Neighbours cooking us alive ….

[DaisyStiener]

We live in a freezing but lovely townhouse/tenement /high ceiling, bay but single glazed flat.
It’s been freezing since Before Time
Heating is rubbish and often wear layers to keep warm/survive

About 3 months ago : we got new downstairs neighbours

They did a lot of building work and at first , we thought by the heat and the noise- that they were drying plaster or similar with industrial heaters of some sort ?
Turns out no: they are just from a much warmer country and have their heating on 24/7 !?

My eyeballs are drying out. It’s like a Sahara now
I’ve windows open constantly , but at least my washing dries quickly …

Is it even SAFE to have heating on 24/7? What kind of heating rattles a whole room? My cats are just lying in pools on the floor!

AIBU - you’ll age by dehydration, your cats will eventually jump out of the wide open windows , the noise will drive you mad , it’s bad for the environment
YABU- enjoy the heat ,for once - make a cocktail chillax, throw away your onesies as you won’t need them this winter.

Why are you rolling your eyes when many posters are suggesting it is a weed farm?

[quote DaisyStiener]@CaveMum I didn’t. It was a lighthearted thread about being roasting in my home
About a million people replied “ weed farm”
eyeroll[/quote]
You may have intended it as a lighthearted thread, but plenty of posters have warned you that this could actually be something really serious.

In your 'lighthearted' OP you asked:

Is it even SAFE to have heating on 24/7? What kind of heating rattles a whole room?

Those who know have answered weed farm. I wouldn't roll my eyes at the unlikelihood of this.

@BackBackBack
Yes I know.
I can read.
Maybe you can read ALL the thread? shrugs
The above comment was in response to someone saying is just started the thread for the drama

[quote DaisyStiener]@CaveMum I didn’t. It was a lighthearted thread about being roasting in my home
About a million people replied “ weed farm”
eyeroll[/quote]
I'm disgusted that you find this so funny and are putting yourself and your own convenience first. You can type "eye roll" as many times as you like but it won't change the fact that all evidence points to illegal activity and you're putting your child at serious risk from fire!!!!!

Quite a lot of people are trafficked from Romania. Is that where the teenage was from? (Not that they necessarily told you the truth anyway)

Omg don’t read this thread if you are sitting in your home getting so annoyed
For goodness sakes. I won’t be responding to any more nit picking or nonsense
MASSIVEEYEROLL

It does seem a bit odd that after 8 hours of posting and most people suggesting OP reports it anonymously, she's still holding back... hmm

So just because a bunch of randoms on the internet suggest doing something, it means that if the OP decides not to, she must be suspicious?!

Crikey, if everyone followed Mumsnet advice, no one would still be with their partners and we'd be continually logging our daily activities with 101.

@TravellingWanabee

Some people seem to think I owe them a resolution?

What does your husband think about living above a hothouse? Is he cool with your 'fire plan' of ignoring the problem and not actually having a fire plan, anyway?

@DaisyStiener you said you were glad when i asked an officer. Said officer told you to report it as a welfare check as it's screaming out weed farm.

Do what you want.. I asked a police officer, gave you their answer and now you're not acting on it! Your bed and all that!

Hey op. I am a police officer and have attended many cannabis grows just like this. It really does sound like that is what is going on downstairs from you. Things to look out for

1. where are the electrics meters into the building? Check for signs of tampering as they will always tap into the electricity before the meters to get free electricity. It is dangerous, causes fire risks and often leads to neighbours ending up with huge bills.
2. constant low thrumming and humming. They will have fans and ventilation as well as high heat and humidity. When the cannabis smell hits as well it is stifling
3. coming and going at strange times. Usually the 'owners' of the grow will come around the beginning and may send people periodically to check on progress. There will be a few living in that are the 'gardeners'. Sometimes they will be young and trafficked. Sometimes it is just a part of organised crime.
4. all windows blacked out/closed. You will never see into the flat

What are your options? Well you could ignore it I guess. But honestly is that the kind of environment you want to live? Notwithstanding people's opinions on cannabis, grows like this are set up by organised crime groups. The same ones that run fraud schemes, robberies, burglaries etc and prey on our most vulnerable. They don't pay taxes. They don't give back to our communities or bring anything useful to society. They are a scourge and their crimes and actions disgust me. Sometimes they are from other countries but rest assured there are plenty of 'homegrown' varieties.

