People not showing pride in their homes

[Auburngal]

Talking about those who leave the front of their homes (owned) in a state.

For example there’s a house down my parents road who has an old fridge freezer on their driveway for 5 years! Don’t understand why people spend several hundred quid on white goods don’t buy them from a retailer who takes the old one for free or for £10. I paid the retailer £10 to take my old washer away and to recycle it accordingly.

Then there’s a house opposite me who had their bathroom replaced and left the old loo and other bits outside the home for several months. A decent bathroom fitter would take the old stuff away as part of the package.

Then another family down my parents road have old children’s toys in their garden- play house, sand pit etc. The kids are too old for these toys now.

Then are properties with hedges on the road and used as a ‘bin’. Unless the owners have mobility issues - then there’s no excuse to remove the rubbish from the hedge.

People spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on their homes but I hate it when they show no care.

People need to show pride.

I am a member of a community litter picking group.

My Grandma had carers coming in twice a day then her Son & Daughter helping. I realise she was privileged.

I now realise some people don't have this.

Can you not take it?

Nope, he's the one with the van and the driving license

We've got workmen in so our front garden looks like Steptoe's yard at the moment.

Now you see that's something I really hate. People putting gravel in their front garden that then ends up all over the pavement. But I assume people have their reasons for making that choice.

Gravel is actually not as easy as people think to keep clean

My life's really full and considering the external appearance of my house isn't a top priority. I'm far more interested in spending my money on things I enjoy more or make my stressful life easier.

I do do the bare minimum, because I don't want to piss my neighbours off, but it's a chore. I don't see how it's a virtue to do more than that.

I love my home, but I don't take pride in it, because I don't consider it an extension of my identity. I love it because I love living here, not because of how it looks.

Agree with pretty much all of this!

Aye.

I used to keep my parents’ place tidy, but there’s no one to help now that I could do with a hand.

I’m trying to get things sorted before everything seizes up completely. So much more difficult for folk like the Mumsnetter who is in a wheelchair.

Yes of course I do.

Op sometimes people don't realise hi how nice things can be esp in more run down areas.

I don't think anyone should be allowed to leave old bathrooms out for more than a month or so.
There should be a basic expectation to keep front reasonably clear of rubbish at least.

Keeping front nice and painting houses and keeping things smart increases prices of the entire road.

@Stompythedinosaur

I found your post interesting.

Don't know why under lines sorry. You said you don't see it as an extension of yourself.. That never occurred to me re the house.

I can certainly understand people with disabilities etc having a hard time over it.

For me I just like beautiful spaces and pretty spaces and I love walking around in spring and seeing beautiful trees and plants coming into boom.

For me when I come home esp in summer with lovely plants out front it makes me happy and infact other people also appreciate it as they tell me.
Which is nice!

Its all very well saying you wouldn’t be bothered or its none of your business but if you lived next door and couldn’t sell your house would you still be so understanding. There is one beside us that is an absolute tip, blinds with slats missing and all stained brown from their dog who passed away 3 years ago garden overgrown, I really feel for the neighbours.

It's not even about sellling. I lived on street where rubbish and furniture and appliances wwre common. It fucking depresses the crap out of you when it's next to you.

I grew up in a block of privately rented flats. Four floors with two flats each floor. Each tenant took turns to wash their landing, and the stairs to the next floor down, once a fortnight. The bins were shared, and the back garden was a shared responsibility. All eight tenants chipped in to have the grass cut, the communal areas were immaculate. My aunt lived nearby in a council block of flats, with very similar responsibilities.

40 years later I got a job in a council housing department. By then councils were cleaning all the communal areas of flats, cutting shared grassed (littered) areas, and the communal bins were often disgusting. What has changed?

Please and thank you tell my DH to ring up to get a skip! I've had our old bathroom on our front drive for 2 weeks and it was HIS only job...

Why don't you either tell him or do it yourself? How hard is it?

I agree with you that everyone can do their bit to keep their community clean and tidy. Too many people are just bone idle.

Oh please do tell me how I am able to do my bit to keep my community clean and tidy?

I'm not bone idle, I'm disabled. FFS the abelism on this thread is shocking.

My dad owned the ground floor flat we lived in, in the '60s. He kept his garden and that of an elderly neighbour. Two other owner-occupiers also kept their gardens neat. We referred to the rest as 'the jungle'.

The council bought the block via compulsory purchase and didn't give Dad enough money to buy a new home, so we had to rent from the council.

My parents were not wealthy - dad was a coalminer - but they always paid their rent. When Dad became too frail to garden, we paid the council to cut the grass and hedges, but I did the rest (on top of working and trying to look after my own house).

The gardeners told me that they were annoyed - fit young people were getting their grass and hedges cut for free because they were supposedly single, when the gardeners could see their partners coming and going.

We paid someone to cut our hedge when my late husband became too ill to do the work, but we were constantly let down - the company would wait until the last minute and the hedge gradually got wider and taller.

In the end, I took on the job myself. It's taken literally years for me to get the height down to where I want it and the hedge to a reasonable width. Even so, I need to take it in some more.

I can only do a little at a time, so this will take a good while. My back garden is a mess. I'm making do with weedkilling the front. There's a common path at the back. I'm the only person trying to keep on top of it. I concentrate on that and my hedges.

Three other households use that path - it's between my garden and another that's at 90 degrees to mine. At one point, I needed it for my mother's wheelchair. Now, I only clear it when I'm feeling fitter.

I'm sick of moving other people's garden rubbish. Their front gardens are neat, but they have no remorse over flytipping on other people's property. One time the garden at 90 degrees had a bit of landscaping done - their lawn was dug up and gravel laid.

The 'gardeners' chucked all the turf into the path I'd cleared. I chucked it all back over.

At some point, I'll no longer be fit to clear that path. I'll be interested to see how a couple of the households will manage to get their bins out once the path has silted up. (They currently keep them round the back.)

I'm very conscious of the fact that my front garden is the one that 'lets down the street'. I'm trying not to care.

People splitting hairs about the cost, logistics of getting rid of white goods.

The fact is , having these types of things outside your home for years isn’t acceptable.

I guarantee it would put some people off buying your home if your neighbours did this.

Some people have no pride at all.

Oh, for goodness sake. It really bugs me on here when people justify bloody awful behaviour. Especially when, chances are, they wouldn't do it in real life!

Agreed.

There are a lot of very lazy people out there without an ounce of pride or self-respect.

Is leaving an old freezer, having an overgrown garden or aging garden toys bad behaviour? So long as it’s inert I can’t see it’s particularly offensive. I’d be far more put out by swearing or the smell of pot than anything the OP mentioned. People can do what they like on their own property surely?

TomeTome, yes I consider that bad behaviour! If you have 'aging garden toys', then you must have children. Surely you spend some time outside with children; if so, then get them to help tidy, or grab a broom or rake while they are out playing.

Being outside in a pleasant garden in a pleasant neighbourhood adds joy to life.
Sitting on your front stoop with a cup of tea or glass of wine while children ride bikes or skip rope on the drive or pavement was one of my happy memories. My children are older now, but that was my introduction to gardening; being outside with them while they played, and doing small improvements to the property.