My horrible neighbours are back, feel desperate

[lifeonmars100]

This isn't really an AIBU more a "how the hell am I going to cope"

in the Summer of 2022 the horrible house next door to me was sold at auction and I was initially so relieved thinking that someone had bought it and was going to do it up. It had gone to rack and ruin over the past 6 years or so wiht a bad landlord, a horrible tenant who was rude to everyone who asked him to tackle the broken fences, the brambles and massive buddleia that took over the tiny back yard and encroached into the communal entry making it very difficult to get bins in and out. Oh was I happy when the house was sold. New landlord arrived and spent 4 days whitewashing it and then the same weekend the new tenants arrived. They are Roma and they live a very alternative life style which is the best way to express how they are. They have filled the back yard with scrap, they broke the communal gate which I paid to replace, they then broke that, they broke into my back yard and took my bin, went through my gardening box, they shout and yell til about 2am. They used my address to claim benefits, take out a phone contract and open a bank account, I found this out when I started getting all the debt collection letters, they used my address to register a female child in school and then took her out of school and the attendance officer came to my home looking for her. I guess they managed to do all the fraud stuff by using the correct ID for their address and then saying they had moved. Anyway that is just a snapshot of the hell, there is the flytipping, the constant noise, ask them politely to keep it down and they swear at me, they chuck bin bags out on the street. I cannot use my back yard due to the constant noise, I used to have a pretty little garden out there but have given up now. This winter they must have had a blocked drainage pipe which they then tampered with and all their bath water was running out into my yard! Reported all the issues to the council who did an inspection and said there were "significant issues" and they were taking action. That was nearly 20 months ago! Suddenly at the start of December 2024 they vanished, all the curtains went, all the furniture went and I thought they had done a runner and was so relieved. My mental health began to improve, I felt relaxed at home, I enjoyed Christmas and even began to think about doing up my back yard for the Summer. Tonight I saw lights on, hear shouting and see that they or other friends/family are back. Feel hopeless and depressed, can't afford to move and anyway who would buy my house other than another slum landlord? guess I am just venting as i am so upset . I have made numerous reports to the council and to the police (forgot to say they were doing what looked like drug dealing for a while, people knocking on the door and small packages and cash being exchanged) it is a row of terraces that open onto the street so things are very visible. Feel hopeless, they made my life wretched and now they are back. It is a two up two down and they sometimes have as many as 10 adults in there, last year I caught them just about to take my mothers day flowers off the step, they called me a "mother fucking cunt" when I have asked them not to shout all the time.When it is really bad I have to wear earplugs in the kitchen In despair about having to endure it all over again.

@lifeonmars100 what you said was fine, you added context. Please ignore anyone trying to drag your thread off-track with arguing about it.

But the point is, any non-English speaking people could behave that way. Taking girls out of school at a young age is common amongst Traveller, Romany and other similar cultures. But let's be honest, many 'British' families don't give a stuff about school attendance, and/or take them out of school for holidays during term time, or don't bother about truancy. Any family could register a child at your address - it's not confined to Roma neighbours exclusively.
Other non-English speaking peoples use their children as translators, including at hospital visits, etc.
So, you could have related your story without mentioning their culture. It may have stopped some of the racist comments here

This!

There will always be people who try to derail these discussions by screaming racism. It is a fact that there are groups in society who tend to behave in antisocial ways. Constantly shutting down these discussions will unfortunately lead to far right political parties coming into power.

It is also worth noting that they are being exploited by the landlord, the place is falling apart and I am assuming they do not know what their rights are. I had a chat with the lad who acts as interpreter and gave him the Shelter website address which has a good section about tenants rights. I have used Google translate to type up a bin calendar for them and used the translate app to explain just how noisy they can be. I invited one of the women into my home and explained how hard I had worked to pay for it, she said it was "beautiful" and I thought that this might help to change things .

That’s BS.

Who are these groups who all act in antisocial ways?

Just because the daily fail and the like, tend to leap on certain demographic groups and scaremonger, doesn’t mean it’s actually true.

Anti-social behaviour should absolutely be called out and it annoys me how many nightmare neighbours there are that don’t have consequences (it’s usually people who own their homes and can’t be evicted).

Some of this is absolutely Roma people and it should be called out and they should be punished, but so should every other person who acts like this.

Do you think the daughter who has been pulled from school is also antisocial and should get tarred with the same brush?

You sound lovely OP and I have the utmost sympathy for you.

Did those things help in any way?

Anything illegal I would keep reporting but I would also keep on trying to build a relationship.

So many times, nuisance neighbours turn into nightmare neighbours as it becomes a feud and a constant battle.

Do not give in to them but also pick your battles and try and do it the legal way.

I would focus on making complaints about the landlord as he needs to deal with the situation.

I always feel sorry for the kids in this situation and it becomes a viscous cycle because the girl receives no education and the boy is forced to be a leader for his family.

Errrm, how can your neighbours be both council tenants and tenants of the person who owns the house next door to you at the same time?

Yes.
And based on that, I would like to welcome them to the neighbourhood and make sure they feel part of it, as do the various ethnic groups living here.

