Grrrrrrrrrr bloody housing officer!!!

[holdenmcgroin1979]

Came round today saying i have two weeks to sort my front and back garden out and tidy it up or else! He knows i have been suffering with severe anxiety after having a bad miscariage last year and being pg again has made me a nervous wreck, the neighbours bloody cat has shit on the gravel in my front garden, wouldnt be so bad but he had the cheek to blame my moggies even thought he knows i keep them inside due to said neighbours cat attacking them everytime they are outside. I am expected to clear up fag butts that people have thrown over my hedge as well. My back garden isnt that bad to be honest it's just a few kids toys a bit of weeding and the grass that needs cutting but it's all stuff that involves heavy lifting or being in contact with soil which could have cat poo in it!! So cheesed off right now so this isn't so much an AIBU but a good old rant. Not expecting sympathy just wanted to get it off my chest!

Yabu I'm afraid, its a condition that is now in place with a lot of las now. Sorry you have had a bad time, but the condition your gardens are in must be a cause for concern to warrant a home visit.

It's the same HO that complained that a tumble drier was left outside on his last visit waiting collection from the scrap man who appered while HO was there but he then made up something else to complain about, maybe i'm just being a bit OTT but it was his tone that got my back up rather than what he said.

He doesnt do home visits as such he just drives round in his car looking for things to moan about.

If you are pregnant, there must be someone else around. Why can't he do some tidying up - and keep it that way?

I suppose it's because the council want to encourage people to look after their homes and gardens because it looks nicer and encourages other people to do the same.

And then people won't come on forums like Mumsnet moaning about council tenants and the fact that people are given houses that they either have the rent paid on fully or pay subsidised rent on and can't even be arsed looking after them properly.

And people generally don't want to look at cat poo/children's toys/fag ends everywhere.

We have gravel on our front 'garden' (courtesy of the previous owners!) local children walk along the edge of it every day, and every day bits of gravel find their way across the pavement/into the road and every day or so, one of us goes out and clears it up. We didn't make the mess, but it looks unsightly and we take pride in where we live.

HTH

Wish our housing officer was that keen!!

umm... either you are rose-tinted to how bad it is or HO is maybe a bit heavy handed to just pop arround and have a go. I'm a council tenant and we've had a few issues with other peoples dog mess (no one in building has dogs) and rubbish dumped but no one has come to talk to us in the way you describe. In the case of the dog mess the only reason I know about it is they charged one of the owners here for cleaning it up - nothing to any of us tenants. I think in 6 years I've seen or spoken to my HO maybe 5 times so it seems a bit odd to me.

OP our council have a gardening service which will strim down overgrown weeds and mow lawns and clear any rubbbish. They do charge a fee but if you are a lone parent and pregnant you will probably qualify. Our garden is huge and they only cost us 100 to clear the back of rubbish and strim/mow it right down.
Give them a ring and see if they have a similiar service or can put you in touch with someone.

We have had HO complain about our gravel garden which sprouts weeds so quick. They never complain to the house 3 doors down where their weeds are about 4ft high.

Debs75 This is what got to me i guess, the fact neighbours have gardens in the same or worse state than mine but nothing is said to them (or nothing they have admitted to) A friend suggested scooping the cat poo up and putting it over next doors hedge in the hope it decideds to use it's own garden as it's toilet instead of mine. Does anyone think this would work?

Oh i dont know maybe i am over reacting!

you sound a bit like its all everyone elses fault and nothing to do with you

Its horrible to be told what to do. I dont blame you for having a rant. Have a cup to tea and a silent seethe and then write a list of what needs doing.

You will have to sort it out. If its not too bad it shouldnt take long and once its done, its done.

You might have a nieghbour who takes it upon themselves to report the state of other people's gardens. Some people get quite het up about this stuff.

Dont expect too much sympathy on here. You live in social housing and threads with those words in get very overheated on MNs.

Dont touch the cat poo if you are ttc.

Debs75

"...... They do charge a fee but if you are a lone parent and pregnant you will probably qualify."

I'm afraid I have no sympathy unless the OP's other half has been lost tragically. Pregnancy indicates that there is a man around. What is he doing?

No-one's asking you to pick shit up with your bare hands OP

To be honest I wish they were half as strict here

People dump old washing machines and tumble dryers in their gardens and it can take weeks for them to get picked up.

If it's only a few kids toys and weeding/grass cutting...where does the heavy lifting come in?

Not at all Nelly, i know i could have maybe done something sooner but i honestly dont think it's that bad. My house is always spotless as my HSW used to notice before she signed me off and with the wether still being a bit hit an miss i didnt see the point in putting the kids outside toys away (things like the water table and a couple of ride on toys) as my toddler still goes outside to play when we get a bit of sunshine.

Man or NI man around, pregnancy is not an illness!

Wouldn't you feel happier with a tidy garden op?

*no

It's your garden and your responsibilty to look after it so YABU.

And how do you know that nothing is said to neighbours. Do you all tell each other everything?

Cats shit in other people's gardens. It's what they do. Buy a water pistol and soak the fecker whenever you see it in the garden. Not sure as to your logic about the danger of clearing up cat shut from your garden when you have cats indoors. You must have to clean their litter trays?

Colken i dont really wish to go into details as to where the babies father is (i dont feel like i should have to but if anyone really wants to know PM me and i shall give details i dont feel like this topic is the right place to say)

^shit. Not shut

Bloody autocorrect!

So dads not around. Ok, well tenancy is in your name so is your responsibility

Once the 2 weeks is up, if not done, what then? Did he say?

My back garden as far as i have seen hasn't got poo in it at all and has no fag butts on the ground either, as it's enclosed nobody can access it without the use of the key to the gate.