i’ve recently moved into a lovely new home but didn’t realise there was an issue with the builder and a neighbour. On the day I moved I discovered this neighbour had built a 2.5 metre high wooden play fort right up to my fence. They have a little child that climbs up onto a platform in the fort who can look straight into my patio, kitchen , dining room and living room. It doesn’t happen often but when he climbs up he shouts at me sitting on the patio! There’s no privacy. The fort is positioned to provide maximum pain to me it seems.
I invited the parents and child round for cake etc and hoped they’d see things from my perspective but I now realise the builder is building a new house next to them which they are furious about and the fort is a sort of punishment although I’m innocent. Displacement or something like that?
Keen to maintain neighbourly relations I’ve put trellis up, a few lollipop trees and climbers which does block out some of the child’s view. I was horrified to see the child climb up the trellis (I’d moved away) and shouting at me!. I’ve moved my table and chairs round the corner of my home for privacy.
Sometimes the parents climb up on the fort too - for repairs, put up flags, stand with their child etc…although they don’t look in my garden it does spook me when these two bodies rise up behind the fence! I suspect they do it on purpose but it’s really disconcerting having two neighbours standing above me when I’m in my garden.
The fort is within the right height and dimensions for an outbuilding/shed/ but it does have a platform.
I’ve spoken to the council and they advise making a complaint/enforcement via their website and they’d send a person round to inspect. I don’t feel comfortable doing that without speaking to them again but they are not very friendly. They knew my home was being built but they do seem a bit off with me for some reason. I’ve only been here 3 months!
Any advice on handle a potentially sensitive problem?
its not my fault that a house is being next to them but they seem to have taken it out on me.