Garden unusable due to neighbours pot smoking

[QuestionableMouse]

This might be a bit of a long one, sorry.

I got a new neighbour a few months ago and knew he had mental health issues when he moved in. He has social workers going in every other day. He's also quite aggressive and I find him very uncomfortable to deal with. (example, one of my towels blew off the line and into his garden which caused a huge row with him being very aggressive, all because I'd nipped in to get it which is pretty normal in my street.)

He's recently started smoking a lot of very strong smelling pot. He has his window and door open and the smell fills my garden. I can't stand it- on my bad days it can easily trigger a severe migraine. I can't hang any washing out, can't sit in the garden and or use it at all. I've even started parking at the back of my property and coming in through the back door because it's so awful.

I don't know what to do. I'm honestly frightened to confront him as I live alone and he's a big man with a bad temper. But I can't go on like I am because I feel like a prisoner in my own home! It's a gorgeous sunny day and I have all my front windows closed so the smell doesn't get it. I'm also not sure if I'm imagining things or if my house in general is starting to stink of it. (victorian terrace)

Any ideas what I can do?

Thank you.

Ring your council housing department and ask for a copy of the tendency agreement. They will advise you to keep a log of incidents, definitely include the swearing one retrospectively. Hopefully they will either manage to control his behaviour or evict him. Maybe check if other neighbours are affected too. Police logs/ environmental health logs etc all add weight to your complaint. Essentially, his agreement will state he is not allowed to engage in criminal activity at the address or piss people off. Which he is.

Curious for all of you saying I shouldn't have gone into the garden what you would have done. Brand new clean white towel that had landed on soil/grass. Literally in reach of the gate. What would you have done?

And yes the pot stinks. It clings to everything now his windows are open constantly and I'm guessing that he's sitting right next to the window smoking.

The man on the other side is very elderly and I don't want to drag him into this.

Chill.

Who?

We are in the same situation and I empathise. We can't open our windows when they are smoking pot. It absolutely stinks, and as a PP said it clings to everything. Next time we move house I am going to check the road for council properties.

It's horrible living with this smell. I would hate it. I would be reporting to police, council, housing association / landlord and anyone else I could think of. YANBU.

YANBU. My DGM literally started losing her hair because of neighbours like this, they smoked it in their house as well as garden and the smell came through the walls- also an old Victorian terrace.

She called the police who were unable to do anything, she called the council who again wouldn’t do anything. In the end she found out who the landlord was and contacted them, they swiftly evicted them although even that was a lengthy process because they refused to go at first...

It’s a horrible wretched smell, you shouldn’t have to live like this.

I've just sent an email to the anti social behaviour team at the council asking for guidance.

I'm bloody scared that he's going to lash out though.

Also going into the garden to retrieve your washing is fine, I would do this too and I’d expect my neighbours to do the same.

If he makes you feel endangered at ALL you call the police.

And yes, they do have the resources to deal with this.

Call the police it's illegal. Especially if he's aggressive.

Justsombodie

Maybe you should repost him for his previous outburst, at least then it's recorded.

FWIW I get the whole towel in the front garden thing 😁

Report not repost obviously 😂

How on earth is she supposed to get consent to go in the garden, without going in the garden in the first place? Also the overwhelming majority of people would rather someone just popped in to retrieve their towel (that they more than likely had to walk past to knock on the door) rather than have their door knocked and permission asked.
Honestly, my mind boggles at the priorities of some folk on here.
OP I really feel for you, it stinks, it's anti social and it must be awful having someone so intimidating as your NDN. I hope it gets sorted.

You do sound very stressed & very over sensitive. Are you sure that isn't the real cause of your migraine ?

Okay if you don't like the smell & it's not exactly legal, but your overreaction hints at it being your issue rather than your actual neighbours.

I'm not over stressed nor over sensitive. It fucking stinks and I can't use my garden due to the smell.

Seriously, this place is fucking weird sometimes...

You should have said he's vaping. That would have had people frothing.

I find it alarming so many people are not worried about drugs, until their ‘dc’ start smoking it. It is illegal and people should not have to suffer the disgusting smell. It also make people aggressive, I have experienced this with a relative

The thing is op didn’t exactly make her first post very clear, she said garden, most people’s main garden where their washing is hung is the back garden.
She didn’t mention any verbal abuse in her first post.
Now the towel was white and new.
A couple of the comments on here about social housing are vile. Middle class people who own their own homes also smoke weed, this may have come as a shock to some of you.
As neighbours we have to live alongside each other as best we can. Speaking from my own experience with a pot smoker next door it wasn’t too bad, it wasn’t cloying or ‘choking’. Their weekly summer BBQ’s were far more ‘choking’ when the breeze wafted the smoke over my garden, that made my washing smell!
I hope you get the outcome you want op, sometimes it’s better the devil you know though. I think you may have a problem with whoever moves into the ‘council’ house.

I don't give a shit that he's a council tenant. I was for most of my life. I also didn't put too many details in the op because it was already long and the colour of the towel didn't seem relevant.

I sympathise OP. I had neighbours who smoked weed. They were in rented so they smoked it in their garden which meant my garden and my house stank of the stuff I hated it. I particularly hated the fact that my young daughter’s bedroom (overlooked the back gardens) was full of the smell. Weed smokers are selfish and anti-social.

YANBU. If the smell is that constant it is possible he is also growing plants (they really smell when they're close to harvest!)

Log every incident you are aware of. And call 101. If it happens a lot of times in the week, log for the week and call 101. Get a reference number. Same again next week (giving reference number).

It's an antisocial habit which really impinges on other people. Especially if people are prolific. It's horrible to live next to.

it makes people aggressive, BOLLOCKS.
In all my life of smoking weed with lots of people and I've never seen it.
yes, people are aggressive or can become aggressive, the weed has nothing to do with that.
You're more likely to chill out, get giggly, and then slow down, rather than get aggressive.

OP, you shouldn't have to put up with this, and I smoke the stuff. We do go outside though and smoke at night. I wouldn't do it during the day and our neighbour will just have to put up at night.

Pot smell also gives me horrendous migraines and makes me feel sick. It really upsets our dog too.