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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Neighbour is beginning to annoy me .

208 replies

droves · 09/01/2012 17:33

we moved away from neighbours from hell. It's a relief. I love our new house.

We have a garden , it's larger than the neighbours , but parallel to theirs .

Before we moved in the knocked down the fence so they could fit a giangantic trampoline in the back garden. It sort of took a few inches of my garden.

Had told neighbour that we will be replacing the fence in summer.

At new year party , neighbour pops in . And tells people we have a shared garden . Wtf ?. Now her crappy double swing set it half way into mine and blocking acces into my shed.

I've moved it back into her garden several times. Not only is it really annoying I have to walk around the damn thing to get into my shed , she has started talking about what we will do about our shared garden.

It's not a shared garden. It's two gardens that happen to have a fence missing because she broke it.

And her dog shits all over .

So I'm planning to get the fence rebuilt and have the garden landscaped and decked by may .I will not tell her , but just do it . Aibu ?

OP posts:
Sandalwood · 09/01/2012 22:00

I agree, it's a bit of a risk to spend all that money on landscaping/gravel drive/decking etc on rented accommodation.

Original poster
droves · 09/01/2012 22:01

Sandalwood , there is procedures we have to stick to before we can do anything to the property.

Firstly we have to get The Form.
This is obtained by sending in a letter to request The Form.
The Form must be sent back filled in with appropriate quotes from contractors for works.
Landlord will give permission , if contractor for works is certified and registered . Then permits will be issued , permits usually have a fee. (For dropping the Kerb it was £98 ( for the permit) ) .Tenant must pay for works and must maintain works for 12 months then after the 12 months the landlord will take over maintenance of the works .

Landlord is local council .

OP posts:
Sandalwood · 09/01/2012 22:07

Ah, didn't realise it was council - I thought you could be at risk of being given notice to quit at any time.
Also if it's council, that makes it better re your fence too.

GoingForGoalWeight · 09/01/2012 23:12

Get the first up FIRST, incase you are waiting to save money for the whole job to be done in one go.

Do it and have a 7ft fence Grin

Fuck her.

Cabrinha · 09/01/2012 23:14

I don't understand why you are joking about this, and calling her nutty. She is not nutty, she is a criminal and she is taking the puss out if you, and will continue to do so.
You have children, and are letting her dog shit in your garden?
You are moving her stuff out and she moves it back next day?
You need to call the council, whoever the contact is EVERY day until they come out and sort that fence out.
If they don't come out, you need to go to your local MP's clinic and tell then you pay rent in a council property, their tenant has reomved your fence and is letting her dog shit in your children's garden.
Why are you putting up with this?
One week - council every day - then MP.
End of.
Nutty - my arse. She may have a screw loose too, but she knows what she's up to, dirty thieving scum that she is.

needanewname · 09/01/2012 23:24

I'd have thought it better the council is your landlord. Keep on at them, get the fence up and stop being nice to this woman. Tell her to move her swings and pick up the dog shit. Tell her you've informed the council that she's dismantled the fence and taken the shed. Stop letting her take the piss

Original poster
droves · 09/01/2012 23:26

Cabrinha , do you really think she's that bad ?
Sad

I don't think she does it deliberately , just that she's a bit oblivious to how irritating it all is.

OP posts:
Original poster
droves · 09/01/2012 23:31

Council won't repair the fence , as the previous tenant replaced their fence with a different one ....without permission / permits. I have been told to apply for permission and will probably get it if the neighbour doesn't object . I think it's just a money saving excuse , but fair enough .

If you complain about neighbours they send you harassment sheets to fill out and send back , and don't do anything until police are involved.

Police are hardly going to take roaming swings and dog shit seriously . Besides I'd look like a loon complaining about a second neighbour ...Sad

OP posts:
grograg · 09/01/2012 23:48

She sounds like a nightmare, My mum has just got a new neighbour ( both local council), the new neighbour complained about the massive trees in my mums garden and also said the fences were not high enough, Council came round put up a huge fence all around both gardens, new gates to the side alley and sent a tree man to cut the trees down as my mum refused to pay as she has no money, You need to ring the council and complain. My mums neighbour rang everyday for a couple of weeks.

Mya2403 · 09/01/2012 23:56

Sounds like a nutter, Put up that fence.

runningwilde · 09/01/2012 23:59

Sorry op buy you are completely deluded if you think she is oblivious. She is a piss-taking cow and you need to see that. You need to be bloody serious with her and tell her to keep the fuck out of your garden. She is taking the PISS out of you.

GoingForGoalWeight · 10/01/2012 00:00

In my experience start as you mean to go on, Have the biggest fence and IGNORE her from now on. You just will never win! No matter how polite or how nice or what you say or do not saty will not make her stop being intrusive.

Hard to believe, hard to take this line of action. Just ignore her like she isnt there, i think she's another neighbour from hell. At least in your defence, you haven't said anything or done anything to her. You could tell her you are not the type to get involved with neighbours and anything else is not up for discussion. You'll be there in emergencies but nothing more.
I did that and it's worked.

fit2drop · 10/01/2012 00:26

I dont understand
you said the fence was there when you looked at the property , surely the shed was there then too, but you said you didnt realise there was a shed.
yet the fence was taken down to get the shed so the shed would have been there too when you looked at the property , not just a paved bit where a shed might have been.

