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AIBU?

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Original poster

Someone IS living next door to me

156 replies

Searchingforananswer2023 · 10/05/2026 11:13

House next door converted to a HMO and I posted before as I was worried.

I've been hearing footsteps going up and down the stairs for a while and thought it was my imagination. No windows are open, no lights are ever on there is no sound of a toilet flushing and the bins are never put out.

Just after midnight a car was running outside my house across the drive. I turned on my camera and the door next door opened to accept a takeaway.

I have been off work for a week and have not seen anyone enter or exit.

Unbelievablely strange

OP posts:
Pistachiocoffeeyes · 11/05/2026 22:35

imnotwhoyouthinkiam · 11/05/2026 22:25

House of multiple occupancy.

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thank you 😊

Lifeomars · 11/05/2026 22:35

I would prefer that to my neighbours shouting and screaming at all hours, filling the back yard with masses of rubbish, dealing drugs, breaking the communal gate and chucking rubbish out on the street.

Happyjoe · 11/05/2026 22:32

Searchingforananswer2023 · 10/05/2026 19:00

Yes, camera I'd at the back and they've been over the fence so many times the panel has fallen off the gravel board and broken

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This is an issue... worth a call to the police?

Lifeomars · 11/05/2026 22:30

Searchingforananswer2023 · 10/05/2026 12:04

Definitely not squatters, but how can you be up until midnight with no lights on? If you are getting a takeaway why not put out rubbish? The weather is great for drying, why not hang out your clothes and open a window to air the house?

I'm not nosey just aware of my surroundings as both properties either side of me have been empty for two years and someone is habitually in my garden at night.

I have small side lights and fairy lights on timers so someone peering at my house might think nobody was in. I live alone so do not make much rubbish, takes me weeks to fill a bin and I dry my washing inside as I get terrible hay fever. I am not noisy either. Simple explanation for most things really,

imnotwhoyouthinkiam · 11/05/2026 22:25

Pistachiocoffeeyes · 11/05/2026 22:19

what is a HMO?

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House of multiple occupancy.

Pistachiocoffeeyes · 11/05/2026 22:19

Searchingforananswer2023 · 10/05/2026 19:12

Thank you 😊

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what is a HMO?

HelenaWaiting · 11/05/2026 22:16

BeanMeUp · 10/05/2026 13:22

Its a ghost. Its the only logical explanation.

Yes, ghosts always chow down on takeaway food. 👻

Pherian · 11/05/2026 22:10

Searchingforananswer2023 · 10/05/2026 11:13

House next door converted to a HMO and I posted before as I was worried.

I've been hearing footsteps going up and down the stairs for a while and thought it was my imagination. No windows are open, no lights are ever on there is no sound of a toilet flushing and the bins are never put out.

Just after midnight a car was running outside my house across the drive. I turned on my camera and the door next door opened to accept a takeaway.

I have been off work for a week and have not seen anyone enter or exit.

Unbelievablely strange

The only thing strange about all this is you monitoring your neighbours.

Justthethingsthatyoudointhisgarden · 11/05/2026 22:01

You really, really, need a hobby

Waspy43 · 11/05/2026 22:01

CaptainMyCaptain · 11/05/2026 21:20

I live in a terrace I can't see my neighbours' windows from my house. I'd have to go outside to look at them.

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Exactly this ! Think my neighbour would call the police if I kept going out looking through their windows to see if I can see a light on 🤣🤣🤣

Unicornmagic568 · 11/05/2026 21:58

Not bizzare tbh not everyone lives the same i didnt put my bin out last 2 weeks why? Because i didnt need to due to it being very little in it

Sunglassesevenintherain · 11/05/2026 21:51

OP this does sound really strange, and personally I’d want to know more too. Being aware of your surroundings is important for your safety. Wanting to know who’s living nearby and what’s going on around your home is just common sense.
To the people saying it’s “none of your business” or calling OP nosey maybe you live in a really quite area with no crime or have never felt worried or vulnerable in your own home, and if so, you’re lucky. But OP has already mentioned garden break-ins and a new HMO, so clearly being aware of who is on the street is sensible here.
OP - I’m not sure what specific advice to give, but maybe speak to some neighbours and, if possible, contact the building owner. Also, keep reporting the garden break in. Does your neighbourhood have a police officer you can email every time it happens

UnhappyHobbit · 11/05/2026 21:45

Searchingforananswer2023 · 10/05/2026 12:04

Definitely not squatters, but how can you be up until midnight with no lights on? If you are getting a takeaway why not put out rubbish? The weather is great for drying, why not hang out your clothes and open a window to air the house?

I'm not nosey just aware of my surroundings as both properties either side of me have been empty for two years and someone is habitually in my garden at night.

I have so many questions. Who is in your garden? Why can you hear your neighbours flush the toilet? Why are you bothered how they dry their clothes?

Msbond667 · 11/05/2026 21:37

I bet your the sort of person who measures their grass with a ruler so it doesn't grow over a certain height.

Scotland3232 · 11/05/2026 21:34

Could be a safe house. We had one in my street when I was growing up.

CaptainMyCaptain · 11/05/2026 21:20

SavedByTheBells · 11/05/2026 18:21

I can't imagine a situation where I wouldn't notice if my neighbours never had any lights on. Don't you go out in the winter?

What is the problem with your family that it makes you unable to notice things?

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I live in a terrace I can't see my neighbours' windows from my house. I'd have to go outside to look at them.

OhcantthInkofaname · 11/05/2026 21:12

What's an HMO?

stichguru · 11/05/2026 21:09

Why would you list a number of things that you know are VERY normal and not REMOTELTY strange, and then post "very strange" under them. I don't see my neighbours for weeks.
Some days my neighbour and I both work, she goes out an hour earlier than me and comes back 2 hours later. If she's not working, she goes out after me and comes back before me. If her husband is working he goes out hours before me and comes back earlier (mostly retired though). At weekends we just all do different things.

Faith77 · 11/05/2026 20:52

Are you complaining that you have quiet neighbours who keep themselves to themselves & don't cause problems except be too quiet? 🤔 How strange!

MummyWillow1 · 11/05/2026 20:30

They seem quiet and unobtrusive, not sure what more you can ask from a neighbour? HMO’s are often for young professionals, or they may work shifts.

Sprinkleofspice · 11/05/2026 20:23

If the family is known to the police then I would assume it’s one of them hiding while it’s empty 🤷‍♀️. What crimes are they known for??

Lourdes12 · 11/05/2026 20:18

Long covid or other debilitating illness 🤷🏽‍♀️

viques · 11/05/2026 20:08

Silvertulips · 10/05/2026 11:22

I don’t think it’s normal!

No one coming or going, no bins out, no lights or windows - sounds like squatters to me.

Or a cannabis farm (they screen off the windows so the lamps won’t be seen)

Lunde · 11/05/2026 20:02

I have had a neighbours who kept all sorts of odd hours
One worked nightshifts at a hospital and used to keep the curtains drawn
Another was a journalist and used to come and go at all sorts of strange hours
Then there was the private detective.....

HasDepth · 11/05/2026 20:00

Searchingforananswer2023 · 10/05/2026 12:04

Definitely not squatters, but how can you be up until midnight with no lights on? If you are getting a takeaway why not put out rubbish? The weather is great for drying, why not hang out your clothes and open a window to air the house?

I'm not nosey just aware of my surroundings as both properties either side of me have been empty for two years and someone is habitually in my garden at night.

why the houses on both sides of you have been empty for two years