Man who lives next door tried gaining entry to my flat last night. What should I do?

[greeneyes3]

I live by myself in a block of flats and have done for the last 5 years. It’s a mix of private properties and council properties. I private rent but next door to me is a block of council flats. There is a man who lives in one of the flats who I believe is a drug addict (have heard through the grapevine), apparently he was placed here by the council due to being homeless. As far as I’m aware he’s never caused any trouble and I think he mostly keeps himself to himself. There has been times where he’s come home blatantly intoxicated and has not been able to get into his flat for some reason. A couple of weeks ago at around 2am, I couldn’t sleep so decided to get some fresh air and take the recycling out and I found him asleep in the middle of his garden, I did ask him if he was okay but he ignored me.

Last night I was getting ready for bed and went into my spare bedroom to grab something and noticed he was outside his flat again trying to get inside. It was around midnight. Around 30 mins later I heard a banging/tapping sound and went to the window and noticed my front gate was wide open. I clocked him trying to open my front door. Luckily I always lock my door even when I’m in the house so he couldn’t get in but it has left me feeling a bit unsettled. When I shouted down “excuse me, what are you doing?”, he just ran off. There has been a couple of times over the last few months where I’ve woken up to find my gate open after I’ve shut it and at the time I didn’t really think much of it, but it does make sense now.

I’m not sure what his attentions were or what he would have done if the door had been unlocked so I do feel a bit uncomfortable now. He obviously knew it was the wrong flat as he’d already tried to get into his property first. In the 5 years I’ve lived here I’ve always felt safe as there has never been any trouble here. In hindsight I probably should have called the police or at least reported it but I was just so tired and needed to try and get some sleep as I was up early this morning for work. I did think about approaching him in the street the next time I see him but I’m not sure how sensible/safe that would be. I don’t know him well enough to know what his reaction would be. I have thought about possibly contacting the council and just asking them to have a quick word with him but I don’t even know his name, although I could probably find out from one of my neighbours. Any advice? I don’t want any trouble but I would like to feel safe in my own home. I don’t bother anyone or cause trouble so it would be nice if others could do the same.

Even if he just fell asleep on you sofa and didn't bother you - he could wee himself or be sick - plus you don't want to get up to find some strange person - however harmless - in your home.

The council won't 'have a word with him' and neither will a HA, just because you say XYZ. Partly because of the ridiculousness of many private owners complaints on the one hand, and with the awful behavior levels of some tenants on the other.

If you want landlords involved you do it by making a police report and (as someone's already said) giving the landlord the crime reference number along with a written complaint that his behavior is affecting your ability to enjoy the peace of your own home.
If they're a particularly good HA they would look at if their tenant needed support to maintain their tenancy.
Average one's will simply file it until enough complaints have piled up, then often insist there are two sides to every story. (often true)
Bad one's will pretty much ignore it unless their hands are forced.

Get a Cctv camera installed. Keep a diary. Report to council and Police. Ask other neighbours what their experience is of this man.

I don’t know why people are saying that you shouldn’t report them to the council. I live on an estate next to housing association flats where there’s loads of anti social behaviour like this and quite a few of my neighbours have reported it. Any complaints made to the council will be discussed with the tenant. The tenant will be given a chance to rectify the behaviour. If the anti social behaviour continues, they are evicted.

So it’s defo worth logging with the council. They do have their own set of rules and regulations for people living in their properties

I would let your others neighbours know, so you have their backup if anything escalates. You never know, he may have tried it with them too.

I'd speak to him about it the next time you see him outside. It may just be a mistake and he could lose his tenancy. Just my side of it.

Does he live on his own? If so if he can't get into his own flat at night time how does he get into it during the day?

Ring doorbell is a good idea if you can afford it.
As a veteran of problematic neighbors and trying to be decent about it, I'd actually advise you not to try and speak to him. He may be a perfectly nice chaotic bloke with alcohol issues, but if not, by being familiar, you'll be 'losing ground' that you may later need.if his behavior continues or escalates. Showing concern/ 'connecting to him' may actually be whats bringing him to your door. :(
It's sad but IME people without boundaries will usually treat you better if you're an unknown entity as to how you may respond to them breaking yours.