Just saying like Confused

WelshMoth · 10/01/2012 06:57

OP, couldn't you argue the toss that whatever the previous tenant did whilst they lived in that property is totally irrelevant to your rights as the current sitting tenant.

I take it the council don't infringe on anyone's rights to keep pets in their properties? Couldn't you argue that the fence is an essential part of your tenancy agreement since you don't want to have other people's pets in your property?

I wouldn't accept the council's decision on this tbh. Sounds like a feeble attempt at fobbing you off. Start getting angry OP. You're been taken for a soft touch - by both your neighbour AND the council. Not good.

Bathsheba · 10/01/2012 07:17

Ah...the fact that it is the council rather than a private landlord does make a difference.

Until you actually buy the house from them, and have deeds detailing what you have bought, then you probably won't get very far.

For what its worth, a lot of the councils I've encountered in Scotland do have a thing about "shared drying greens" so to be perfectly honest, it MAY ACTAUALLY be the case that this WAS a shared garden before the pervious tenants partitioned it, and she had no problem taking the fence down as they HAD actually put it on a shared garden. I suspect many are classed as shared drying greens in order that the council never have to be involved in fencing, partitioning, fences being knocked down, "her shed is on my bit"....they just make the whole area "shared".

When you buy the house you will be given the deeds detailing exactly what you have, and that will precisely set the boundaries of your personal garden that can be partitioned off for your sole use.

To be honest I think you'd be far better concentrating your time and your saving on moving towards buying the house if that has always been your intention, rather than replacing what may actually be an illegal fence

JustHecate · 10/01/2012 08:09

The council is being stupid.

That's like saying because the previous tenant put a new bathroom in, they won't come and fix your leaky tap.

Nothing the previous tenant did is your responsibility. They can't say oh well, the previous tenant did such and such, so we no longer have to fix that.

No. They no longer have to fix it for THAT tenant. But they can't require new tenants to inherit that responsibility!

Old tenant put in a new kitchen. You move in. Cupboard falls off wall. Council says sorry, not fixing it. It was put in by old tenant, not our responsibility.

Hmm

When we moved into our (HA) house, they had rebuilt a wall the old tenants had knocked down in the outhouse, replaced the broken bath, repaired the sink. They didn't say, well, the previous tenant knocked down the wall in the outhouse so that's not our problem. And they damaged the bath and sink, so you have to pay to repair it because that's not normal wear and tear.

No. New tenant - slate wiped clean.

What on earth are they playing at? [boggle]

SuePurblybilt · 10/01/2012 08:10

The council will fence it if the dog is shitting on your lawn and you have children. I thought it must be HA/council from the amount of work you've already done - you must get them to sort this out.

I don't think you want to hear this but honestly, you need to get your housing officer to sort this out or you risk losing money and making trouble for yourself.

Kayano · 10/01/2012 08:26

So councils even put cupboards back on a wall? Do tenants have to do anything? Just wondering out of genuine curiosity

SuePurblybilt · 10/01/2012 08:34

If you exchange with a HA (as in from one HA house to another), they can say that you accept the decorative order in a certain condition. So there's no way they'd be offering you replacement flooring or help with decorating costs as they may if you were awarded a house via the list.
But they are still required to maintain the big stuff and the garden fence would come under that. When you got permission to gravel the drive and remove the hedging, what did they say about the back fencing?
You need to give them a harder time tbh.

JustHecate · 10/01/2012 08:46

Yeah. You have to pay your rent - part of which (in my case anyway) covers repairs that are wear and tear or not your fault. If it's your fault, you pay. If you want improvements, you pay.

Pendeen · 10/01/2012 09:05

So you are both council tenants, presumably on a council estate?

Are you in England / Wales or Scotland?

SP0104 · 10/01/2012 09:22

Is this neighbour the reason the previous tenants of your house moved out??

Thin end of the wedge I think

Get the fence up quick

SP0104 · 10/01/2012 09:26

"SugarPasteVelociraptor Mon 09-Jan-12 21:44:15
Or you could draw it in bleach on her side of the grass?"

Or use coca cola - apparently that really kills grass off !!!

PopcornMouse · 10/01/2012 09:55

She's not nutty, she's taking the pee. Put up chicken wire now.

I'd be arguing with the council that the garden was not fit for purpose sans fence - as it becomes littered with dog shit. I agree the next port of call is the MP - they do pack a reasonable punch in these sorts of situations.

TimothyClaypoleLover · 10/01/2012 10:10

OP, I know you and kids love the house but please find somewhere else to live. Your neighbour is a complete loon and I also echo SP0104 of whether previous tenants of your house moved out because of neighbour. A good possibility if they had to put up with what you do. It is unacceptable to have children playing in a garden full of dog sh*t and it is unacceptable for her to break the fence to steal your shed and keep moving her things into your garden.