Tell me your bad neighbour stories

[ButteryKeith]

Particularly ones that got better/had a happy ending!

We moved last year partially because we had an unhinged neighbour. However, we've now got a nightmare at the new place and Police are involved.

Anyway, I won't go into details but I'm feeling pretty down and isolated so it would be nice to hear from others who have had issues...and if you decided to move in the end did you take any steps to check out who you'd be moving next to? My biggest fear is to keep house hopping into bad neighbour traps!

Lived in a block of flats when DD was a toddler. The downstairs neighbours were very keen on 3am amphetamine fueled karaoke parties so we got woken up regularly (and as DD would never fall asleep before 11/12 at night, getting woken up in the wee small hours felt particularly awful) and I still get flashbacks if I hear their favourite song.

It was council housing so we eventually complained to the person in charge of housing and they offered to move us to a terraced house instead which we jumped at. No problems with neighbours after that.

Also lived in a different block of flats when DD was a baby and I guess her crying annoyed the neighbours, which is understandable, but their response was to wait until I finally got her quiet then bang on the wall to wake her up again. That was less understandable! Then we moved to the country so had no neighbours but I hated that, was glad to move back where there were neighbours, even if I did end up having those karaoke hell neighbours.

F

I always thought it would be amazing to have no neighbours, what didn't you like?

She wasnt screaming and cursing at the clients. She was doing it as part of her very loud conversations. She was so loud I could hear her with my doors and windows shut whilst I was on the opposite side of my house from her business. People walking past her house often commented on her level of noise to me!

Some of the clients were often just as bad language wise. I always knew the more pleasant clients as she suddenly became professional and stopped screaming and swearing.

Keep a diary of it, get cctv, keep reporting it to the relevant authorities, don't react and stay calm if there is any alterations.

I am really quite an easy going person and try live and let live but it really was a case the nicer I was and more accommodating I was the more entitled she became. I have genuinely never see behaviour like it it my life and hope to never again.

It meant I was alone far too much with my ex and he had no need to curb his abuse because there was no one to see. But I also did miss just being around other people more - I love the neighbours I have now and would not want to be without them.

My DMs neighbor bought a new fence and gave her the ‘bad’ side. She was annoyed and flipped all the panels round so she had the ‘good’ side. They flipped them back, it went on a few times before the neighbors set up a bonfire and burnt every single panel. Im not sure who the bad neighbour was in this but I did find it funny.

We have nice neighbours now but about 20 years ago we moved into our first house and next door were a nightmare.

Turned up at 11pm the day we moved in asking for money. Loud violent 3am arguments between them (two adults sons and elderly dad), drugs delivered, used to walk across our back garden. I later found out this was because they were ripping off taxi drivers, getting a taxi home from the pub to the next street, then getting out and running through the woodland dividing the streets and through my garden to their house.

Complained to the council, they were useless. Said the house was neat and tidy, so despite us and every other neighbour complaining, they refused to act.

We sold the house and moved after 2 years. Before we left, we had a bonfire party and set off fireworks in our back garden.
They opened the window wide in their kitchen to watch our fireworks. One of the rockets fell sideways in its launcher, and went straight through their open window and blew up in their kitchen.
No one was injured, but I think they more than deserved it.

I had always lived in flats before I moved into a private rental in a suburban area. I had never encountered the phenomenon of home owners who imagine they are socially superior to tenants because they owe thousands of pounds to some bank. When I found workmen in my garden (without permission) I went to speak to my neighbour. I told her that if she needed access for her tradespeople I would not unreasonably refuse. However in the future she must get my permission first. "Put a note through my door and Ill come around to discuss terms"

She looked at me as though I were speaking in Russian. "I dont need your permission. Your only a tenant." That weaponised only a tenant enraged me. Here was this woman who knew nothing about me or the fact that I was in a high status job, infering some kind of social hierarchy. I asked if whe was paying a motrgage . On recieving the reply, reminded her that she owned nothing and owed was thousands of pounds in debt to the bank. Adding that I paid my bills as I went along.

I wont go into the many dirty little tricks I played on her over the years. Tricks she might suspect me of but had no proof. I even hired someone to put a voodoo spell on her and her husband.

It worked. I wouldnt do it again only because I now know how to cast such spells myself.

I am a vengeful bitch when someone gets on my bad side.

