Hoarder neighbour spreading into communal hall

[CSIblonde]

I live on the ground floor of a converted Victorian house. The hall is shared between 2flats downstairs & 1flat upstairs. The woman opposite me hoards & according to the flat above, the smell when you go in her flat is awful. Our agent doesn't do quarterly checks so prob has no
idea. Anyway, she's spread some stuff into the hall. Am I being petty mentioning it to the letting agent? The neighbour can be volatile, so I'm wary of talking to her myself. The hall used to be tidy & welcoming: coming home to crap in the hall now is depressing: you have to pick your way thru the scooters,bikes,shoes,wellies etc. I wouldn't mind but her flat has a side area behind the gate & a paved tiny garden where she can put stuff. It's clear ,bar the neighbour aboves bike which he never uses any more.

Yes I think mention it. That would drive me mad, and it's not her right to clutter up a communal area.

Report to freeholder and agent. She is probably breaching the lease which would include a clause about keeping the communal areas free from clutter and not using them for storage. At best it’s a nuisance at worst it’s a risk if there was a fire and the accessways are blocked. Good luck

When our across-the-hall neighbours started using the hall for storage I called the managing agent (after politely asking neighbours to remove it) and let them know it was blocking our only exit in case of a fire. Sorted quickly!

@SimplyPizza

It sounds bitchy and sneaky, telling tales to the landlord before even speaking to her about it herself. What if he kicks her out and she is homeless because you were too scared to talk to her? The neighbours going into her flat to see what it smells of is not on either.

OP doesn't come across as at all sneaky or bitchy. She has to live in this flat and the nieghbour is already known to be volatile. Legally the landlord can't suddenly make her homeless because of one report from a concerned neighbour. The clutter in the hall way aswell as being unsightly also sounds dangerous.

if you don't have any sort of relationship with her to ruin, it can't hurt, surely, to tell her that she has to get rid of the fire hazard?

Give her a week to get rid, and tell her that if she doesn't do that you'll be on to the agent about it as it's a fire hazard.

No report. Anything that gets left in the hallway of our flats gets put in the bin by the cleaners 😂

Clear the stuff out yourself. I know it's a mental illness and all that, but it's a fire hazard and hugely antisocial. She'll soon find that can live without all that shite.

Report Report Report. She’s a known hoarder so this will only get worse, not better. In a communal building is a tragedy waiting to happen.

Sounds like she has children living with her? If the flat is in that bad a state then she may be referred to children’s services by the LL also which may be a blessing for her child/ren - it can’t be nice to live in an environment like that.

Agree, report it to the agent. They are paid to deal with these situations

@ImaSababa

Clear the stuff out yourself. I know it's a mental illness and all that, but it's a fire hazard and hugely antisocial. She'll soon find that can live without all that shite.

I’d do this. Remove everything a bit at a time and debt all knowledge.

Report immediately....

@shimmyshimmycocoapop

It's a fire risk. Report away

This ^^

Clearly the neighbour has mental health issues. Does she have any support?

Will your land lord do something about it?

If you really cannot have a conversation with your neighbour, then talk to the agent.

Tell the letting agent, after all this is the sort of thing that they are paid to deal with.

@SimplyPizza

It sounds bitchy and sneaky, telling tales to the landlord before even speaking to her about it herself. What if he kicks her out and she is homeless because you were too scared to talk to her? The neighbours going into her flat to see what it smells of is not on either.

He won't kick her out, he'll explain it's a fire hazard and tell her to shift her crap 😂

I definatly would report this to the landlord. And i would consider social services too if it would be appropriate.

The sotuation can get out of control so fast.

We had an eldery lady like this in our close. And sturuggled to get her any help of any kind.
She was alone and living in her own waste, dead dogs/cats it was horrendous no authority would listen. Finally social services stepped in as we all began hounding them with our concers. By the time they stepped in she needed her leg amputated and died of sepsis in hospital. It was heartbreaking to watch.
and of course suddenly family came from everywhere when she died to fight over her money

Its is right to keep your hall free and safe for your family. But it may also get the lady some help.

@CSIblonde
scooters,bikes,shoes,wellies
This doesn't sound that impacting tbh and quite reasonable.
This "The hall used to be tidy & welcoming: coming home to crap in the hall now is depressing" is YOUR ISSUE.

@SimplyPizza

It sounds bitchy and sneaky, telling tales to the landlord before even speaking to her about it herself. What if he kicks her out and she is homeless because you were too scared to talk to her? The neighbours going into her flat to see what it smells of is not on either.

A bad hoarder probably shouldn't be living in flats anyway. Hoarding is a massive fire risk and there is no hoarder on this planet who would magically change their ways just because a neighbour has a polite word with them. If it's not a fire, it'll be vermin.

If the LL chooses to evict due to their dangerous/unhygienic living conditions of the tenant then thats unfortunately, the consequence of that lifestyle. Moving house means that a clean and declutter would be a natural consequence of eviction.

scooters,bikes,shoes,wellies
This doesn't sound that impacting tbh and quite reasonable.

It is not reasonable. As pp have stated, it is a fire and safety hazard, almost certainly against the terms of her tenancy, and probably also in breach of the buildings insurance policy. And it is likely to get worse.

[quote SoloMummy]@CSIblonde
scooters,bikes,shoes,wellies
This doesn't sound that impacting tbh and quite reasonable.
This "The hall used to be tidy & welcoming: coming home to crap in the hall now is depressing" is YOUR ISSUE.[/quote]
It’s a fire hazard and an evacuation risk. If everyone started storing their stuff in the hall it would be chaos. This lady needs to follow the rules and keep her own stuff in her own flat.

Speak to the management agency (take some photos) and tell them that it would be best if they did a ‘spot visit’ and saw for themselves.

We had neighbours that did this - idiots chained a bike and pram to the fire extinguishers...

@SimplyPizza

It sounds bitchy and sneaky, telling tales to the landlord before even speaking to her about it herself. What if he kicks her out and she is homeless because you were too scared to talk to her? The neighbours going into her flat to see what it smells of is not on either.

It's not bitchy or sneaky, it's sensible. A hoarder won't change their behaviour based on a neighbour complaint, but will then know who reported them and potentially be very angry.

Different if it was just someone a bit messy, but if the house stinks and there are major problems it's beyond a quiet hallway chat.

I live in a block (I'm on the board of directors). One of the tenants is currently storing stuff in the communal hallway which is against the lease.

He has been unbelievably rude to me when I raised it with him.

I'm now only dealing with his landlord and quite frankly if the loses his tenancy over it it is his own fucking fault.

Our halls ended up looking like steptoes yard by stealth. First a scooter, then park then bikes, then furniture and large pot plants.

The management company rules is NO stuff in the public areas. The fire extinguished and fire escape doors were blocked. Someone even put a bloody sofa on the fire escape.

Rules is rules...