Cheeky neighbours and their wet washing - Part 2.

[QueenofmyPrinces]

I posted a few months ago about one of our neighbours using our adjoining garden fence (which is about 7ft high) to hang their wet washing on and how I was fed up of being faced with their wet clothes hanging over into our garden each day or picking up their pants and trousers when the wind blew them off the fence and onto our lawn.

We tried numerous strategies:

• Repeatedly pushing the clothes back over their own side of the fence therefore them landing on their garden.

• My son taking his water gun to the sides of the clothes that were hanging down over our side of the fence.

• Keeping any of the clothes that blew off the fence and landed into our garden.

They seemed to get the hint and invested in a clothes line but rather than buy a rotary line they just bought a cord and tied one end to the fence post that belonged to their house, pulled it diagonally across their garden and then tied the other end to the final post of our adjoining fence. They then pegged all their clothes onto it including their wet towels which obviously were very weighty.

Unsurprisingly the repeated use of this clothes line with heavy items caused the adjoining fence post to buckle and separate from the other fence posts. Once this original weakness had occurred it obviously got worse and worse as they continued to hang up their wet washing.

As it stands now the end post of our garden fence is heavily leaning over into their garden and the weight of that is causing the end third of our fence to bend inwards over their garden too.

(A diagram can be provided if this doesn’t make sense)

Anyway - yesterday, one of the neighbours had the bloody cheek to put a letter though our letterbox to complain about our fence impeding over into their garden and therefore could we please replace our fence!!!!!

My husband couldn’t believe it! I was at work thankfully because I would have hit the roof. My temper isn’t quite as calm as my DH’s.

I mean what the hell?!

We don’t quite know how to respond because all I want to do is to tell them to piss off and if anything they should be the ones to replace the fence!!!

I’m off out for lunch in an hour and I really hope I bump into one of them as I walk to my car so I can tell them what I think of their suggestion!!

The neighbour he spoke to is one who is able to speak English and he said that our fence would not have broken due to their washing if it had been a good quality fence in the first place and so he didn’t see why he should have to pay to repair our poor standard of fence

Good lord, these people have more front than Blackpool. I'm almost impressed at how big their brass balls are - firstly in using YOUR fence, and secondly, for blaming you when it breaks!

I hope you have good luck with the landlord and/or the relevant authorities.

It doesn't matter how flimsy the fence is, you can have any standard of fence that you want. Bottom line, if it didn't have a washing line attached to it, it would've still been upright!

My husband only got voice mail when he called the Letting Agent and so he left them a message asking them to call him.

We haven’t heard from or seen the neighbours since my husband spoke to them.

I’m now going to trawl back through all the photos on my phone in the hope I kept the ones we took a few months ago of their washing hanging on lines attached to our fence posts.

They are proper CFs. LL response will be interesting!

That does sound like a lot of people!

The thing about the fence not breaking if it good quality, other than it being as cheeky as fuck, is that they didn't stop even when the fence started to show the strain!

Also of course that isn't the purpose of the fence!

I will be interested in the update on this.

These people sound very selfish and entitled. I am surprised this is the only thing these people have done to antagonise their neighbours

No update as yet as we haven’t heard back from the Letting Agent so my husband is going to give them another call in the morning.

The washing lines I cut down have not been put back up and both lines are still lying across their garden.

They have however pushed their garden waste wheelie bin up against the leaning fence to force it into a more upright position

Fences are expensive enough to fix. I went halters with my neighbour on his fence repair - got concrete posts put in beciase it’s quite long as kept falling over! Was a few hundred quid each. But very solid now.

Still wouldn’t hang my washing on it!!!

They sound so frustrating. I feel for you OP.

Yes, continue to pursue the LL to repair and continue to cut the washing line when necessary.

Maybe they got kicked out?

its winter maybe they are inside all the time & their washing is being dried inside - however if they are all still there I second referring them to council for overcrowding & do it by email

It's a bit late now as it's already broken but in future remove the line from the fence as soon as you see it on there every time!

Has there been any response from the Letting Agent. If not, email them and include your concern about overcrowding and potential for unofficial HMO listing 4 adult males, 2 adult females and 3 children living in a 3 bed. However I would still ask the local authority about overcrowding/ HMO. I am a 'LL and my letting agent would act very quickly because of fines etc on unlicensed HMO.
Obviously you need to nag the letting agents about the fence as well

Why didnt you tell them not to use your post when you first saw it?