Mine have three dogs. One barks all throughout the day and doesn't listen to them when they tell her to shut up (unsurprisingly). They let it sit in the window despite it barking at everything that goes past on our lively road and working from home is a nightmare at times. The creepy man of the house stares into my house everytime he goes past and sometimes waves, but because of the antisocial noise I'm past waving back. Reading quietly, day time sleeping when poorly or even having a few minutes of peace and quiet is impossible. I can almost guarantee the dog will interrupt my mealtimes which I used to enjoy as I love food!

The dog barks til 11pm. They also argue with each other until late at night. I have to be up at 5am.

Voodoo spells? You sound unhinged!

What type of business and what nuisance is it causing?

First thing to do is get cctv on your own property particularly around the area of any noise nuisance. Legally you cannot film on anyone else's property as its against the GPDR act so do not do this. You can film on areas were your cars are parked etc generally but must put up signs.

Start keeping a diary of the nuisance its causing to you etc parking issues, noise disturbance, increase in traffic. Check the deeds on the property to confirm the rules, laws and parking. New build areas are generally not allowed businesses particularly part bought properties. If its part bought report it to the people who own the other share.

Look at your local planning department to check if planning consent has been issued. If part of the house has been converted to something like a salon or if they have built a purpose built building for it then it needs planning permission generally. Pull together all proof of the business then submit a complaint to planning citing all the issues its causing. Make sure these are issues planning can deal with.

Complain to environmental health if its causing issues such as noise, waste being disposed inappropriately and again have evidence of it. I had video evidence of the noise and abusive language. The police will also have words if the behaviour is anti social (it was in my neighbours case) and I had a diary of the number of clients which proved it was excessive.

If the business owner is approachable have a chat with them and explain its causing you issues. My neighbour isnt but did often seem to make as much noise as possible just to disturb us (I think she was trying to bully us into moving but it backfired as I went through all legal routes).

Under no circumstances give them any ammunition so stay calm, professional and do not engage in conflict with them. Some people do this to play the victim.

In general it seems under planning if the business is a small business with a few clients run in a detached property with private driveway and causing no disturbance, noise nuisance or huge amounts of extra traffic then planning normally leave it alone. If the business is client facing and causing issues then they will intervene

We had a neighbour next door but one who was a prolific shoplifter. She came to the shop in which i worked and was totally brazen about it cos she knew i wouldn't approach her. I discussed it with my manager who agreed that it was a matter of my personal safety cos this woman knew where I lived so I was told to get a manager when I see her come in and they'd do the approaching. We didn't always catch her but sometimes. Her bf was a really nice guy who would mow our lawn for us but if he was with her he didn't stop her shoplifting. She left a few months ago and I have barely seen the new neighbours.

We live in a small mews/courtyard development. Parking in the courtyard, which we all own. Is available for one car per house. Covenants do not allow more than one unconnected adult to live there (so families only). Courtyard is shared and the centre, as marked on plans must be kept free for turning, access to houses etc.

One of our neighbours moved out and her family let the house as staff accommodation for a large, rural, luxury (and currently quite famous) hotel. Three to four staff members, all with cars. Partners and friends staying, all with cars. Some mornings there were 6 or seven cars, double parked behind residents, courtyard blocked. Residents could not get in and out, an ambulance couldn’t reach a sick child…it would have been so dangerous if there had ever been a fire.

Complaints to the owner went unheeded, as did complaints to the HR department of the hotel and the letting agent . Sometimes the hotel would contact staff and ask them to move cars, for a delivery or similar, but generally did very little. At one point they even pointed out that as residents we ‘should not be using the one ‘visitor space’ for visitors as it wasn’t marked on the plan. It had been used in that way for 25 years.

Staff/tenants and their guests were very rude when requests were made directly, one even reporting an elderly male neighbour for being threatening. Not sure that he was, he is direct, but it certainly stopped other residents making direct requests. Late night parties often kept him awake in his adjoining house.

Eventually (after three years) the contract was not renewed by the hotel and the owner sold the house.

Love the one about the rocket blowing up the kitchen!

Our former next door neighbour had absolute hate for anyone parking outside his home, and refused to have any cars on his drive except his own (wouldn’t allow his own tradespeople or deliveries). Instead he would instruct them to park outside my house and block my drive. Initially I didn’t mind as I was home with our baby and DH at work, so it wasn’t a bother. When I was pregnant again, we were on our way to GP and I forgot my notes, so DH pulled over outside neighbours house whilst I popped in to get my folder. The whole thing took about two mins, but Neighbour went mental and when we arrived home he stomped across my front lawn to confront DH and started shouting. After this I no longer allowed any one for that man to park outside my house, and would go out and move them on.
his poor wife would come into the garden and whisper apologies to me over the fence when he wasn’t around. She said the spent their time in different rooms as he was “awkward”. I often send that poor woman my best wishes now we have moved away.

