Neighbours and sunbathing

[everythingisgoingup]

I am trying to gauge if my neighbours behaviour is usual or if perhaps I am being unreasonable.

They are a retired couple who LOVE the sun to the point that they look orange (the colour of a baked bean).

When we moved in several years ago they would sit for hours in the sun at the end of their garden staring at our house. On every sunny day they would be there.

After lock down they had their terrace/patio redone and it is now several feet higher and wider (half the depth of their garden) it is HUGE.

When they walk on the patio they can see over the fence as the terrace is so high, their head and shoulders are now above the fence. The fence is six feet tall.

This year they have positioned their tables and chairs up to the fence and sit either here with their sun loungers facing our garden (looking directly at us) or at the back facing our house (looking directly at us).

If the sun is out, they are out.

They sit with shirt off (husband) and in a swimsuit (wife) It is almost like they are on holiday tbh.

I find them intriguing and annoying in equal measure 😬😩

Because I work from home I see them from all our back rooms.

Is this usual behaviour ( I have never experienced it and have lived in six houses) Have you experience similar with your neighbours?

I don't know why I am posting I guess I needed to share

CannotWaitToBeFree

It is a nightmare 😱

We did this. Op we have the same problem. Retired couple out all the time in the sun. It got a bit much when the bloke was sat in his speedos staring at my young sons playing in their paddling pool. Probably completely innocent but I found it a bit unsettling. We got a taller fence and bamboo that's grown high enough to block them out. Other than the sunbathing they're pretty innocuous so we just let them get on with it.

In my first house we all had very short garden fences that you weren't allowed to make higher (in the title) 1m high.
One set of neighbours (retired and miserable) disapproved that I lived with 5 blokes (I owned and rented to my friends) she would sit pulled up in her chair right to the fence basically tutting every time the weather was good enough. She told my other neighbours (who liked us) that she thought I was running a "male brothel" and that "somebody should do something about it" 🤣🤣🤣

Where are you all living that you have this amazing weather?
I doubt they are looking at you, they are sun bathing.
Plant bamboo, it will grow really fast.
Be careful what you wish for-re them moving. Your sun bathing neighbours could be replaced with screaming kids, thumping basketballs, footballs constantly coming over the fence, music playing, BBQ smells.....

What you need is a pleached hedge.
Or a big 'FUCK OFF' mural painted on the back of your house by a graffiti artist.

ChurchView mural it is 😂

How about something like this on your patio, with the side wall facing them....
https://www.robertdyas.co.uk/vidaxl-garden-gazebo-with-side-curtain-3x3x2-46-25m-cream?msclkid=9478ce16d215188e0871a857cdeac031&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping%20-%20Smart%20-%20Low&utm_term=4578778784956946&utm_content=Smart%20-%20Low

This.

The concentrated stuff

yes Get a partial gazebo type of thing so the wall panel is against the fence and view is blocked.
also the idea of planting bamboo is fantastic

Just plant along your side of the fence. There are loads of options for pleached trees or something fast growing to give you more privacy in your garden.

They should be cutting your plants when they get tall. Only of they go over their fence. They can't cut them if they are in your garden.

I very much doubt they are sitting just looking at your house . Are you sure they are not just facing it. Unless your house is either a thing of such beauty they like to stare at it for hours on the regular, or you’ve some fascinating stuff going on.

Had a neighbour that decided the best place to sunbathe was on top of their shed. Then on full view across about 5 gardens. Being overlooked can feel odd. Strategic planting is good. Annoyingly both my neighbours have no planting. One previously complained about a lack of privacy. But considering our garden has about 30 trees and 10 shrubs, I couldn't really get why they were moaning. They could have just planted something.

People sunbathing in their garden is very normal.

You sound a bit paranoid.

Time to plant some extremely fast growing evergreens.

I guess they raised the patio so they could get more sun exposure. Might also be why they clip the bamboo. You might cast shade if you plant something high.

Are they keeping you up at night with loud music? Are they leaving litter out the front? Are they abusive?

If the answer in no, live and let live.

If it is illegal, you can do something, depending on how long ago.

I feel for you OP! My neighbour has recently erected a decked balcony around 4ft off the ground!!! Our houses have a cellar underneath so our back rooms are raised slightly off the ground. They had full view into my living room and now my entire garden. They applied for retrospective PP when I reported it and it was bloody granted 😩 the condition was to install a fence on their balcony along my boundry to stop them seeing in my house, but this has now blocked out natural light and views. As for my garden,.apparently the council don't care as they can see in my garden from their back window anyway (this is untrue). Luckily I already had some well established climbers in my garden so I've had to spend around £150 on trellis, dig my climbers up and replant them strategically to try and create some privacy

Oh that's so awful! Retrospective planning seems to be granted in many cases like this. I guess it's cheaper for the council.

PurpleRaiin
What an awful situation ☹️

It seems people do not always consider those around them

I am happy for my neighbours to sit in the garden but they sit there all day and face us when it is sunny ☀️

It is not paranoia either as the neighbours the other side raised their fence because of it and have commented about it 🙄

The decking rule is something like anything beyond 30cm in height needs planning. We had a neighbour that put his decking about 15ft in the air. His neighbour sold up. Even two doors down it was bloody weird.

if they love the sun, they are facing it and not specifically facing your house to stare at it. The sun is in their eyes love, they ain't staring at you 😂

This reminded me of an incident that happened several years ago when my DM was still alive. She lived next door to a couple who were in their mid 50s,who were real sun worshippers. I had stayed overnight at my DMs one day and went into the bathroom to have a shower. I decided to open the large bathroom window as it was a very warm day. The bathroom was at the back of the house, overlooking next door's garden. Imagine my surprise when I pushed open the window to be greeted by the sight of the next door neighbours standing in their garden,stark naked! They obviously hadn't considered the fact that someone might look out of next door's windows! I think they must have realised they'd been seen as they went scurrying indoors.