Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to report neighbours for ...

21 replies

DappyHays · 17/07/2012 12:49

...avoiding (evading?) stamp duty?

My lovely ex-neighbours sold their house 4 years ago to the Morons current people. The bloke steamrollered old neighbours into accepting £10,000 of the sale price in cash so that they could avoid paying the higher band of stamp duty. Sale price was £510,000. £500,000 went through the usual channels and the £10,000 they gave directly to sellers in cash.

At the time the housing market was teetering on brink of crash and sellers were anxious to get it sold.

None of my business really.

But...my new neighbours of 4 years are bullying arseholes. They've complained about the noise of us walking about our house (we're semi-detached). That we get up earlier than them (7am to their 7.30) and go to bed later (11pm ish and later at weekends...no idea what their bedtimes are). If we're walking about upstairs they hammer on the walls. The woman accosted me in the street, while I was carrying my baby from the car into the house, and told me she was going to get me Asbo'd (presumably for walking about my house we don't often do late night parties etc. Even if we have people round we're in the extension which is furthest away from the bedrooms). We have never had any "official" complaints, however. When they get drunk they hammer on the walls or throw things at the party wall. They complain and have shouted at us for parking in front of their house. It is a public highway with no driveways, anyone can park anywhere in the street. He once drove down the wrong side of the road in a game of chicken when he spotted me driving up...swerving at the last moment. I had the DCs in the car at the time. He also stops and stares at my two little girls when they're coming and going from the house. He's trying to intimidate us, he doesn't give us a second look when my DH is around, however. They're a couple in their late thirties, early forties with 2 young DCs themselves. They are both professionals. Their madness stems from the perceived noise nuisance. However, ex-neighbours say the new folk are being totally ridiculous and they found noise levels from us to be normal...they even sent us flowers and champagne when they left and a note thanking us for being great neighbours.

After 4 years, I'm pretty sick of them. Our home is perfect for us other than these twats next door.

There's not much we can do, but I really feel like dropping them in it with the tax thing, though I've no idea if after 4 years it would even be looked into or how to go about reporting it. Or maybe just having a word with myself to mind my own beeswax.

OP posts:
quoteunquote · 17/07/2012 12:52

You would be dropping your lovely ex neighbours in it as well,

just keep a diary of their horrible behaviour.

I bet they move soon.

paradisechick · 17/07/2012 12:53

The stamp duty thing happens all the time. Pay under the threshold and the rest for extras such as curtains etc.

You are allowed to be pissed off they sound shit but reporting them isn't going to change that. Who would you report to anyway?

What about mediation?

SoleSource · 17/07/2012 12:55

YANBU

Can you move out? Are they planning to ove out soon at any time, do you know?

Keep a diary, contact environmental health dept. Se a solicitor. Written evidence and noise that is recorded by the environmental health is vital. Without this you have NOTHING.

You're just going about your everyday normal business from what you have described.

Noisy Neighbour - Forum

Get help, report first, feel better, get results.

WorraLiberty · 17/07/2012 12:56

After 4 years you want to drop your nice neighbours in it too?

Sorry that's completely petty imo.

Most Estate Agents teach people how to avoid stamp duty. For example, when I bought this house 17 years ago, they arranged it so we paid £1000 cash for fixtures and fittings to bring us below the stamp duty threshold.

I really can't seen anyone even having a record after 4yrs...let alone giving too hoots.

sugarice · 17/07/2012 12:56

They sound barking and unless you are planning on moving then attempting to get them in trouble with the tax man may backfire on you and make the situation worse even though I understand your anger towards them. Keep a diary of their unreasonable behaviour.

DappyHays · 17/07/2012 12:58

You're right, I wouldn't want to drop ex-neighbours in any hot water. The buyer harrassed her for hours on the day he viewed, she finally agreed after a phonecall at 10pm at night.

The 10k was a cash payment about 2 months before the actual sale. The moveables came under the sale. The cash was done without the knowledge of their respective solicitors. (Ex neighb had a credit card bill run up decorating her new place, so needed the cash at the time).

paradise you're right of course. I'm just fed up...they're such arrogant morons, it would be great to see them taken down a peg or two. I'll just have to carry on ignoring them as best I can. DP finds it very stressful...he's the type that likes to just get on with everyone, but this lot make him feel rage.

