To want my neighbour to do something about this?

[Aceinthehole]

We've been living in our house for 6 years, we share an alley with our neighbour. They constantly "clear out" their house and then fill their alley with rubbish. The picture below shows a typical example of what it's like, it can get much worse, never better. I hate how it looks from the front of my house, and hate my kids have to push their bikes past all this crap to get in and out of their own garden. I've tried to speak to them about it, when we first moved in it was significantly worse but we were met with a barrage of "it's our alley too...." Occasionally the husband will refer to it and say "yeah we must clear that..." but never does, despite having his own transit van. Recently we hired a van and I was so tempted to ask them if they wanted us to get rid of it but my DH absolutely refused saying it's their crap. I'm quite house proud and just think it reflects badly on my own house, as well as safety and hygiene concerns. Can I report to council or is it "their property, their rules". Name changed for privacy.

OMG that would piss me off so badly!!!

Can you fence in the ally half and half - and kind of have a snake tong arrangement with gate at the end? Means your side is much more secure anyway.

@Aceinthehole I think you're being fobbed off there. You need to call again and report a fly tip in the alley behind your house.

My first thought was set it on fire, then I thought don't the Fire Brigade come and do fire safety checks?

Then I thought, move it to their front garden and put a photo of it on FixMyStreet which won't get anything done by the council but will show everyone in the area what slobs they are, and someone else might decide to do something about it.

Yes so we just keep our bins out there, nothing else, because we're normal.

This is a picture of our gates - as an aside, they also stole some of our garden years ago before we moved in, every other house has two gates at the same angle as their one (on the left) and we have one on the side.

It isn't THEIR alley, it belongs to BOTH of you! It isn't a matter of 'their' half and 'your' half. You both have the right of access to all of it. It's no different to keeping a shared drive clear for access and enjoyment of both.

Tell them you will clear out everything to the dump unless they remove their rubbish. And then do it, if they don't.

Environmental health.
You have just seen a rat....

I was going to suggest checking the deeds as well.

Often they do say that you can't use these shared areas for storage or parking.

It's our alley too doesn't mean they get to pile crap on their side. It means you both get to walk through it to take your bin in and out.

My Nana used to have the same kind of alley between her house and her neighbours house, and none of them could store anything in the alley. It was just for access to the back gardens, and they both had to keep their bins in their own back garden.

It looks like you keep your bin in the alley as well OP so if you do, you might have to move it.

If some of their crap injures you or your kids as you walk through, if it falls on you or you scratch yourself or something, they might be liable.

But also is it possible that if you both share the alley then you're both responsible if someone gets injured in it even though it's not your rubbish piled up?

I would definitely look into that, raise it with them again, and if they don't clear it, make a complaint to the council about it.

I know what you're saying Jax, but I really think they will just then be chuffed that we've done it and do it again and again.

Which part of the council did you ring?
If it wasn't environmental health then try them. I reported a neighbour for keeping mattresses in their garden and having dirty rubbish lying around (including dirty nappies!) and they came out and told them to clean it up or they would be fined.

I agree the council’s response was insufficient - do keep at it. It doesn’t look safe, and it’s unsightly. I’d be so annoyed by it if I were you!

Is there a specific number for your environmental wardens?

I can't see the picture of the gates, but was that not picked up when you bought the house?

You might need to speak to a solicitor about all this rather than just the council.

Yes, Environmental Health. They said they don't have the authority and it's a private matter?

Fire Brigade do free home safety checks. Contact them. I imagine they’ll take issue with this as in the event of an emergency all that crap would hinder a swift exit from either properties.

You could knock on their door to discuss while fire service are there.

If that doesn’t work I’d be looking out the info on the deeds re: the shared path and taking them to a solicitor to issue a letter.

It’s not on. They can “store” their crap in their own house or garden not a shared path!

Just phoned community wardens too and they said it's a private civil matter.

If they are going to start up with the "it's our alley too" nonsense again and you can't put a fence up, can you paint a big line right down the middle and tell them they can't walk down your side, they will have to parkour themselves over the pile of shit on their own side from now on.

Also, in the vent of a medical emergency are paramedics supposed to try to navigate a stretcher buggy past all that crap?

It’s a disgrace. I’m angry on your behalf!

As annoying as it is (and why is always the people you can't reason with who do this?), surely there can only be a finite amount of stuff in their house and at some point there will be an end to it.

(My DH left some stuff outside our house from building works we'd been having done. It was only there a couple of days but, of course, that was the day google streetview came round, so our house looks like a scrapyard. Irrational of me but very irritating.)

Is there any sort of neighbourhood mediation available where you live?

They're being ridiculous with the "it's our alley too" line. They're relying on the fact that you keep half of it clear, otherwise they wouldn't be able to use it at all. If you did the same thing that they did, it would be impassable.

Tempting I'm sure! But where would you get the junk from?

Perhaps you could take all their junk but hide it instead of taking it to the tip. Then when they fill the alley again, put all the old junk (now yours) in 'your' half of the alley. Because it's your alley too, right?

Just thinking that arguments about it needing to be kept clear will be redundant if you keep your bins there.

How about trying to reason with them from a child safety point of view? Say one of your DC could have easily injured themselves on one of the pointy edges sticking out from that metal table thing?

Or suggest a shared garden tidy store? Like this...

www.argos.co.uk/product/4349516?storeID=4110&cmpid=GS001&_$ja=tsid:59156%7Cacid:444-797-0832%7Ccid:596650041%7Cagid:44226476354%7Ctid:pla-354034947327%7Ccrid:189521436470%7Cnw:g%7Crnd:18003612498741274744%7Cdvc:m%7Cadp:1o3%7Cmt:%7Cloc:9046213&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsKOD5dfL3AIVTvlRCh1KpwqpEAQYAyABEgJFM_D_BwE

You do know if you go down the legal route saying nothing should be stored there i do hope you have somewhere else for you bins as if you insested it was only for access no right for storage i would strongly enforce that on you too.

Ugh mega link

Option 1. Keep on at them, in all likelihood unsuccessfully and just become ever more resentful and unhappy (justifiably, I might add, they sound horrible). Probably also lead to much bitterness between you as neighbours too.

Option 2. Just clear the rubbish yourself. If they build it up, clear it again. The fleeting annoyance of having to sort out their shit will be minimised by having a nice clean, safe alley you are happy to look out on.

Could you perhaps find that you need to wheel a trolley full of compost (or similar) through the alley. Something wide enough to need them to move their rubbish so you can get through. Making the point that you have a right to access your property through the alley and they cant impede that?

If you require them to move it often enough they might just get the ides that it is not on to use it as a rubbish dump.

This could be a fire hazzard. My friend reported her ever increasingly scruffy neighbour, to the fire brigade. An officer came out, the neighbour was asked to clear the joint right of way, with immediate effect. Job done.

If it’s stuff they need to get rid of but haven’t the means to take it to the tip, local councils can do a collection for a fee, up to a certain number of items. They will take old fridges and washing machines too. They may not be aware of this. Of course if these are items they want to keep, they should be in their own garden or shed.

YANBU.