Does the ground floor flat have the sole right to the front garden or is it shared?

[newyorknewyorkforevernewyork]

In a victorian house converted into flats, which are all rented from one landlord?

The rear garden belongs to the GF I know that, but what about the front garden?

Photo for example included, not my home

Yabu - belongs to the gf flat only
Yanbu - belongs to all the flats as they all have to pass by it to get home

Nc as outing

How is that a threat? If he has a chronic illness with headaches then lots of noise etc isn’t really kind and your children should be asked to be quiet when passing his door. It’s not hard to say ‘let’s be quiet in the hall’.

I think the front is usually communal, OP.

I live in a social housing conversion similar and LL take a very hands off approach, encouraging us to talk to each other to try and solve issues, agree amongst ourselves who does the front garden (back is divided) and to be mindful our these old properties are not soundproofed to modern standards and to expect to hear each other moving around. I’m upstairs and could set my watch by my neighbour slamming the front door in his way in from his night shift. Filling his kettle, talking etc. maybe remind him you can hear him too

To be fair you’re coming across as a bit of a twat yourself. Walking quietly past the door, fine, running, talking to herself and pissing about unsupervised whilst you carry things down 2 flats of stairs is not and you are trying to justify it as “just kids” . It might be your child, but that doesn’t make it ok, it makes you an inconsiderate parent.

I think youre coming across as a twat, with no good reason

This is life, children exist and people dont have to walk quietly past someones door - they dont get to bang or intentionally disrupt you, but they allowed to converse, walk and even run past the door on the way to their home

Ive been polite to the guy for too long, constantly cornering me in conversation about his ailments

He took the piss when he claimed i couldnt leave a bag of my things in the front gsrden (which is enclosed by a hedge btw) because it upset him and tramps might come

Hes taking the piss now

Might I add that this ia during the daytime, not at nighttime. Its good parenting not to force my child to live in fear when going to the car

Thank you x

Honestly I wanted to live in london so badly, this seemed perfect but hes too difficult to be around

Think what you like @newyorknewyorkforevernewyork , but most of us on here have got your measure by the way your posts have changed. I’m glad I don’t live next to you and let’s hope your antisocial behaviour and taking possession of an (at best) shared space doesn’t get you in trouble with your HA 😂

He did threaten me, ive mentioned it upthread

If we were hanging out in the hall that would be wrong, but passing by twice a day, he needs to get over it

Oh there's always someone that overdoes it. If you think childhood noise is anti social then I feel sorry for you going out into the world

i'm here making sure i am not breaking ha rules by keeping my stuff in the front garden, because of this antisocial man

Noone is trying to take possession of anywhere, I dont know what thats about

You admit your daughter is hanging out in the hall though, waiting for you to carry stuff downstairs, and therefore not just passing. You’ve admitted 3 minutes at least.

You have admitted that she runs, jumps, talks and once screeched whilst waiting for you outside his door. Her jumping very probably sounds like the banging he is complaining of.

You say your daughter is 7 years old? Is there any reason why you can’t tell her to be quiet in the hallway? You seem to be suggesting that you shouldn’t have to, as kids should be allowed to do as they please? This seems very inconsiderate to others.

Unless I’ve missed that she’s SEND, there will be an expectation that she stay quiet in school at times. If she is unable to follow this instruction it would likely have been brought to your attention, as teachers simply cannot just ‘let kids be kids.’ It can be inconsiderate to others and learning this is an important part of their education.

For the noise issue:

1. YABU to your neighbour, who you know has chronic health issues. It’s especially unreasonable to say he just needs to get over it. How unkind!
2. Please teach your daughter to be kinder, unless there is a reason why she is not capable of this.
3. i have no idea why a 7 your old has to descend the stairs and wait noisily in a communal area so you can carry belongings. I initially thought you meant she was 7months old and you had to carry her down in her pram/buggy first and go back for other belongings (if I’ve got that wrong and she is 7months old, in her buggy, babbling and gurgling, then ignore this post! 😂) Would she not help you carry belongings and descend the stairs with you?
4. It’s not about defending your child. If a teacher told your child to be quiet or there’d be consequences, would you report them for threatening behaviour? From what you’ve described, your neighbour said that if you didn’t shut her up he’d do something about it. Maybe he’d report you to the HA or speak with your daughter directly? He also intimated you were taking advantage of his up til now friendly nature. That doesn’t sound like a threatening madman, just like someone who is fed up and feels you are behaving badly. I am not sure he has threatened you particularly, but maybe I’ve missed a post? Please correct me here if I’m wrong.
5. Your neighbour may still be a crazy, unpleasant guy, but it doesn’t change any of the above.
6. If the neighbour is as ghastly as you believe and is well established in his flat, you may need to consider moving if he continues to bully you after you’ve put right your wrongdoings. I’m sorry if that’s the case, as you’ve said it’s your dream flat and it does seem unfair. But before you do, try and remedy the situation and see how it goes. You could apologise and simply say you had no idea how noisy your daughter was outside his door whilst she was waiting for you and that she would try her best to just make a normal level of sound when going in and out from now on and will not wait outside his door and jump, talk or screech excessively. You could also offer him a sympathetic ear when he wants to bore you about his various ailments. I know you don’t care, but perhaps if you act with more empathy towards him again, he will be a bit more understanding for you. i hope this works out for you and you are able to reset things with your neighbour, who you obviously got along with initially.

If your leases don’t permit storage in the front garden, belongings should not be left about. This applies to both you and your neighbour. If the garden is communal, find out if your neighbour got permission for his storage box. Maybe you should do the same or offer to buy it from him if he’s not using it. You should insist he stores his bikes away too.

If you find out the front garden does come with his lease and you only have a right of access, you need to remove your detritus from his property straight away. That will be very embarrassing and the best you can do is apologise and explain you didn’t realise the garden was his. I would be crazy mad if my neighbour was treating my garden as a dumping ground.

Even if communal, I wouldn’t think anyone would choose to have bikes, scooters, plastic bags of clothing, more large bikes, buggies etc strewn about their shared garden. It looks a bit crap and might encourage intruders, as your neighbour suggests.

I’ve got no issue with your post being left in communal areas until you are home. If this is what he complained about, weird 🙄

I would imagine your neighbour wishes to relax in his own home too, And [he] would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you[r] meddling kid[s]. (Scooby Doo)

What do you mean “what as so exciting”? As in you’re unaware that kids get easily excited or you want to measure if it was reasonable enough for her ti scream?

It’s unreasonable to expect to not notice children when you live in a shared block. I’m so grateful my neighbours weren’t this mad when I lived in a flat.

I dont understand what difference who owns the front garden makes? If its him or not you still have to use the front door! I imagine he would have not allowed you to store stuff there if it was only for his use but this fact isnt going to stop him complaining about noise.

Nobody here will be able to tell you, these old buildings were all broken up at different times and the deeds were split out depending on who wanted what. We had one where the back garden was split into thirds but the top floor flat owned the front garden, we had another which had 2 garages, both owned by the middle flat. You'll need to either chat to the neighbours and see if you can amicably agree or chat to the landlord/check your deeds for who actually owns it. Often common areas are shared and a joint responsibility whilst this is nice as you can all use it, it also means you're all responsible for maintaining it which can be a pain in the bum. Old houses split into flats are notoriously weird and quirky, so don't ask an Internet forum!

To be honest I think you are making a big issue over nothing.
He has let you use his storage shed and brought the kids birthday presents.
All he has asked is if the children can be quieter when passing the door.
You could ask your children to be quieter, I get it, it won’t always work. Make it a game that you shush as you walk past.
I don’t really see what the front garden has to do with it, you don’t want to use it and he hasn’t asked you to stop storing your stuff there.
Don’t make issues where there aren’t any. Otherwise you could be causing issues.

He hasn't bought dd anything! I bought his dd a birthday gift, card. I also put out christmas cards and individual chocolates for him, his partner and their dc - i got back a box of heroes and a card

I left that, as i thought well it was me who went out of my way, they dont have to

He insisted I put the bike and scooter in his shed thing, rather than just putting them in the front garden

He also tried putting my buggy behind this weird thorny bush thing - i had a nightmare getting it out and got scratches, but even apologised for setting off his bike alarm

I appreciate the attempts of people to advise but I just need to wait to find out what the HA say before I do anything else

Not putting up with him anymore

Can you actually not remember if the property was advertised as a 2nd floor flat with communal ( front ) garden.

When you viewed the property / accepted the property did the housing officer not say ' here is the ' communal ' front garden ?

does your tenancy not say what you are renting ?

do you pay a service charge ? if so what is it for ?