Neighbour putting bins outside DM's door

[CanaBanana]

My DM lives in a tiny Victorian semi. None of them have front gardens or front doors because they're right on the main road. The only access is via a side door that opens from an alley between each pair of houses.

In recent years many residents have bricked up the side door and replaced it with a door into the back garden. It's much nicer to have a door you can leave open for fresh air and garden access, easier for kids and dogs to run in and out, etc. My DM however has never been able to afford to do this - her door is still in the alley. Next door (opposite side of the alley) has their door in the garden.

DM's neighbour has recently (since the hot weather) started putting her bins in the alley. It's wide enough so access isn't restricted but it isn't very nice for DM to have a bin within a couple of feet of her door with smells and clouds of flies.

DM has complained but the neighbour says she isn't willing to have a smelly bin and flies in her small garden. But it's ok to put it outside DM's door?! It's a shared alley so neighbour insists she has the right to store things there. Which she does, but putting her bin outside DM's door isn't the same as putting a bike there, for example.

We've put the bins back in her garden repeatedly. She keeps putting them back in the alley. AIBU to ask some of the local teens to make sure her bins go "missing" if she leaves them in the alley where anyone can nick them?

Yes, you're unreasonable, she has a right to put the bins there, you however, do NOT have the right to keep trespassing into her garden or moving her property.

Alleys are for access. No one has the right to store things in shared access alleys.

CF needs to build a bin store in her garden if she doesn’t want to leave them out.

Is it right outside her door? If so why can't they be moved along

That is unpleasant but you can't nick her bins or keep moving them, it's not her problem the way the houses were built. Could you suggest she buy a bin store to put them in and move them further up the alley away from dm door. If flies and smells are really a problem contact local environmental health for advice.

Not makes a good point, you need to find out if the alley is for access only, if so then she can't store her bin there.

Is there something in the deeds of your dm's property that has a clause regarding the shared alleyway ie access and restrictions on storing things like bins etc in the alley? Maybe if there are restrictions that apply to all residents about storing bins in the alley your dm will have some leverage in dealing with this issue.

Is it right outside her door? If so why can't they be moved along
The alley widens where the doors are to allow access. Other neighbours who have both bricked up their side doors find the left over recess to be an ideal place to store bins. Great if both of you have removed your doors. But not when the person opposite (i.e. DM) still has their door there!

Diagram please OP...!

I'd get onto the local environmental health officer. Sounds like it could be a health/fire hazard maybe? I'd egg up your dm's infirmities a bit, neighbour may be shamed into doing the right thing.

Pretty clear without a diagram. Speak to Environmental Health and the Fire Officer. I doubt that they can do this as it would obstruct access in an emergency.

The alley widens where doors and garden gates are. The neighbours on the right of the diagram have both moved their doors into the garden leaving a handy recess for bins in the alley. On the left, DM still has her original door in the alley which means if CF uses their recess for bins they're putting them directly outside DM's door. It's a lot tighter than I have drawn it!

I would agree with not. The alley is for access, not storage. CF needs to put her bin outside her front door. Maybe complain to the Council Environmental Health dept?

Firstly check about the storage status, if it was my house I would put doors on the recess thus creating a bin store and some extra storage. But then I like building random cupboards.

Good pic. So all the neighbours including opposite are storing their bins in their old door recess area but your dm doesn't have a recess, does that mean neighbours bin is actually on her own land and not blocking access. You d have thought everyone would put their bins into some sort of storage cupboard, where does your dm store her bin.

Where does your mum keep her bins?

CF is complaining that loads of other neighbours in the street are using the recess in the alley (where the door was removed on both sides) to store bins. And it's unfair that she has to keep her bins in her garden just because her neighbour (DM) still has her door in the alley.

I think the neighbour is bu. Why should the neighbour not be ok to have her bins beside her door and expect your dm to be fine? Sounds like bullying to me.

Keep moving the bins CF. Can you move your DM bins to sit right next to their garden fence? And make sure they are nice and smelly for a few weeks?

Cross post. Well if she doesn’t like it she’s welcome to pay for your dms modifications or alternatively pay for bin storage.

DM keeps her bins in the garden and wheels them down the alley to be emptied at the front. Which is what CF used to do too.

I had a house with a similar alley and side door system and it was specifically prohibited to store bins there - could you see if it's the same? Since it's an access alley so if you needed to move something large into your house you need clear access.

To be honest if I had a recess like that I would put my bins there, the gardens are small as you say and therefore the bins take up more room in an already small space.

Unfortunate for your DM though.

I also think you can't keep ,owing them, the recess is her property and so are the bins. If I were her I'd lock my gate so you couldn't gain access to my garden.

I don't think the neighbour is being a CF but I similarly wouldn't be happy about what they are doing. I can see both sides.

It’s a bit unfair for your mum but it looks like neighbours bins are on her own land and not blocking the actual alley so I don’t think you can stop her leaving them there and you shouldn’t be moving them or going into her garden.

TBH I can kind of see why she wouldn’t want them in her garden when there’s a perfectly good space going unused where the old door was. It’s not her fault that your mum still has the old door arrangement.

I live in a 4 im a block i live on the ground floor and have access to up the stairs neighbours side garden for taking bins out and access to my back garden. I couldn't leave my bins in the shared access area, I wouldn't be allowed. There are different rules for houses with shared access. I would look into this.