Is my neighbour subletting, or has she done a genuine house swap?

[Lilyvioletrose]

I live in a LA area, have done for some years. Most of the houses are bought, as the area is nice, peaceful, and the houses and gardens are a great size.
I’ve never seen any trouble on my quiet cul de sac, until new tenants moved in to one of the houses opposite us about six months ago.
Two men, a woman, two teenagers and a couple of kids live there now.

I’m the type to ‘live and let live’ but these tenants are often rowdy, there’s always someone making a racket (which I can put up with) with people coming and going and revving their cars up late at night. But when the adults are literally fighting with each other and arguing in the street at 3 am (as they were the other night) and not giving a shit that they’re waking the neighbours up, I just wish they’d leave.

Before the neighbours moved in there was a woman living there with her three kids. However, she moved out of the house about five years ago to live with her new partner, taking her youngest dd with her. Her eldest dc’s (her two dd’s aged about 18 and 21 at the time their mum moved out) continued to live on in the house. Both eventually had boyfriends moving in with them.

Fast forward to around six months ago, the young women suddenly moved out with their boyfriends, and within hours a new family were unloading a removal van and had moved into the house.
(As the house is still a council house, I was firstly surprised that the original tenant had been able to move out and allow her grown up daughters to live there, but presumed that she felt her relationship may not work out and would need to move back in with her youngest dc)

I was also surprised that when the eldest dd’s moved out more recently, new tenants were moved in immediately. I’d always assumed that the council would go in and clear a property before the next tenants were given a key to the house. But this house still has the original tenants curtains up at the windows, and I believe the tenants are either friends or family of the previous ones as I saw the dd’s talking with them on the day they left.

My point is, how would I know whether the previous tenant has sub letted the property or simply swapped houses with the new tenants?

If she has sub letted (which I believe is most likely) I would report it. Although I don’t want to cause problems for people who’ve done a genuine swap, even if they are a pain in the arse to live near!
For the record, the house is a three bedroom.

Apologies! I get where you’re coming from now …
maybe it’s the sun bringing the bonkers out in people 😁

If a tenant has adult children living at home earning they have to pay the rent. Even if they are not named on tenancy. So previous tenant not benefit fraud.
if I was in your shoes I would report the noise to council with dates times description of individuals and let them figure it all out.
lots of council houses are over occupied ,on my tenancy it states no more than 8.5 persons ! however all adults over 16 should not share a room so I’m two bedrooms short.

We had a LA house swap in our road. New tenants were from a different part of the country and, it turned out, that they had moved here as the son had been banned by court order from many places in their old town. Our crime rate shot up and the family were moved elsewhere very quickly. So, even if it's a legitimate swap, which I doubt, the LA should take action. Report tomorrow, giving all the details you have given us.

It says that you must continue to live in the home if you take on a lodger or sub let. The previous tenant no longer lives there.

Surely the house swap or sub letting is irrelevant to you! They are causing a disturbance and that is what needs to be reported!

Yes that does need to be reported too, but if they are subletting then I’ve got more chance of them being evicted if they have no right to even be living there.

Well not really irrelevant, as if previous owner is subletting they'll be leaving sharpish. Much harder to get rid of them if they're there legitimately unfortunately.

Yes you can....google it!! There are rules but you can sublet.

Yes, op, I know what the link says. I had already said that there are rules around that!!

As another pp mentioned, your childish tantrums are very silly. No one is goading you, give over.

And yes, I’ve been woken several times over the past couple of months but a very middle class family oriented expensive area.

They don’t sound like delightful neighbours but neither do you.

They could have exchanged, when I did a swap we both had to move on the same day.

You ‘feel embarrassment’ for me do you? …. Why wouldn’t I state that I know the previous tenant was claiming housing benefit? After all, and to reiterate, she told me this herself, so if she is sub letting it makes it a tad worse don’t you think? … the fact that she could be receiving rent from the new tenants, even though she isn’t paying much to the council herself.
As for you stating no one is goading me, you’re the worse one on here,! ….. what with your pathetic little comments, although your opinion is of no interest to me.

Couple of people asked you how you knew she was claiming housing benefit you said you were not going to say. Its only later that you said She told you ages ago. But that does not mean she's claiming now.

I know it doesn’t mean she’s claiming now, but even if she’s not there’s still a possibility that she’s sub letting, and if she is she shouldn’t be.

How do you know this much about your neighbours lives and comings and going’s?! Mind your own business.
Agreed, people want to live their lives without being reported.

I should think OP knows so much because they’re screaming and shouting loud enough for her to hear more about her neighbours lives then she would like to know. If they’re bringing their brawls out on to the street then they’re broadcasting their business to the poor sods who have no choice but to hear it.

If people don’t want to be reported then they should be considerate - don’t fight on the street, don’t scream and shout often and loud enough to be a nuisance and don’t rev your cars and bikes up. It’s not hard and it’s not an unreasonable expectation.

Some of the posters on this thread! OP just report the noise nuisance to the council and mention the number of people living there.

No need to verify if there is anything dodgy going on, if there is the council will uncover it based on your report and if not the tenants have nothing to fear apart from perhaps having their tenancy in jeopardy for being twatty inconsiderate neighbours.

Beak out indeed. No need for councils to spend millions on noise nuisance control I suppose as we should all be keeping our beaks out. Jesus wept

The house-swap or no house-swap is a red herring.

The tenants in the house are causing disruption by anti social behaviour and should be reported as such.

Any irregularities in who is living there or over crowding is the council’s issue. The more pressing issue for you is the disruption so just report that since they moved in x, y and z has been happening.

If you haven’t already then start keeping a diary and have a read of your council’s procedures for anti social behaviour so you know what they should be doing.

Precisely that! I don’t want to know about their lives, but they are making their lives everyone else’s business (who have the misfortune to live near them) by their constant drama.

I’d decided to report my concerns, firstly about potential sub letting , as even though the neighbours are often disruptive, I don’t want to wait ages making a diary in case the council don’t do much anyway.
It seems that the only way to report sub letting to the council though is online, and you have to put your details in to create an account. Trouble is, I don’t want any reprisals on me if the neighbours did find out I’d reported them.

I know things are supposed to be data protected, but it’d be my luck that the person who receives my report could actually know my neighbours and tip them off. Not sure what to do now.

The chances of that happening must be minuscule. Firstly for data protection to be breached, secondly for the person reading your report to know you and thirdly for them to risk their job by telling your neighbours. Go ahead and report it!

You’re probably right, maybe I’m over thinking it!

They will likely be committed to finding out who reported

So if it's a process of elimination in your street how would you fare?

Is this another one of your sarcastic comments, or is this your attempt at being helpful?

Definitely tell the Council, they could be depriving someone of a local authority house. No wonder there is a lack of council housing for genuine people and families needing one! If it's all above board, then so be it, so no harm done.

Sounds like a "Man about the House" situation - George Roper a subletting Landlord 😂before my time but I have seen it.

By committed, do you mean calling the council and demanding they break confidentiality, or visiting each suspect and sticking hot pins down their fingernails till they confess? 🤔

OP you are definitely over thinking this, hope you reported.