To ask neighbour to stop kids using communal areas as personal playground...

[MrsExpo]

We live in one of five detached properties in a small cul-de-sac/close. Houses are accessed down a drive way between two houses on the main road at the top of the close, and the drive is wide enough for two vehicles to pass, opening into a wider turning area in front of the houses to allow people to access their drives. The drive has a 3-4 meter wide strip of grass down each side and this has trees on our side and a row of neat shrubs down the fence on the other. All houses have access to their own parking areas and all the drive-ways are open plan - i.e. no fences between them. All the houses have good sized rear gardens.

The drive, grassed areas and central turning area are jointly owned by all five properties and we manage the grass cutting etc between us to keep it tidy. (Except for one property who do sweet FA, but that's another story!!).

Family in house opposite have 5 kids, the youngest two being boys aged 8 and 10. Like most young lads, I suspect (don't have sons myself) they enjoy kicking a football about, but - having reduced their own back lawn to a bog - are now using the drive/grassed areas as their personal football pitch and bike race-way. As such, the grass is getting cut up, ike tracks all over the place, there were no less than 4 footballs and two bikes left lying about this morning and the shrubs are getting kicked to shreds. In addition, footballs are bouncing off people's cars, tree branches are getting broken, peoples drives and front lawns are used as an extension of the playing area ... In short, the place looks a real mess. (To say nothing about the noise they seem to generate when they're out there!).

AIBU to think the neighbours need to stop their kids trashing the place, use teri own garden for the kids to play on, get them to tidy up their stuff and generally start to respect the property? (Sitting here dreading the onset of Christmas school holidays ...!!!)

Can you make a collective appeal to the parents?

I love the sound of children playing, it is a shame you prefer your communal areas to be perfect.

Atenco but OP said they were making loads of noise at night. I agree especially if there are a few kids it's nice that they can play outside, but not leaving a mess and kicking their balls into people's cars surely. Especially when they could just play in their own garden.

Since you are moving in the new year ( your other thread) probably best to do nothing. You do not want to have to Mention disputes with the neighbours tp prospective buyers. If you are concerned the bikes will put buyers off can you not just say as much to the other family?

In the event we ever move, (communal areas) will be the first thing we look at

I don't blame you at all, but speaking of a possible future move, don't forget that any serious neighbour disputes have to be declared by the seller these days. I just wondered if it would be worth bearing in mind, since many potential buyers would run a mile when informed of something like this ...

Sorry, eleanor - cross posted with you. Great minds and all that

Sneak out, steal all the bikes and footballs and give to a charity shop.

Yeah, really sensible solution

I'm slightly on the fence about this as in our development there is a lovely grassed woody area at the bottom, removed from cars and with a play area. It was one of the reasons we chose to move here as we thought it would be nice that there would be space for DS to play football when older.

Except there is an elderly man who owns the house that backs on to that area - he's sort of adjacent to it so it doesn't impact him directly - but any time anyone played on that area, he'd come out and shout at them. We also got a letter from the factor - I emailed them to ask why they didn't want DCs playing football on the grass and they came back with oh it was ok if they weren't wearing studs.

Net result is that no DCs use that area and they either go down the road to the next street where there is a grassy open bit where no one shouts at them, or they play in the cul de sac.

They used to be on our lawn a lot, but it stopped for two reasons. Firstly the front lawn was a right old state so DH put down some lawn seed and fertilizer and DS and his pals were given strict instructions not to go on the lawn for a week. Secondly and probably more relevantly, new neighbours arrived and put down astro in their back garden so now the boys play there all the time. The neighbours love it {not} and I do have some sympathy for them.

However it does seem that DCs can't win. Either they are being castigated for being on electronic devices all the time, or they are making too much mess by playing outside. I'm not sure why some posters never let their DCs play outside - that's where DS has his best times, playing with his pals.

You could suggest that everyone pays to get fake grass put down to make it look a bit more appealing. You could also go out and shout every time a ball lands where it shouldn't and take away anything left overnight so they have to come and ask for it.

However it does seem that DCs can't win

So true. Having lived in an area where the children were antisocial from a very early age, and I had my windows deliberately broken by them nearly every day for two years, it makes my blood boil when adults will not let them play and get their knickers in a twist about the risk of a window being broken by accident. If we don't defend childrens' right to play, what should be defend in this world.

And, in my experience, children that play football are usually amenable to being nicely asked to take care where the ball goes, though they can get naturally overexcited and forget. But there is no malice.

You will be charged for the damage in service charges. I now have to pay an extra 20per week in my rent to tidy up fly tipping, trash and damage to communal areas other neighbors have caused. Made complaints for years, nothing changes all they did was make me pay for it, when i dont even have a kid trashing things. and when talking to parents or kids, they just get rude and now I get bullied by them. All my trees and bushes now dying so the only enjoyment I ever had looking out the window is gone. Means more noise travel and less birds. Honestly hate living with people but as a single person I can't afford to move away.

Sounds awful. I’m in a similar situation where a group of houses share a communal area and the boys on the estate spend hours a day kicking footballs off cars, trees and plants. There’s no ball games signs and the management company is constantly sending out emails reminding us not to allow it, but the parents don’t care.

I raised it with one of the mums once and she told me that she pays her charges and her kids will do as they please.

Some people are just really selfish, OP, sorry.