However, after years of mental torment caused by the incessant extreme noise - my home actually shaking with the noise at all hours - of the parties of a string of different Roma neighbours, plus the fights spilling out into the street, not to mention the noise and exhaust fumes from the illegal garage they operated in the side lane ... you do start to think "I don't want any more Roma neighbours".

I've seen various fellow liberal lefties who live nearby mentally wrestling with this...

I'm so sorry OP, it sounds like an absolute nightmare and one of my fears. Good neighbours are a huge blessing. My lovely neighbours are selling up this year and I'm dreading it.
No new suggestions from all the other good advice you have here, just to make your property as secure as possible. CCTV, ring doorbells, garden gate locks, anti climb paint the fences, prickly bushes and complain, complain, complain to the council, police, landlord. Keep detailed evidence with video, photos and notes. You need to be a total nag. I really hope that you get some peace soon.

@lifeonmars100 if they are overcrowded and the house isn't maintained to a legal standard, you can definitely report the landlord to the appropriate team at your local council. If he can be forced to maintain the property and only let it to the legal amount of people, it would make a huge difference I think.

You may have to badger them though, everything is so overstretched. Nevertheless, there are laws and they exist for a reason.

If noise is an issue, what is your local council's procedure for dealing with noise?
Here you have to make a complaint, then they get you to keep an official log of all the noise. After this they fit devices in your property to actually measure the noise.
It's a long process but worth it if noise is a big issue.

Downsides are that some noise doesn't seem to be covered - between certain hours for example, so they could be really noisy during the day but it might not count.

It was 16 years ago thank god. I don’t know the details of my ex grim neighbours affairs. It was a private let cute flat they utterly trashed. None of them worked and they claimed benefits and did low level drug dealing / I suspect some prostitution from their flat. I know this as one of their relatives berated them for their lifestyle in the garden. You are welcome to seek them out and live next door to them yourself if you are a be kind type - wouldn’t recommend it though!

Here you go OP, this sets out the powers councils now have to tackle landlords who overcrowd properties or let them out in unsafe condition:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/crackdown-on-private-landlords-renting-overcrowded-and-dangerous-homes

There should be an elected local councillor for your area. They will have regular open surgeries where you can walk in and have a chat. They have more power than the council staff and can challenge unsatisfactory responses and offer help.

I'm so sorry for you @lifeonmars100 , it really is life and health impacting when you have truly anti social neighbours.

Sorry if duplicating some points already made, but things I have previously found can help progress action to support you:

• keep reporting everything and keep records, to the landlord and council environmental and licensing depts, re noise, rubbish dumping etc
• ask other neighbours to also report any issues they experience.
• write to your MP and local councillors and also tell them about yourself e.g. you've worked and lived in the locale for xx years, always spent money locally and supporting local business ect (to show you're a valuable, contributing member of the community) and now find yourself unable to even step into your back garden and scared in your own home, the stress and impact on your mental health.
• keep reporting to police re any criminal behaviour or any threats to yourself even if 'just' swearing at you over the fence making you feel intimidated.
• if the police ask (or the web form if reporting an issue on line) if you consider yourself vulnerable say yes even if you don't view yourself as such - although very capable and independent myself, I said yes in the context of a woman living alone next to an HMO of prison leavers with threatening behaviour and/or anger management issues. This helped flag up for police review.

In your case I'd also not be helping with any more Shelter advice or signposting etc, as although you've tried to help them and build a relationship (but could include this in your reports above to show you're a decent person and have previously tried to help them) it might also help them fight any eviction actions. I've no experience with this particular group but from skimming through replies it sounds typical behaviour so unlikely to change their behaviour and transform into considerate neighbours so the best outcome is getting them out and ensuring the landlord acts more responsible in placing future tenants.

Best of luck, things can be changed.

That's a revolting thing to say

why?

I cannot believe you asked that. Really? Jesus

Eu gibsies?

Thanks for your reply I contacted my local councillor in September 2024, showed her all my correspondence from Selective Licensing, Environmental Health, the council's ASB dept, and the police report for the verbal abuse.She contacted Selective Licensing on my behalf but nothing has been done. All the departments and organisations I have contacted agree there is a problem, Environmental Health have been round and taken photos of the leaking pipes, piles of rubbish and the wall rendering that is cracking off the side of the house and falling in heavy chunks in the communal alley but they do not seem to be taking any action

make a formal complaint about lack of action and after a month go to The Ombudsman

No I own my house, the landlord is the latest person to own the house next door and it was unfit to live in when he bought it, so when it went up for sale I was pleased thinking that it would get renovated. Instead it was sold to a man who spent 4 days cleaning it and slapping some paint on the walls, while leaving the gutters hanging off, the fencing still collapsing into the communal alley way, rendering falling off the wall (which is dangerous and could injure someone) and the front door still kicked in! It suits unscrupulous people to rent out substandard accommodation to people who do not know they have rights and who only deal in cash.

I am absolutely sorry for you and for the way the UK allowed this to come to this. We are called racists in our countries, for having seen these people do the same and obviously being disgusted by it all. In our countries they go even further, rape, kill and murder

No lol, sorry , the west calls us racists for having been disgusted by such behaviours. Sorry to see this beautiful country has come to this