OP posts:
SoleSource · 17/07/2012 13:01

YABU about the stamp duty, sorry.

DappyHays · 17/07/2012 13:04

Worra it is petty, absolutely. What is annoying me is that these idiots are making me think of this petty shit.

I suppose we choose our own reactions to situations and I should try and pity them for being loopy.

OP posts:
DappyHays · 17/07/2012 13:06

Sole don't be sorry, I can see that I'm BU. Thanks for the link, though.

OP posts:
thebody · 17/07/2012 13:11

Might be worth having a chat with local beat officer if u feel intimidated.

Keep a log, stay calm, don't get into a row, if they know you are prepared to involve outside agencies then it might stop.

However any logged neighbour dispute has to be declared if you put your house on the market so think it through.

badtime · 17/07/2012 13:16

Keep a diary of their harassment. Call the police if they abuse you in the street. Keep a record of every incident.

Tell them to call environmental health if they have a problem with noise. Tell them you will call environmental health if they keep hammering on walls. Call environmental health.

They sound unwell.

I once had a downstairs neighbour who regularly banged on her ceiling because I made so much noise. She ended up calling environmental health, and after that, she shut the fuck up, because I made a normal amount of noise and she was, of course, BU.

Melindaaa · 17/07/2012 13:20

Half a million for a semi. Wow. That'd buy a massive country pile here.

DappyHays · 17/07/2012 13:28

Melindaaa we paid a lot less for our larger house a few years earlier and these days I think they'd be struggling to get their money back if they sold...which is probably why they don't upsticks and go.

OP posts:
pinkappleby · 17/07/2012 13:34

Was the driving incident a while ago? If it was recent I would contact the local police and say you saw your neighbour driving on the wrong side of the road and you are worried he has been drunk driving or has an illness that is affecting his driving, and could they go and have a word? You could be annonymous, I mean anyone could have seen him do it out of their window.

pinkappleby · 17/07/2012 13:35

I'd keep a dairy of teh rest of it, wall banging, shouting etc and perhaps drop a letter through their door saying that you are doing so.

naturalbaby · 17/07/2012 13:35

It doesn't sound like you can get anywhere with the stamp duty but to those who say they'll probably move - what if they don't?

Friends of ours are in a similar situation and the nuisance neighbours will not move (they think about it then do some home improvements, have been there years, aint going anywhere), they are trying to bully our friends into moving.

I don't understand how some people can behave like such selfish twats Sad

DappyHays · 17/07/2012 13:37

pink it was June 2010. I should have thought about it then. At the time I thought if I went to the police, it would be his word against mine so nothing would be done.

I think my neighbour may drunk drive occasionally, as the nights when they're banging/playing loud music they're more than likely boozing as well...and I've seen him get into his car next morning.

OP posts:
Cailleach · 17/07/2012 14:10

My stepdad worked for Environmental Health for 40 years (he retired recently.) If a noise complaint is to be upheld by a court there has to be evidence of the noise nuisance; usually this takes the form of audio recordings of the alleged noise, or a witness report from an EHO (Environmental Health Officer).

I suspect if your neighbours called EH and asked them come round and set up their monitoring equipment trying to catch the sound of you walking around your house (pffft!) they would be told by EH where to shove it. Noises caused by normal daily life in a house are not grounds for complaint - loud noisy parties that go on between 11pm and 7am most certainly WOULD be looked at by officials so I think your neighbours should watch their step here!

As others have said, keep a log of their behaviour and if it worsens, called Environmental Health and see what they can do.

bookends · 17/07/2012 14:37

Sounds truly awful. Have you spoken to other neighbours, to see how they react to them?

Write and record anything you can...it must be ruining your quality of life.

DappyHays · 17/07/2012 14:46

The neighbours on the other side of them aren't attached to them.

I get the feeling they're not popular on the street, because of the parking thing, though that could be my clouded judgement.

Mr Moron (and Mrs sometimes) will be straight out moving their cars if someone moves from a space either in front of their place or ours.

Before all the hassle started I hated when he chatted to me in the street, he's a tedious type. They were there about 6 months before they started complaining and it was another 3 months after that the madness started.

OP posts:
SoleSource · 17/07/2012 17:29

Dappy Just give the environmental health a call. They will listen to your worries and advise you. Just take one call. You'll feel better, honestly.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread