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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to just remove the bloody bolt?

299 replies

Stinkle · 25/06/2014 11:23

Sorry, this is petty and quite long, but the situation has descended into war over a bloody gate and I'm bloody fed up with it

I live in a little housing estate which is situated on the edge of a village, to one side of us is another housing estate, the other open fields. All bar 2 houses are owned by our landlord, he also owns the road, our access track, etc, etc.

In the corner of our house is a gate which leads into the housing estate behind us along a footpath. It's got one of those Chubb locks on it but we are all allowed to use it and have all been given keys

This gate is the only access we have by foot into the village. The track out of our estate when you're driving is about 4 miles round along narrow, windy, country lanes to the village, school, shop, etc. all has been fine and we've all been living here, sharing the gate and going about our business happily for years

About 2 months ago a new neighbour moved in and has complained endlessly about the gate and there have been a few disputes about it.

About a month ago the new neighbour added a slidey bolt to the gate and every time someone went out through the gate, he'd slide across the bolt, meaning you couldn't get back in. This wasn't terrible if someone was around to come and open the bolt, but several times we've all been stuck the other side of the gate.

More disputes about this bloody gate ensued and the Landlord got involved. Landlord removed the bolt and warned the neighbour.

So, this morning I go to use the gate to take DD to school, to find the bloody bolt is back and neighbour has now added a padlock

WIBU/illegal to remove the bolt and shove it up the neighbour's arse ?

OP posts:

maninawomansworld · 25/06/2014 11:32

Call landlord immediately.
If the neighbour has already been warned then the landlord will not be pleased about being bothered with this again and may well take action against the tenant.
He may serve some form of a written warning and / or make a deduction from the tenants bond to pay for removing the bolt and making good the damage to the gate (or replace if it is now full of holes where multiple bolts have been attached then removed).
Or he may decide enough is enough and give tenant notice for breaching tenancy agreement by doing wilful damage after being expressly told not to.

yellowdinosauragain · 25/06/2014 11:33

Who owns the gate and the access? Unless it's the new neighbour I think you can very reasonably remove it. There may also be an aquired access right if you've been using it for years even of it is owned by the new neighbour but I'm not clear on all the legalities.

I'd remove it.

JerseySpud · 25/06/2014 11:33

Contact the landlord again. Is the gate the NN property? I don't think its legal to put a bolt and padlock on it.

Also what is his issue with the gate?

MarysDressSways1 · 25/06/2014 11:36

Is this neighbour also renting from the landlord? If so, just tell the landlord and he can deal with it!

WHY do they want a bolt on it?

spiritofthetime · 25/06/2014 11:37

Landlord owns the land, therefore it's up to him to decide. If he has removed the bolt then obviously he wants his tenants to have access so I would call him and ask if you can remove the bolt and post it through the letter box of bolter

GrandadGrumps · 25/06/2014 11:37

What's the nature of the neighbour's complaint about the gate? Why have they put the bolt on it? Are they also tenants of your landlord?

Original poster

Stinkle · 25/06/2014 11:49

I've no idea what his problem with the gate is. He seems to have set himself up as Keeper of the Gate. You can only use it if you have a key so it's not like millions of people are using it as a short cut, it's only us.

Our estate used to be a farm yard, it's sort of oblong with 4 houses down each of the long side, the road track on one of the short sides and the gate is in the middle of the fence on the other short side. Neighbour's house is on the end of our side so he is closest to the gate, but it's not on his property, we don't walk across his garden or anything like that to use it

New Neighbour rents from the same landlord. Landlord owns the gate, boundary fence for our estate (except for the 2 houses that are owned), road, etc

I've emailed landlord but no response as yet.

I want to be able to use the gate later for the school run, and seeing that padlock this morning has given me the rage

OP posts:

GrandadGrumps · 25/06/2014 11:59

Yes, leave it to the landlord. Personally I'd be having strong words with the neighbour - but I know that's probably not the most sensible way of dealing with it.

KissMyFatArse · 25/06/2014 12:10

The new neighbour sounds a complete jobsworth!

taxi4ballet · 25/06/2014 12:15

Check with the council, as it could be designated a Public Right of Way.

