you now.

Of course there's little chance of smoke passing through trellis.

If you don't want smells from outdoors to come into your flat through the open window, then you need to shut your window. It's that simple.

You need to decide which is preferable to you - shut windows, or the smell coming in via open windows.

Could you put a trellis up at the end of your balcony as a barrier?

The point is, the cannabis fumes are wafting into her house and in particular into her children's bedrooms. They have human rights too! i.e not to be forced to breathe in fumes from drugs! 😡

It’s incredibly irritating, but something I’ve been unable to solve.

My downstairs neighbour does the same, it floats up to our apartment and through the windows. She actually seems to find it funny and giggles when I close the windows/my balcony door when the smoke starts up. I’m pregnant right now and the smell makes me literally retch and sometimes even vomit.

Some people are just twats and find it funny to annoy their neighbours.

On the balcony? You sure? Normally it’s in the property itself not the outside space.