You could
A) contact the distribution network provider in your area that maintain the lines and power infrastructure. They will soon be able to see if there is an unusual amounting power being drawn from the flat below
B) contact the police. I would always recommend this is done online/email so they have to see it. Honestly I would never be worried about anonymously for this sort of thing because of a couple of things. You could either do as suggested above and explain how worried you are about the neighbours as you haven't seen them for a while and it sounds like they've left on an appliance (concern for neighbours) or you submit the information suggesting you believe there is a cannabis grow there and they have to apply for a warrant in which case your information will be anonymous and never revealed to the owners. Finally the actual people responsible for this will unlikely be caught. The 'Gardner's' will take the blame and refuse to talk. This will just be chalked up to a loss and they will move on
C) contact the landlord. They will definitely want to know about this. Would t you want to know of your investment is being destroyed? The damage on these places is phenomenal and devastating to the property owners.
4) submit report to crime stoppers.

Honestly op. Do report it. This kind of behaviour causes so much destruction and heartache to those around. You do not want those types of people outside your flat or near your baby.

I am thirding the suggestion made by previous posters to contact the landlord and ask him / her / them to check out the flat. It can't hurt and you'll find out what the situation is.

@snowdropsandcrocuses has excellent advice.
If you really don’t want to report them and you are renting I would look to move ASAP.
I think you would be far safer reporting them anonymously than continuing to live in such an obvious fire risk.

OP I can understand you being cautious about reporting it.

I think my main concern is the fire hazard. I reckon you've checked your smoke detectors and have a way to get out safely.

Maybe have a think for a day or two. The police officer's advice is sound.

I don't understand how it's heating up your flat so much.... (as someone who lives in a flat) but I'd make hay and turn off my heating if I were you and save some dosh

I just don't understand OP's objection to doing an anonymous report?

and they wee guy spoke no English

Neighbour, gesturing to Teen “he is from XXX he is cold”

not Vietnam... but Eastern European country. Which I didn’t know was “hot”’

Ok I’ve just googled it and The country is also cold AF in the winter !?

If the Eastern European country begins with A and ends with A

Oh for crying out loud JUST SAY THE COUNTRY!!!

What's with all the coyness and speaking in code? It's not illegal or in any way discriminatory to just say out loud what the name of the country is. Drug dealers and organised criminals exist in every nationality.

Tell you what, I'll do a report for you! And not to the police, but to mn because you are clearly wasting everyone's time here!

Why? What exactly do you want to report? That OP isn't doing what you think she should?

She isn't wasting everyone's time. If you feel your time is being wasted, you can click off and find a better thread. I don't get all the 'I'll report to MN for innocuous reasons' thing posters try to do. Worse is that they'll announce it too.

@MargotEmin

Also if it's a flat it doesn't sound like the kind of property that would be used for a commercial cannabis farm. Generally there are too many people around in flats who notice comings and goings....

This is incorrect, cannabis factories have been discovered in flats. Please don't give unqualified opinions when there is potential for serious harm.

Also there wouldn't typically be lots of comings and goings from cannabis factories (aside from when they're setting up perhaps) as they tend to only cultivate from there, not sell.

You might notice a weekly drop off of food for the gardener (if they're bothering to feed him), but it wouldn't be like a crack house with users coming and going.

What makes you think my opinion is unqualified? Maybe things are done differently from county to county but I haven't seen OCG level grows in flats here.

I don't know why people are so puzzled about the OP reporting this .

Just because it can be reported anonymously doesn't mean that the older guy downstairs wont assume it was her .The OP has called downstairs and they have spoken to each other ,she has referenced the heat .

I don't know why really but I am expecting this thread to be deleted at the OP's request .

Because ops get their threads deleted when told YABU?