We had issues like this a few years ago - got back from holiday to find that the neighbour had erected a fence across the path bordering their garden and put a letter through everyone's postbox saying "Tough S*" or words to that effect.

Uproar for a few weeks, and in the end they were forced by the council to take it down as the footpath had been used as access for decades.

steppemum · 25/06/2014 12:20

well if it was me, I would go to the neighbour and ask him to open it so I can use it for the school run. Tell him you have contacted to LL again, as the LL has given you use of the gate.

It sounds really odd, and it sounds as if he may get his notice from the LL

Toothytwo · 25/06/2014 12:22

So in theory you could have gone on the school run, or wherever, and then got back to find out you'd have to walk four miles round?

He sounds like a complete nutter and I would be enraged about this. I'm a pretty calm, conflict averse, person normally but this would really wind me up.

Original poster

Stinkle · 25/06/2014 12:25

He is really unpleasant. We've tried to speak to him but he's just...I don't know how to describe him....stereotypical jobsworth traffic warden?

Another neighbour is in dispute with him over her child's bike at the moment. Other neighbour's child had left her bike on her own front garden, NN ran it over as he doesn't like the kids out the front riding their bikes.

He complains about everything but this gate really seems to piss him off. It's mentioned clearly in all our tenancy agreements, he would have seen it when he viewed the house. If the gate was going to be an issue for him he shouldn't've bloody well moved there in the first place.

Effectively he's cutting off access in and out of our estate, the only other way round is 4 miles each way and not particularly safe - unlit, windy country roads with no footpath, over grown grass verges. It's OK if you drive, but some of my neighbours don't

Landlord still hasn't replied, letting agent won't act without landlord's authorisation, so if I haven't heard back by 2pm, I'm just going to remove it myself.

It's really pissing me off

OP posts:

Original poster

Stinkle · 25/06/2014 12:29

Toothy yes! that's exactly what has happened.

Numerous times I've gone out through the gate and come back to find it bolted. It's happened to all of us, we ring round each other in the hope that one of us is in to open the bolt, if not we have to walk round.

There's probably some way across the fields that's shorter, but they're not public footpaths or anything and one of the fields is currently full of cows

He's not answering his door - I'm sure he's in, his car is there, he's just difficult

OP posts:

SapphireMoon · 25/06/2014 12:29

Can you phone the Landlord?

Felyne · 25/06/2014 12:35

What an a-hole. I'd want to take the bolt off and put it on the outside of his front door.
He ran over a kid's bike? Unbelievable.

UriGeller · 25/06/2014 12:38

I'd just take the whole bolt thing off. Have you a screwdriver? reattach it onto his front door Leave it on his doorstep. And he's just a tenant? What a cockend.

UriGeller · 25/06/2014 12:39

Felyne! - jinx!

Goldmandra · 25/06/2014 12:42

He ran over a child's bike when it was on the child's own front garden?

If I've got that right surely the police should be dealing with that.

Nomama · 25/06/2014 12:45

I hope he got charged for the bike!

I wonder what he thinks he is doing, what his logic is? People can be truly weird!

PersonOfInterest · 25/06/2014 12:45

Why don't you ring the landlord? Repeatedly. As you would if there was some other urgent issue that needed his attention.

He needs to realise how important this is and feel as annoyed as you do

Original poster

Stinkle · 25/06/2014 12:53

I don't have the landlord's number, only email address, the letting agent has rung him several times

I'm just going to take it off, the landlord can deal with the rest of it

OP posts:

MiscellaneousAssortment · 25/06/2014 12:57

What an arsehole! Make a fuss, rattle cages and get it sorted via any means possible.

It really doesn't sound like its six of one, half a dozen of the other in this case! I wonder why he moved in? Maybe he enjoys making other people lives a misery

Original poster

Stinkle · 25/06/2014 13:01

With the bike, NN is claiming it was an accident and that the bike was left on the road - it wasn't bike was quite a way into the front garden, he actually drove over their front lawn.

Even if it was on the road, it's a bit mean to just drive over it when he could've driven round it, road is plenty wide enough

OP posts:

pissedglitter · 25/06/2014 13:03

Remove the bolt and take it on the school run with you just incase he puts it back on before you get home

Give it to the landlord to deal with

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