I’m being vague here but current neighbour (moved in after us) has a business that can become v loud at certain parts of the day, we weren’t even sure it was legal but unfortunately it is. He also smoked weed continuously but that seems to have stopped now (apparently it was medicinal 🤔).
We are on ‘hello’ terms when we see each other but have no wish other than to be civil.
The reason we didn’t report the excessive weed is that you have to declare neighbour disputes when you sell and we hope to move at some point.

Many years ago - terrace with shared covered ginnel and front doors facing each other. To shorten story: told our house 'must' match the 'paired' house complete with fake council planning letters, fence taken down without permission and moved 1m sideways, anyone parking outside her house was shouted at and notices left on the vehicle, 80+ year old next door but one shouted at for not keeping her hedge trimmed well enough, accused of damaging house when emergency gutter repairs after a storm were done while she was on holiday, neighbours daughter took offence to a few neighbours trying to speak to her mum to calm things down and came round banging on windows, shouting about how we had abused her mother, policy called twice due to people fearing for safety, and finally a pregnant woman and 2 year old pushed over for daring to use the shared ginnel and stepping over an imaginary line down the middle....

Some folk are nuts and thrive on the drama of it all. I think she was lonely and had had a very hard life - all came out as aggression.

We had an absolute loon upstairs in Switzerland.
She reported me to the police for smoking on my balcony.
She used to stamp on the floor if my 6yo dd had finding nemo on too loud.
She wrote my husband a letter accusing him of peeing too loudly after 22.00.
I found a mirror dangling on a piece of string. She was quite surprised when I yanked it and shouted for her to fucking fuck off

Oh my gosh, tell me more about the voodoo spells!

Oh I'm so sorry 😔
On reflection, I think the issues we're having are partly due to having very few neighbours in the immediate vicinity so perhaps it is better to have neighbours...I just wish there was a way to vet them beforehand!

My mum lives abroad, but similar housing to here. Detached property with fence down the middle. I fly out to visit when I can. The neighbours started out friendly when they moved in, but things went sour when they kept breeding and had 4.

The children were allowed to play/scream in the garden from 6am till long after dusk (some went to school). They kids would play with the leaf blower which was incredibly noisy. The fence was rotting and the boys would urinate through the fence into mums property. The kids were allowed on their balcony at 5am yelling 'bye bye mummy' when she went to work. On bin days, they were also allowed to yell at the bin men. They'd use my mums bins for their babies nappies (no, they didn't ask), move pots from mums front yard to allow access to their yard and so much more.

The cost to replace fences there is split equally with both neighbours, so mum and neighbour both got quotes. Mum put money aside and they agreed on a supplier. Mum paid an electrician to move an awning with lighting which was very close to the fence line along with her very rare collection of plants to a temporary position. Neighbour then refused to replace fence and let it continue to rot.

One time I was there I politely asked the neighbour if there was an issue with replacing the fence. He went into a tirade screaming and yelling at me. I videoed it as was so scared. A few days later, the police knock on mums door. They said that the neighbour had told them that my mum had kicked the fence panels making them break, and they'd seen the broken panels. I asked to see these but they refused. I tried showing the video of neighbour yelling at me- again ignored. My mum has had both knees and hips replaced, along with a spinal fusion and uses a frame. How she could kung foo kick the panels is beyond me. My own father built and paid for that fence when he was alive so mum would hardly kick it down, even if capable of doing so. The day before I flew out, the police turned up again. This time saying my mum had been swearing and saying horrid things to them and their children! Again, I asked for evidence but none was forthcoming.

Mum was petrified. She loved her garden, but was so scared, she'd only go outside after dark. Eventually, the shit neighbours moved and we celebrated.

my next door neighbour at a previous house had an Alsatian dog that they kept outside in the back yard. It was outside in all weathers, and all temperatures - outside on bonfire night. It would bark and howl constantly then they would get annoyed and hit the poor thing or kick it. I reported them to the RSPCA. The guy also worked on his motorbike in the garage, playing his music at full volume. Fine, I like music, but he only owned one CD - Nivarna’s Nevermind. I can’t listen to Smells like Teen Spirit anymore!

Just a heads up the business maybe legal but the level of noise must still be reasonable and not ot excessive it disruptive to others peoples right to enjoy there home. If its causing you issues get a few videos and report it to environmental health.