@greeneyes3
Just keep your doors and windows locked at all times if they could give easy access to an opportunist thief &c. {wherever you live this is a good idea}
Could your landlord fit a security light above your door?

I agree, I would report it to the police.
His attentions maybe innocent but you should always protect yourself.

What sort of a latch is on your gate? I use a dclip on my gate as it would rattle open in the wind. Easy to undo but would probably be complicated enough if someone was inebriated to keep them out. Easily found at a hardware store and cheap. Pic is just an example - hardware store ones are more robust IMO

I too would report it to the police just do they have a record incase you find he repeats this behaviour. As others have said if you can get a Ring to record any comings and goings. I think if it were me I'd want to see him in the street and speak to him and say 'here mate you scared the shit outta me the other night' just so he knows you saw him and that you know it was him. I'd want to see what his reaction is but I don't know if I'd necessarily go to his door alone (I'd probably go with a friend, I couldn't help myself)

I do agree with reporting though, not to get him in trouble, but it may be he needs some additional support (hard to come by I know), and also you should feel safe in your home. I would contact the HA or 101 who may be able to liase with a worker if he has one and if they deem it appropriate. Hopefully it won't happen again, if he tried his door first, chances are that he thought that was the wrong one. After growing up with someone like your neighbour in my own household I do empathise with you, and it would make feel unsafe a bit (sorry if my first post was a bit savage!)

@tulippa yes I believe he does live by himself. I'm not entirely sure why he can't get in at night. Possibly he doesn't want to take his keys out with him when he's drunk incase he loses them? I don't know, just trying to think of possible reasons. He shares a front door/hall way with other tenants and they have an entry system with all the tenants door bells on so I'm not sure if he thinks by ringing one of them they will let him in, but it never seems to work.

@Stingybath no worries. I don't want to get him into trouble either. I have nothing against him, I don't even know him. It's not really any of my business what he does, I just want to feel safe in my own home. Even though he can't get in if the door is locked, it's still not nice knowing someone might be trying to get inside whilst I'm upstairs sleeping/watching tv etc.

I would be replacing that gate with a metal full height one, with a post box attached to it.

The trouble is no one can second guess his intentions. The likelihood is that if he is sober he is the nicest person in the world, but under the influence he is best left to the experts. I wouldn't approach or engage with anyone under the influence of drugs. I have very limited experience of hard drug users but unpredictable doesn't even come close. Get a padlock for your gate, make sure you home security is tight and for his own safety as much as yours it would be sensible to speak to the council, and get any incidents logged.

This definitely needs to be reported to the police and council, my council would take this seriously. It could just be a drunken mistake, I was once on the bus when a drunk man got on and instead of tapping his card he was trying to put his key into the machine! But even so the situation in the op needs reporting.

He isnt making a mistake, he ran away when you challenged him. Contact the police and get a crime number, then ask his landlord to step in. Keep an incident diary, write down everything you can remember up to now and add every incident including the time and date from now own.

@greeneyes3 make a note of all the incidences and report to 101. The police will want a log so they have evidence of consistent behaviour etc in case they need to take further action (family member is a police officer lol)

cameras with movement sensor . or ring doorbell so you can speak to him and tell him to go back to his own property .

sounds like you wont be able to control his behaviour so make yourself feel safer .

Update - just popped home quickly to pick some paperwork and lunch up and I saw one of my neighbours (who I occasionally chat and say hello to). He lives in the same block of flats as this man. I explained the situation and he's told me that the man in question isn't actually a tenant of the councils. He lives with someone/a friend there due to being homeless and that's why he doesn't have his own key. I'm not sure if this changes things slightly as I doubt the council will deal with it when he's not actually their tenant, but I will stick log it with 101 and go from there. Thank you all for your help. I will keep you updated.

That must be annoying for the people in that building!

I would report to non emergency police number to get support for you most of all but also support for him. Can't be good for him sleeping any old place because he's too pissed to care.

If it happens again I would 100% call the police. You cannot be too careful. Plus then it'll be on record.