That my neighbour’s paranoia is not my problem.

[Libertylawn]

I have lived in my house for 20 years and it’s got a loft conversion which was done originally as a granny flat, so little kitchen and bathroom, 2 bedrooms. We are semi rural but near a couple of major employers and a business park and so I started letting out the annex to contractors. They are all fully vetted and usually just down for a couple of weeks or so. The rooms overlook farmland and my garden and also my neighbour’s garden.

My neighbour when she found out about the lodgers went bananas and has tried to report me to anyone that will listen, because she firmly believes it isn’t safe and as a consequence she and her children won’t go in the garden AT ALL, in case my lodgers are watching her. Why the hell they would want to watch her or her kids is beyond me.

The neighbour has kids the same age as mine, and we have mutual friends. She has cried - tears crying - saying how worried she is and that I’m ruining her dream house. The houses are detached, there’s no shared drive etc so this is all on the basis of the chances of nutters watching her put her washing on the line. I’ve ignored her so far but this morning I got a card through the door from her begging that I stop letting out the annex to anyone “except maybe relatives.” I’ve tried talking to her but am getting nowhere. She’s crackers isn’t she?

Agreed. Some people just don’t like to see things from another’s perspective. It’s called empathy, often in short supply.

As for OPs children being in danger from these (completely separated, no contact, locked doors between them) 'random strangers' - have you seen the situations that teenagers can put themselves in with absolutely no help from their parents? They aren't children and they will have a perfectly good handle on dealing with 'strangers'.

Not OPs children...OPs neighbours children.

Wonder whether the neighbour works? Sounds like she has too much time to think of reasons to be worried. OP has been there 20years - perhaps the neighbour has been there less time and has an idealistic concept of how her life would be there - and this did not include lodgers next door.
Really not OPs problem. If the neighbour is that unhappy, they should move.
I wouldn’t reply to the note. If the neighbour raises it, I would just acknowledge that I know she isn’t happy but there are no plans to stop letting the annexe. And repeat every time.

Unless OP has seen those vetting forms herself and identity checks, she cannot know that her lodgers are fully vetted. The fact that they work for a household name company is also neither here not there. Sometimes companies do not undertake due diligence, either because they talk shit or human error.

The contractors don’t NEED to be fully vetted to lodge at her property anyway. When you are dealing with, at best, highly unreasonable and at worst, cray cray, there’s no need to make grandiose claims about precautions taken re one’s lodgers.

This. It never ceases to amaze me how people choose to live in close proximity to other people, but then seem incapable of dealing with the minor inconveniences that brings. If the OP was organising debauched orgies, drum n' bass all-nighters, or hosting recently released maximum security prisoners in her flat then fair enough, I'd be complaining too. But just having people in her house? That's life. The neighbour might have had a good run of it with the OP's flat not being let out until now, but that doesn't mean she's got a god-given right for that state of affairs to continue forever. I'm not entirely unsympathetic to the neighbour as there must be some backstory to why she's acting in such a weird way, but the problem is with her, not the OP, and she does need to move to somewhere in splendid isolation.

She sounds very anxious and has wound herself up. But she cannot tell you what you do with your property.

Might it be worth explaining to her in writing one more time what you've told her? Then if she keeps on ignore her but note it each time just in case she escalates.

For the poster who suggested you limit the months you have lodgers that is ridiculous. This is the OPs home and as long as it's legal she can do as she wishes. I imagine the additional income is very welcome if not necessary.

I've always lived in homes that are overlooked as have most people and it's never stopped me being in the garden.

if you want to be secluded you need to buy the land around your house…

I thought her DC would be little, paddling pool age not teenagers. I'd try to talk to her Op, if she could give me a proper reason I might space the lodgers out a bit but it wpuld have to be logical, not her panicing

I wouldn’t do what you are doing-I don’t trust anyone outside my circle when it comes to children, or me. I wouldn’t want to be alone at night with strangers in my house, locked doors or not. Maybe I’ve read too many thrillers, but I don’t see the need to chance it.

However I wouldn’t behave like your neighbour, as really you are the one taking all the risks. I wouldn’t worry if someone was watching me potter in the garden.

You can do whatever you want with your house, this would not bother me at all and I can be quite bothered by things sometimes.
However you saying they are fully vetted is not true because they aren't actually vetted at all so I don't know why you're telling your neighbour that.

Yes crackers

To be fair, Mumsnet always recommends that people who have issues with people around them go and live somewhere in the arse end of nowhere, in a detached house....so this unwell lady has done exactly that, only to find real life following her! You're doing absolutely nothing wrong, OP, it's a shame that the neighbour has these MH problems, but they are not your concern.

You can't do anything you want with your house.....just saying...

That's as may be but OP isn't doing anything untoward with her house. She is declasring what she is doing and it is all above board. The unit is self contained and no different to a holiday rental.

Can't open it as a shop, a hospital or a pub, or a school or conduct a business from it (brothel-bakery- pet shop) with out change of use, which you won't get. I play devil's advocate obvs.

I took by "fully vetted" that the contractors showed the OP proof that they are indeed Jimmy Smith, working for ABC computer company, who is on contract with XYZ household brand company round the corner. Proof they are who they say they are, doing what they say they are doing. All entirely reasonable.

As another poster has said, you cannot get an enhanced DBS check (or a standard one) on a lodger. All you can get as a private individual is a basic DBS check which shows current and unspent convictions only.

Would it help to put some privacy film on the windows that look out over her garden? Like the stuff for bathrooms that still let light in?

We don’t have neighbours but I’m not sure how I would feel if we did and were overlooked. I’m not paranoid but the bit that I like most about where I live is that it’s really private.

What does "they are all fully vetted mean"?

You lose me if you embellish the story with things that aren't true.

She sounds batshit but I'd be interested to know her side of the story.

I think the issue is airbnbs, lodging and HMOs have very little regulation at the moment and I see that changing in the near future and I especially see residents having a say on people renting out accommodation on their street so if I was the OP I would do everything I can to appease the neighbour so that I didn’t loose the right to rent out the annex altogether in the near future.

I got a card through the door from her begging that I stop letting out the annex to anyone “except maybe relatives.”

You need to ask her how she can be completely sure that members of your family won't be perverts either, or indeed how she can be sure that you yourself are not a pervert? Every pervert is someone's friend or relative, so only allowing people you know personally to stay is no guarantee of anything. She's unhinged. It's completely irrational and she doesn't have a leg to stand on.

But the only thing the OP can do to appease the neighbour is to stop renting her flatlet out altogether, and why the hell should she have to do that?

She can't realistically demand that every air bnb guest agrees to undergo a DBS check before they arrive, can she?

I'd consider net curtains as a compromise, but I wonder if the neighbour sees them open for any reason it will cause more of an issue (as someone is 'obviously' looking out of the window into her garden).

You see, any empathy also needs to work both ways. I'm not so sure the neighbour is looking for a compromise, she wants to eradicate a stranger being able to look into her garden. That simply isn't possible. I'd note that the neighbour doesn't appear to proposing any solutions herself. It's totally reasonable to be concerned (I wouldn't be but then I live in a city so everyone looks into my garden!), maybe even to ask to see the view from the window(s) to plan screening in their garden to obscure the view. Not reasonable to say you don't want OP renting to non-family.

Even if it wasn't a self contained annexe of sorts (it's a loft conversion so not really an 'annexe' at all) the OP is still entitled to air bnb her spare bedrooms or take in lodgers as she sees fit.

Whether or not there was planning permission needed or granted on the loft conversion is a separate issue entirely.

What? How does she have a point? There is literally zero issue with a neighbour having quiet lodgers.