Piss taking neighbour

I don't find it strange, as people will do all manner of odd things especially when to their own advantage, but if your house was vacant possession when you took it over, they should have been gone by then.

Never allow these things as it complicates everything later on. What happens if he wants his ladders when you're away? It's him staking a claim on your property so give them back ASAP.

“we have been here a few months now”

So clearly CF neighbour thinks they can stay there for ever. I’d ask him very politely to move them because you need the space - tell him they need to be gone within a week. He can’t exactly object!

Just as well really. It’s so easy to get fired up with the weight of anonymous forum users urging you on but reality hits hard when you’re in a shitty position with neighbours and your thread has disappeared because no one was really that interested.

I’d just put a note thro neighbours door saying, “please remove your ladders because we need the space”.
If you touch ladders, he’s bound to find damage to complain about!
If you have to speak to him it may just lead to further disagreement so easier to avoid.

I don't think the thread has gone how the OP wanted it to.

Or even another neighbour is a good friend?!

But that’s the whole point. An overreaction to someone walking across his driveway cost the guy £100K.

On a side note it is crazy how fragile neighbourly relations can be. We moved into our current home 7 years ago and on the day we moved in the neighbours were super friendly with us. About a week later I delicately pointed out that their dog was walking across our drive and doing its business on our front lawn (presumably got into a habit as the house was unoccupied for 4 months before we moved in). That was it, the neighbours now don't look at us, and actively avoid us at all costs. All because they weren't monitoring where their dog shat.

He just probably knows the other neighbours better than he knows you.
Maybe he has an arrangement with them about taking parcels in for him?

I wouldn't be storing ladders for someone I basically don't know! That needs to stop, boundaries are important there's no way I'd be taking responsibility for something that is such a big target for theft.

Take a deep breath. I'm sorry you feel he's looking down on you, it's not nice.

However, it's always better to keep things civil where possible with neighbours. You don't have to let him take the piss. Tell him you are returning the ladders before you do it, don't just dump them. Just nod and smile when you see him, don't engage any further. He can trim his own hedge! As for the parcels, that sounds like a win to me.

He might be a prick, you might be overthinking a bit. Possibly a bit of both. But honestly, my best advice is to rise above it all. You'll feel better in the long run.

How do you know someone is a prick by looking at them?
How are the other street residents entitled?
How do you know what religion/culture the other neighbours are?
Did you voice your opinions about him doing both sides of the hedge where neighbour might hear them? That may explain him being keen to avoid imposing on you any further. You could use the ladder/hedge thing to start making friends, and get to know him a bit. It is very handy getting on well with your neighbours, you never know when you might need a favour yourself. Added to the fact that neighbour disputes are a horrible way to live, and have to be declared when selling house.

I think your feelings about him and the street are all projecting, and it’s you judging and jumping to conclusions.

And someone disagreeing with you doesn’t make them a ‘snob’.

Lol at the we can't judge whether you're overreacting, followed by a warning you could wake up one day with £100K to pay for an escalating dispute with the neighbour. Now who's overreacting?

You're going to have to elaborate further on how a situation goes from walking across someones' drive to being ordered to pay £100K! That sounds ridiculous and quite a jump.

Because it sounds like someone ridiculous bible scaremongering. Be nice to your neighbours folks otherwise one day you'll be ordered to pay 1 billion, million dollars!

it’s clear the neighbours look down on us as we do not follow the typical religion and culture that most of the street share.

Intrigued by this. Is it Amish?

Does your neighbour have proof they're his ladders? Perhaps he admired the previous owners ladders and when they left took it as an opportunity to lay claim to them. I'd request proof he owns the ladders otherwise I'd say they're your ladders.

Parcels - I would be thrilled never to be asked to take in the neighbours' parcels.

Hedge - my understanding is if it is planted on one side of the boundary then it is that person's responsibility to cut both sides. If it's on the boundary then each trims own side. You can trim if you have checked there are no nests.

Ladders - a bit off that he didn't approach you a bit more formally. See from the street whether his other neighbours have a suitable size of garage for his ladders as well as his parcels. Also, will he expect a key to your garage or are you to open up your garage for him as and when it suits him? You could wait tillhe needs them, then refuse to let him put them back in your garage. Unsecured ladders are a menace and break-in risk, and I wouldn't rush to dump them on his doorstep.

Look, none of us heard the tone or words used on the Ring doorbell, so we can’t judge whether he’s an arsehole or whether you’re overreacting.

What I would say is, be very careful about escalating any bad feeling with a neighbour. Two couples a few doors down from me went to war and ended up in the High Court, which ended with one of them having to sell their house in order to pay the £100K costs that they were ordered to pay. The drama started with one of them walking across the other’s drive en route to buying his morning paper.

It’s just not worth it. One of my neighbours is a pillock, but I keep it friendly and get on with my day. Give it minimal headspace.

I think since you decided his a prick the second you set eyes on him that anything he does is going to annoy you.

I have a neighbour who always sends their parcels my way, because they know I work from home and will happily take them in. So if they rang he would tell them to bring them to mine he wouldn’t know his direct neighbour was in or not.

Don’t cut the hedge if you don’t want too. Tell him his free to take it upto the boundary line and bin the cuttings.

The ladder is weird anyway but just give it back.

Be warned however you are likely to be the one who ends up looking the prick in the brand new street.

Based on what you’ve written you seem to have assumed your neighbour hates you because you’re not the same culture/religion. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. At this point, you’ve no way of knowing based on him (albeit cheekily) asking you to trim his hedges and your perception (through a Ring doorbell which you heard in your garden so presumably not very clearly) that he had a ‘tone of disgust’ when referring to your house number.

You've got a choice here. You either assume the worst and potentially kick off a conflict with your neighbour which will make everyone’s lives miserable or write it off as him being a bit of a chancer but otherwise someone you can live in peace with. You don’t have to be mates but you also don’t have to live in hostility. I read so many of these ‘neighbours in court’ stories with people scrapping over the smallest detail, wasting £1000s on lawyers and I wonder if it starts with small things like this.

We all have to make choices all the time. Do we fight or do we let it go.

I’d take heed of this, neighbour wars can start so easily and end up making your life hell.

Overreacting probably if you already had a predisposition to not liking him. You already called him p*ss taking in the thread title. He may not want to inconvenience you with parcels when you're already helping him or be fearful of assuming you'll take a parcel if he hasn't asked you

I imagine most delivery drivers get used to how Ring doorbells work very quickly. You do know that it means people can speak to the driver via their phone wherever they are?

Wouldn’t be doing him any favours in the future and definitely wouldn’t be cutting his hedge.
sometimes it’s best to have distance when you have an awkward neighbour like this.
He's maybe known as difficult among other neighbours on the street.

Delivery driver thinks to himself “eh, what d’ya mean you’re not in??”