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.

Oh and if you mention modern slavery concerns I expect the police are more likely to come out to it!

If there's any possibility it may be a cannabis farm report then now before it starts to smell. There's was one in a house a street away from us and we couldn't have the windows open as the stench was unbelievable. And by the time it starts to smell, they'll harvest it and fuck off and you'll probably never see them again.

I can't imagine what it would be like to live on top of it 🤢

[quote Nevermindthesquirrels]@helloise How about we send your kids off to man a weed farm? Get you to live above it?
Would you snitch then or is it only ok to not be a snitch when it's some poor kid that been trafficked.[/quote]
Jesus Christ everyone calm down, I didn’t read every comment and didn’t realise there was actually a concern about a teen weed farmer. I only got as far as “gosh it’s hot in here”. I clearly say, in any case, that they should leave the neighbours alone IF there is no evidence of trafficking. If there is evidence by all means call the police.

If you are concerned it may be cannabis I would be worried. A MAJOR fire risk.
Small cannabis farms in flats are very dangerous- overburdened electrics, equipment oveheating, lots of water around to cause short circuits.

Cannabis farms start blazes very frequently- I couldn't sleep if I lived in a flat and though one was below me.

It's sounding increasingly likely that you have a trafficked and enslaved teenager living underneath you OP, and also that your flat is at significantly enhanced fire risk, but you're not going to do anything because you're scared..?

If it is a professional weed farm, they'll just move on. Except maybe that teenager will get the chance to actually have a life.

You're being vanishingly naive in not reporting this. You and your family are at an enormous risk of fire and that sad skinny teen is likely trafficked (children can't consent to their own exploitation so even if he seems to 'work' there willingly, even if he doesn't run away, even if he doesn't seem fearful of his boss this is child abuse and a human rights violation). These makeshift cannabis factories exist in towns, cities and rural locations up and down the country (Somerset was a real hot spot for a while), there is absolutely zero reason why it wouldn't be happening in your block. Report it.

Oh and @DaisyStiener police have to wear hazmat type suits and masks to remove it. My friends sister starting developing psych issues due to a shared vent in an old building with a cannabis farm. Discovered by the police walking past and smelling it, they hauled something like the biggest find ever for that force.

For your health and the fire risk and the possibility of you paying more and for the possibly trafficking, please phone it in.

If you report to Crimestoppers it will be anonymous, and the police will cross check the details given against their databases for any previous knowledge of the people/flat being linked to drugs if possible. They wouldn't know it came from you.

If you're in any doubt OP, simply Google 'house fire cannabis factory'

@KalvinPhillipsManBun @DaisyStiener you need to in the job I’m in.

[quote DaisyStiener]**@DaisyNGO* @peridito*
Which is why I thought they were industrial!

I actually DID go down to check if they were A: builders B: leaving the premises at night, and they wee guy spoke no English
Later that evening , the older man appears and ( not unkindly) asked why I was after- I repeated “just making sure yous aren’t leaving at night , you re heating is very loud “
Neighbour, gesturing to Teen “he is from XXX he is cold”

Omg it’s weed, isn’t it I think despite living in a city , I’m quite naive here lol.[/quote]
This update, without a doubt, suggests a cannabis cultivation.

You can report to local police on 101 they will add to/build up intelligence with a view to getting the house searched on warrant if justified.

Oh my! I’m not sure if I’d be over the moon at the heat/cost saving or really anxious about at the cannabis growing heat lamps 🤣

If you open the windows doesn't it drop to a normal temperature? Then you won't need to have your own heating on, saving a big bill, and you can have good ventilation?

The heat wouldn’t bother me but I’d be very concerned about the noise as that’s not normal . My sister keeps her house at tropical level , first thing I do when I go in is turn the heating down but it’s not noisy . I think I’d be tempted to go the crime stoppers route .

If you don't want to report to the police report to the energy company (you can find out the supplier with a couple of Google assisted clicks).

They'll be very interested that there might be gas theft/electricity abstraction happening and will send out folk to check it's all legit and safe.

If there's something dodgy going on, they'll involve the police. If there's not at least you have reassurance that your flat isn't about to fly skywards because someone has tampered with the supply to steal energy.

Great you get a nice warm fully ventilated home for free. Breath in the fresh air, enjoy the warmth and save your pennies. So many people won’t be able to cope with their heating bills this year so I’d make the most of it.

The vibration may well be extractor fans. You've got you a grow house :)

You can get gel cool pads for your cats, they work quite well.

OK I take it back: everything you have said in your updates points to cannabis farm.

You really do need to report OP, there's lots of ways the police could find out. And these kids of operations are not the kind that will come after the neighbours. I'm surprised they're doing it in a flat but then maybe it reduces the risk of detection from helicopters?

The police will shut it down, the people will probably disappear and set up somewhere else, you will feel colder and safer and hopefully someone will be able to support the teenager.

Enjoy saving on your bills! When we lived in a tower block we were on the 18th floor. We never ever put our heating on, it was great.

@LibrariesGiveUsPower45321

Are they growing wacky backy?

Exactly my first thought.

The noise is the giveaway - it’s the fans. My mum used to have her heating at sub-tropical levels year round, but it didn’t make the house rattle!

There was a thread on here years ago with someone genuinely baffled as to why their NDNs would be running a tumble dryer in their loft 24/7. First two or three replies just said ‘weed farm’

Just read your updates, sounds really unsafe. It’s a shame they’ve chatted to you. Puts you in a really difficult situation. Hope it all turns out ok

this is peak MN, really...

advising the growers they have a heat leak purely so they can upgrade to better insulation

and

recommendations for cool gel mats for the cats

Seriously though, stay safe OP it does sound very dodgy!

Have none of your neighbours commented on the heat OP? If there’s 8 in your block, someone else must have noticed as well.