Genuinely unsure if IABU

[devildeepbluesea]

My lovely neighbour (rented property) told me on moving in that she works nights as a HCP. This is borne out, as far as it goes - she’s clearly out overnight but only for 1-2 nights per week.

In the meantime I’m pretty sure she’s running a commercial kitchen from her home, and making her living mostly from this.

Are there any circumstances where this is ok? I don’t want to knacker her income stream but equally I’m a bit worried about vermin (lots of evidence of food prep outside in the garden).

Sorry, the food industry has regulations for a reason. Residential neighbourhoods are zoned as residential, not restaurant.

She needs to show her kitchen has passed food inspection agencies, and that she has a home business license.

For any of those saying MYOB, wait until a mechanic starts up next door to them, or someone decides to run a kennel.

I’m about to start cooking - birthday cakes for dtds so I’ll probably be up cooking until midnight. I didn’t realise there’s suitable hours to cook in your own house.

i think you’re being over sensitive but then I can’t quite imagine what prep she’s doing in the garden. I don’t think I observe my neighbours enough to create the back story you have. Maybe focus on your own life.

Once she blew it on saying the smell was terrible & great. 1/10

No I’m not particularly nosy

Of course you're not, OP.

@mdinbc my neighbour bakes cakes and I only know because she has a sign up. Not intrusive and totally legal. Op hasn’t actually got evidence other than lots of cooking smells , food prep and late night cooking noise.

If it is genuinely having a negative effect on you then have a polite word with her. I would never go down the reporting route though, it just seems really mean minded. Making a bit of extra money in desperate times doesn't seem too terrible. Ruining someone however is really is.

No need to apologise.

The op does not know for sure that her neighbour is cooking commercially. She could just do batch cooking and maybe has elderly relatives for whom she cooks.

Loud noise nuisance is a different matter altogether, most people would complain about that if it happened regularly.

OP YANBU, as others have said if she is preparing food for sale (or even give away to a shelter) she needs to demonstrate she is following good hygiene practices.
If she just has a very large family to feed then leave her be, but this doesn't sound like the case from your OP.

Stop being mean to OP. I need her to come back with what the neighbour is actually doing in her garden. At this point I don’t even care if it’s fabricated or not - I just want it to be the trestle table production line of sandwiches someone else suggested upthread.

Oh get lost OP leave the poor woman alone. And yes it is cowardly, at least you’re right about that

"Slaughtering goats?"

People here have odd ideas.
I wouldn’t be happy to buy from an outlet with no hygiene certificate or inspections.
Food prep in the garden, definite no.
Environmental health call is required.

You have a choice, nobody is suggesting you buy cooked food from the op's neighbour.

I don’t think you have to purchase any food from her, I don’t think we have her address (or, in fact, any confirmation at all that she’s preparing food to sell) 😆

I wouldn't be happy with this situation. Speak to her about your concerns.

I’d probably not grass on my neighbour for trying to make a living in very hard times. But each to their own. If it’s really bothering you, talk to her about it.

In the current economic climate, I don’t think I would judge (much less even think of reporting) my neighbour for making money any way she can!

This. People are behaving like cunts on this thread.

They'd hate to have unregulated food prep where they live at all hours or get sick from eating it. But no, they stick the boot in and make underhand suggestions that you are racist OP.

Massive bunch of lying hypocrites I'm afraid.

Report to environmental health before someone gets sick or you get a plague of rats.

Also, I have an aunt who people
might think was running a commercial kitchen from her house - actually she just cooks loads for free for friends and our huge family. For example one week she made 150 cupcakes for my wedding, two birthday cakes and prepped savoury food including quiches, sausage rolls etc for her grandchildren’s party. She also just likes batch cooking, and sometimes shares food with the clients in the care home she works at. So…you don’t know til you ask.

But op doesn't actually know what this woman is doing with the food she's prepping.

All of that would be super relevant, if the OP actually knew she was prepping food commercially.

I started thinking what's the big deal but then you said prepping in the garden and that's weird/odd and I'd at least try to get to the bottom of it.

If there is excessive food waste in the harden that would bother me

Jus returning to say I haven’t disappeared from the thread but tbh I was a bit wearied by the live and let live replies from what is, most likely , the NIMBY crew.

thank you to those who did have constructive ideas about how to deal with this. And now, definitely, I’m off. Thanks vipers for the laughs if nothing else!!

She probably isn’t coming back and I don’t blame her. Absolutely no need for some of the comments on here.

This is it. I’m presuming there’s probably a difference in culture too…