WIBU to shout at neighbour rummaging through my skip?

[Bobthebobbin]

Moved to a new area and managed to fall out with a neighbor already.

I came home the other day to find an old man rummaging through my skip and a pile of "treasures" on the floor that he was helping himself to.

I asked him why he was on my property and what he was doing, he said he needed a few bits! He then proceeded to turn his back on me and carried on sorting through the skip. DP was at home but the man did not knock or ask to remove anything.

I said he can't just come on to my property and help himself to whatever he likes without asking. He said it's in the skip so fair game.

Things got a bit heated and I shouted at him to get off my driveway.

I am furious but also shaken up by an attempted burglary when we first moved in so perhaps that experience is colouring my view.

Genuinely cannot tell if IABU.

I once knocked an asked if some paving slabs in a skip were going to landfill (If so, I'd have them) - but it turned out that the owner had just put them in there to stop other stuff blowing away, and he still wanted them!

No jury on earth would convict if you had taken them though. “Oh I decided to store my valuable items in a skip” is just daft.

Did your DP not see what was happening from inside the house? I feel like I'd notice if someone was rooting round in a skip on my driveway if I was home, so perhaps he presumed he'd have been seen and no one was objecting so it was fair game?

I mean, he should definitely have asked first and it was rude of him to get into an argument about it once you'd raised your objection. But at the same time... it's rubbish? So whilst you were justified in saying he should have asked first, I think personally I'd have let him get on with it after that.

Also, if you haven't been in your house long, it's worth bearing in mind how much animosity with your neighbours can end up impacting your life. When DH and I lived in our first house, the nextdoor neighbours fell out with us almost immediately because we reclaimed an area of garden which the previous homeowners had let them use. Looking back, I can see how stupid it was but I was very territorial about it and didn't back down. Those neighbours never spoken to use again and nor did many of the others in the small cul de sac for the couple of years we lived there. For some reason, it just made it feel like there was an atmosphere after that and I didn't enjoy the house anymore.

Maybe pick your battles in future? 🤷🏼‍♀️

We moved last year to a house that was full. I man full. No one emptied anything. Still food in the cupboards. We had 6 skips. Always some sod routing! I couldn't believe it! It was none stop!

Although it's rubbish it is totally out of order not to ask first.
He was still on your property.

You were U, OP, but he was rude.

I think stuff in skips should be fair game, although I know the law thinks otherwise. Far better for someone to make use of it than to have it end up in landfill, imo.

My first washing machine was a skip find. My friend's boyfriend retrieved it, found it worked and sold it to me for £5. I had that machine for 9 years!

YANBU. On the street a skip is fair game. On a driveway the polite thing to do is knock and ask.

While it's on the owner's property, anything in a skip still belongs to the owner.

YANBU. It's not ok to come to other persons property and take whatever you want without permission.

I have been outraged by people assuming it is fine to take things from my garden, or walking through the garden. There was gates back and front but they did not think the gates were there for a purpose!
I put an old cooker and fire outside to await the council uplifting them and someone walked onto my drive and round the back of the house to take things. If they had any brains at all the reason I got new ones and put the old ones out was that they were broken and beyond repair.
I have caught neighbours in my garden and I was not happy. They cant say "hello" but think they are entitled to walk onto the garden of a house.
Neighbours seem to be strange creatures!

I've checked this, and where a skip is on private property, the contents remain in the ownership of the householder until such time as the skip company removes the skip.

And yes, the neighbour is trespassing as well as, theoretically at least, stealing the OP's property.

It was rude of him to not ask first and rude of him to turn his back on you and continue rummaging. He should’ve said “oh I’m sorry, I thought you’d not mind if I took the hinges off these old doors..” or whatever. But otherwise I’d not mind. My father and husband regularly sift through next door’s skip (it’s there 24/7), But it’s on an isolated bit of land, not a drive.

He was rude but personally I would probably just think “cheeky git” and let him get on with it. At least it’s creating room. I had the opposite problem when we renovated of having the local school come and put detritus leftover from their school fayre in our skip! I went and took it back the next day and dumped it on their driveway!

I’ll bet nobody’s ever been prosecuted for stealing rubbish from a skip, though. By definition it has been cast aside and has no value.

I think this may partially be a London cultural issue, tbh. In London I really think there's an accepted culture that one person's trash is another person's treasure (plus fewer people have vehicles to do tip runs or much in the way of driveways/front gardens) and so people are if anything glad to see people helping themselves to stuff they are done with and there is a tacit acceptance that anything you have clearly finished with, you are happy for someone else to have.

Nope.

What happens when people are rummaging in the skip and there's something broken and they could cut themselves? I'd like to think they should take responsibility for their own actions but who knows?

Not having time to read all posts on this one but I no longer use skips. Every couple of years I have a clear out of my garage (no car in there but masses of unwanted items too good to bin) and I pay a local company to come and take it all away. No skip involved so nothing hanging around for a few days. This company (and they will be in all areas) assure me they recycle what they can but as long as it is gone they can do what they want with it. If the guys see something they want for themselves then no problem

It is all done in around 15 minutes and no nosey neighbours having a sneaky or even brazened look. BUT I used to use skips. I would put a large notice on the side saying PLEASE HELP YOURSELF and oh did they!? Things disappeared in a flash.

I do not have the transport to take large items to a recycling tip so I am grateful there are companies who provide this service as an alternative to having a messy and unsightly skip outside your home. It is not cheap though, costs around £100 but skip hire is not cheap either.

As for the OP I think the old man should indeed have knocked and asked first if it is in your drive. Had it been out on the roadside then fair play let them rummage. I pass the odd skip sometimes and can't help slowing down my walk so I can have a little peek. Never seen anything worth taking but my cousin has found some amazing pieces of furniture so it is the luck of the draw on that one.

You are aware that there is a thing where people (not just your immediate neighbours but others who don't necessarily live in your area) will drive around and if they see a skip, will pull up and rummage around in it to see if there is something they will take to recycle/reuse? If something is in a skip, it's fair game.
I had a skip bag that had old garden furniture in it along with other stuff and it was left on my driveway, the day before it was due to be collected. When I got up the following morning, about 50% of the stuff I was getting rid of, was gone out of the skip bag. Someone had seen it, rummaged through it, taken the stuff and left the rest. Didn't bother me as I was getting rid of it anyway. Just surprised that they managed to do it so quietly!

He should have asked but when I renovated my house last year I had a few people take items and it was great! Created spare room for me to keep adding stuff to it. I was more worried about people dumping their own stuff in it.

Yes he should have asked.
Yes, he has no 'right'.
Yes, it's your property.

No, I could not have found it in me to give much of a shiny shit, except maybe as a talking point later on. Which is exactly what happened when my London neighbour went through my wheelie bin and removed several items I had thrown away. It made a minor chatting point over dinner and that was it.

Why would anyone imagine it’s a London issue?

Legally, I believe it is theft to take something out of a skip without permission from the person who's land the skip is on.

He should have knocked and asked. However your reaction was over the top

Where I live people empty your skip all the time - as others have said, its when someone adds in rubbish that you get annoyed.

YANBU to be irritated at his rudeness or to feel vulnerable and threatened after an attempted burglary. In all honesty I would probably have felt the same as you. If you want to make peace with him then go and say you are sorry for shouting at him, tell him you're rattled from an attempted burglary and ask him to knock on and ask in future.

I've lived in a few places and this is totally normal, I thought it was a well known fact that anything in a skip is fair game! Unless your skip is in your back garden then I couldn't be bothered about this!