Neighbour is damaging our property with a marquee tent

[DiscoBob]

We have never had any issues whatsoever with our next door neighbours. They've lived there probably since the late 90s.
Basically the majority of our kitchen wall is located in their back garden.

They've put a marquee tent in their yard about 10-20cms away from our kitchen wall. This has been there for a year and a half. Obviously the water run off has caused damp that's now seeped through our brickwork into our kitchen.

We've paid a damp specialist to do a report and showed it to the neighbours. It includes instruction to move the tent so it's at least a metre away from the wall and this would allow the damp to dry.

Unfortunately the neighbour accosted me while I was helping my disabled friend into my house so I was flustered and started saying the tent wasn't touching my wall, and that the overgrown plants on her yard came from my property. They don't. And if they did we'd be happy to cut them back as we regularly pay for gardening maintenance. So that threw me.

They never have done any gardening once except to borrow my loppers to make enough space to place this marquee tent. Which we assumed was temporary.

I'm now in a dispute with my mum who says I shouldn't contact the council about it. That she might contact a lawyer? But she doesn't even have a lawyer and the neighbours I doubt have money to be sued. Plus I'd hate to get into a dispute with them. Surely the council is more sensible as that's their landlord. After we've tried to explain and reason with them once more.

I don't want them to hate us but I really don't know what to do. Both of us are disabled and can't really handle conflict. But if she doesn't move her tent it's going to cause rising damp that could permanently wreck my home and the neighbours. We told her it could be affecting her house too but she was unbothered.

Thank you. Yeah, my mum went round with the report and explained it all and the lady she spoke to was fine with it. So thought it was sorted. But that clearly wasn't the main person in charge she spoke to! As the other one then accosted me!

@DiscoBob it's fine I was having a lovely time imagining you lived in some kind of Trivial Pursuit piece and wondering where the fridge goes in a pointy kitchen.

Is that diagram upthread quite similar though?

Just wanted to thank everyone so much for their comments, ideas and support.

Fingers crossed it gets sorted. It was good to share, so thanks again for listening! Xx

Kind of yeah! It's as if the garden wall should just be at same level as my kitchen wall/theirs but it's not!

Speak directly to the council - A manager in the housing department not a minion that first answers the phone.

Provide them a copy of the report and make noises about taking legal action if their tennant continues.

Also contact the planning department and report a breach of planning regulations. I believe that a firm pole tent structure if left up for a year needs planning permission.

BOB! I so need you to fix the diagram thing. I'm even more confused now than when I thought you lived in some cheese. Where is the wall? Where is the fridge (I digress).

You need to add it as an image. I am attempting my own rendering as inspiration. Let's see if this works....

Damp proof courses are above ground level, they aren’t in basements. They’re located about 15cm above exterior ground level where they exist. The don’t exist at all in very old properties. I am wondering if you’ve got a bit of a crap “damp specialist” report. Primarily you need access to the wall to inspect if from your neighbour’s side. Reports shouldn’t be drafted by anyone trying to sell you something like injected damp proof courses. They should be drafted by independent surveyors.

It's like that but their house is connected to mine on the side so there both on the same side. (Right in diagram) Their house is adjacent to where tent is there but connected to my house also. So there's is basically under ours in that diagram. So tent is against mainly my wall, but a tiny bit of their wall. The houses on other side of wedge are not to do with any of it. Gawd I'm so sorry! Haha..

I love the diagram though the wedge is right. It's just that we are next to each other in wedge not opposite. 😆 X

Now I'm REALLY confused. Please try again with a diagram!

RIGHT?

I'm getting my crayons out and am going to attempt another etching.

@DiscoBob please don't be sorry I'm having a marvellous time. 🏠

Gawd I feel awful. For some reason I can't upload my drawing!
There's a wedge and one side of the wedge is mine and ND. Terraced. Joined by kitchen walls.
But the line of our kitchen wall falls in their garden as our garden wall occurs next to the kitchen window which is only one metre into the kitchen. Rest of kitchen is consequently in ND garden and tent is all the way along that part, And there's no boundary in garden where the house boundary wall is.