Wont stop asking!

[Castleontheisland]

Name changed for this as my other threads are quite outing. Sorry its long!

Me and partner are away for a few days over Christmas, our next door neighbour has a spare key for our house for emergencies (we have their spare house key as well). We are not close friends just normal neighbours, They have had family visiting over Christmas/new year. On boxing day they text me and asked if some of their family could sleep in our home as more of the family had arrive unexpectedly! We said no because beds need changing and heating not on etc.(also I dont want strangers in my home)Well since then we have had text after text asking over and over again! I have also repeatedly tried to ring them but they are not picking up! The last one was very late last night (I was already in bed asleep)asking again and saying the family who they want to stay's car has broken down! I feel like packing up here and going home now as so worried they will just use my house anyway! I dont have any friends or family nearby who can check on my home. My partner has said they surely wont just use our house but I'm not sure they wont. 😥

You're reading too much into things! OP said she told her NDN she was away for a week over Christmas. Presuming she went away on Christmas Eve as many people do, she could still be away until this coming Saturday. The NDN texted her on Boxing Day asking to let her relatives' stay.

Unbelievable. I really hope we’re all wrong and they haven’t already used your property. They may not be in it at the time your family get there, so get your family to get the key back from the neighbours, but make sure your family don’t move anything in the house so that you can work out if it was as you left it.

Also get a video door bell. It helps with general peace of mind.

Exactly this!

Add me to the list of people who hold neighbours' keys.
2 of our neighbours (all on friendly terms, very occasional drinks together) have asked us to keep their keys just in case. One has an oversensitive alarm so she's also given me her alarm code in case it goes off and I need to reset it.
Oh, the parties I could have at her house... 😁

Giving your neighbour a key is not permission to enter your house when they want and it's definitely not permission to invite strangers into someone's house!! Its for emergencies only!

Glad you can get your house checked on. I am hoping for an update saying all is well, and you can get on with enjoying your break

Exactly this!!
I have my neighbours key but she is an 82 year old pensioner. If I don't see her go out in her car or open her curtains - will ring her before I even think of going in uninvited!!

I'm not surprised this has stressed you out, how awful of them! I hope all is well when your family get there.

@Ursuladevine can you quote some case law in relation to trespass please as you are so sure of your facts.

Former neighbours weren't lifelong friends within six months of us moving in but became so - well not lifelong as we weren't babies, but substantive.

Not many insurance policies would cover for civil issues such as trespass which is what the op is facing.

She have to the neighbour

who she said that wasn’t close to

It is not trespass if the op has given her keys to the neighbour!!

by giving keys, she’s allowing access

Completely out of order, especially when told no already

I also think they're already using it. I think BIL needs to get the key back off them.

I'm actually shocked of the cheeky fuckery of some people!! Who do they think they are?
I'd call the police and say someone is potentially trespassing!

People have the oddest neighbours (and friends) on here.

Legally it might not be considered trespass but it is totally unacceptable to even consider doing it.
As mentioned some of us have neighbours' keys.
Would you even think of putting up relatives in a random person's house?
It wouldn't even cross my mind to think of it as an option!

This is where smart door locks would have been useful. Give the neighbour a code, but that code can be changed at any point via the app preventing further access.

The OP didn't give the house keys to the NDN for them to give access to other people the OP didn't know and had never met before, without the OPs express permission Thats the bit where trespass applies.

Have you read the thread?

No, she's not. She's specifically told the NDN they cannot access the property to stay there.

My NDN has my keys in case I ever get locked out or my DD loses her and can't get in after school. That does NOT give my NDN the right to access my property whenever she feels like it!

@Ursuladevine yes it is and no the op hasn't. There is no express or implied consent here in relation to the property being used by the NDN.

Good thinking OP!

I am so angry on your behalf. Some people are an absolute liberty.

Please update if your family catch people in your house. I’d go ballistic. It’s your home not a BnB for complete strangers.

When we bought this house we refused to swap keys with our neighbour, citing that it would invalidate our house insurance. They said they hadn’t thought of that, they thought they were being good neighbours offering but in this day and age we were quite right.

We live in the country and that was fine but a few local people were affronted that we wouldn’t continue to honour the casual agreements they’d had with the previous owner about using our yard (for parking) and outbuildings (for storage) free of charge.

There are CFs everywhere.

This must have really affected your trip, OP.

I didn't know that about home insurance! If they're not already in there and are still asking, maybe tell them your insurance doesn't allow it?

If they've been in and stayed that's the most CF thing I've heard in quite some time!!

No point sending a taxi round to knock on the door. If they know they shouldn’t be there they won’t answer. And surely after the op said no they wouldn’t let the relatives use the whole of the house. more likely they’d just use the beds and hope the op didn’t notice.

Are you on any Facebook local groups or Nextdoor? Maybe put something on there...

Might find another neighbour on your street happy to keep an eye out