Upstairs neighbor being the least neighborly #2

[user1467718508]

The last thread was a bit too outing , so I asked for it to be deleted.

For anyone following the TLU saga, I'll post updates in here!

Could you give us a brief (non-outing!) summary of the story so far? Pleeeease?!

I was on page 5 of the thread and I paused to take my DD swimming. I've just got back to discover it's gone and I'll never know how it ended!!!

I'd read up to where you were declining her proposal to move the fence by 1 meter, and considering solicitors...

Looking forward to hearing more, I have been following since the start.

Bum that #1 was deleted before I finished reading it.

I have a feeling that the CFN will keep on until you make some strong legal noises about it. I'd also strongly recommend putting your bin back and maybe have a lock on it so she can't move it again?

I can not believe so many cfn exist 😢

Perhaps we should lobby parliament

@LannieDuck Welcome back! Sorry I had to delete I'm the worst at being brief! I'll try...

• TLU suggested we move the fence by 1m (a revelatory moment, as up to that point she was maintaining that we had no claim to the shared space at all other than to check our water meter)

• We said thanks for the gesture, but no thanks as it doesn't solve the problem. We want our bin in there - where it should be - alongside Number 10's, or no bins in there at all.

• TLU said she'd made concessions of her own, such as allowing the previous owners of our flat to run an aerial through her loft (which also benefits her flat, of course). She then essentially said that if we didn't stop pushing on the bin issue she'd cut the TV aerial

• We agreed that removing the aerial was 100% her entitlement...it would be a shame as it benefits us both etc, but made it clear that she's legally free to revoke prior allowances made, just as we're entitled to remove her bin from the shared area if she refuses to grant us the same right.

• Then she stopped replying (TLU is very good at knowing when to stop talking, so that she can plead ignorance at a later date...). We put our bin in the communal area and lived happily for months with no contact.

• I assume the upstairs tenants saw us using a key to take our bin in and out and made their own guesses at the situation. We've actually never had a chance to meet or speak with them.

• DP said we shouldn't buy the matching bin store (b/c it's £100+, and we'd have to arse around painting it). I'm still in disagreement with this. I think it's a relatively small outlay and would mark the territory much more clearly.

• Fast forward however many months (4?!) and I see TLU has listed upstairs for sale, w/ "sole use" of courtyard, along with an image showing the space with only her bin store and a table & chairs.

• I contacted the EA and reported misrepresentation, asking them to amend the description and remove the image. TLU calls me within the hour, ranting and raving about how she's been "watching" us, and laughing down the phone about our take away habits and how we don't need an outdoor bin (basically admitted to routinely driving all the way from her own home, letting herself into the courtyard, and looking through our bin...). She asked why we couldn't be neighborly, why we couldn't essentially pretend it was a private patio for her sake until she sold(?!). When I stood my ground, she got catty about changes we'd made to our garden (fake grass) and said she'd keep her flat until she dies if she has to. I cut her off and told her I was at work, but would happily reiterate our position in person if she'd like.

...that was Monday, and I've not heard a peep since!

Unhinged doesn't cover her does it?

Wow, thank you for the update.

She knows she's in the wrong, but wants you to 'pretend' until she's gone and her poor buyers have to deal with her misrepresentation...

I if, in the long run, it might be cheaper to pay for a solicitors letter to resolve the issue and force her to replace your bin storage 'shed' which she illegal demolished without permission of the owner of your flat(even if at the time it was still the developers who are unlikely to agree having just built it). Don't know anything about these things, but you might even be able to recover the costs as the 'injured party'

I read the last thread and thought “ she is basically stealing part of your property!” And “ don’t let her!”

She is a nightmare and a bully! She will push you for as much as she can get. Pure brass neck. You have no choice but to push right back. It’s not about niceness.

I am Delighted you seem to have put your foot down more! ( I’m totally over invested )

Be calm and clear and stick to your guns. Unless you’re happy letting her steal what’s yours.

She sounds BARKING.

I read the last thread the other day and frig me but that woman is unhinged. Don’t drop it like the old neighbour did! And defo get the bin store- you just need to forego a few takeaways to save for it

I would probably also email her back and say “as per Monday’s conversation-“. And I would do that every single time I had a verbal exchange with her so that I had a record of what was said/agreed.

Can you tell I have to deal with people like this through work?

You could sent her a solicitor's letter detailing your rights to the shared space, bin etc. copy to her solicitor and copy to her Estate Agent who is selling it. She would have to declare that to any buyers.
any buyers' solicitors should pick it up anyway, but some people do their own conveyancing and miss things like this which could make it messy for you later on.

BUT, if I've read it right, TLU owns the upstairs flat to yours, she could fill it with noisy party people 24/7 or pre-programmed noisy electronics which would make your lives hell and even though you'd legally and morally be in the right, you'd be a lot worse off re quality of life there.

I suggest recording all the conversations you have with her and stand your ground without giving her any reason to go off on one. Fingers crossed, don't give an inch but keep being more than reasonable in the way you approach her. through gritted teeth

For those who appreciate a solid resolution to a thread, I wanted to drop back in with this happy ending...

Following the arrival of DD, we decided to sell up and moved in March of last year.

At the same time, TLU (the lady upstairs) sold to her tenants, who agreed that it was pretty obvious the space was for both flats, and were happy for it to be used as a shared bin area.

...So hopefully that marks the end of a 7 year disagreement

We've been happily settled for the past year in a house in SE London. I will never again entertain the idea of living somewhere with communal areas. I'm sure it works wonderfully when you have like-minded neighbours but...it only takes one!