to knock and tell my neighbours what dirty, smelly, filthy, smoking bastards they are?

[VinegarTits]

because my 3yr has been up all night long coughing and i am permanently wheezing (asthma) because they smoke so much my house smells like a fucking ashtray, seriously, the smell is so strong it knocks you out

Fucking sick of it, sick of wheezing, and sick of waking up to the taste of cigarette smoke in my mouth [angry)

If a woman can be prosecuted for having noisy sex, then I'd have thought something could be done about cigarette smoke that is effecting your child's health.

Wow, are all smokers dirty filthy bastards? If so i take great offence, for i as a smoker think my personal cleanliness is of the highest standard. Anyway, i would suggest citizens advice bureau, they should be able to point you in the right direction. Also check with your energy supplier, some homes which are not insulated to the correct spec do actually qualify for free wall cavity and loft insulation, well worth looking into as it costs a small fortune to do this yourself. And on the plus side, once properly insulated your home will be more eco friendly

Sex is NOISE...not the same..as I said if they are smoking in their own home the home is not insulated correctly not their business if it effects you or not

Well of course i am not saying all smokers are dirty filthy bastards, i am obviously annoyed at my neighbours therefore i am venting, surely you could tell that?

However, smokers do smell of smoke, fact. I personally find the smell of smoke disgusting

I agree vinegartits, smokers are so used to the smell of their own smoke they don't even realise they smell of smoke, and they do not understand the effect on other people.

Smokers do smell vile and i say that as a reformed smoker..

Hang on mumcentre,

you mentioned it being equivalent of cooking smells...well they are rarely poisonous. This is a health issue, the science is there, but nobody has the balls to give non smokers rights over smokers in these situations.

As much as I don't dismiss people on the grounds of being smokers (of course) I would dismiss them as civil human beings if they caused my children's health to suffer, knowingly.

"it might technically be classed as nuisance, although it is a very very long time since I did land law "

It'd come under tort not land law tbh and I honestly can't imagine such a case being successfull as they are also allowed the lawful enjoyment of their property and the smoking is not being done with any malicious intentions, you'd basically need to get a judge who had a severely anti-smoking stance and was willing to give an equitable relief of an injunction which is not likely to happen. A more successful option would probably be to take a case for damages against the HA for not insulating properly as i can't see any court classifying smoking in ones own property (as long as there's nothing against it in the tennancy agreement) as a nuisance.

'expat wonder what they do?'

Sell drugs, use drugs, consort with violent drunks and party all night.

Oh dear! expat...want to borrow my BIL to come round and threaten them? thats how my mum got rid of her drug dealing partying next door neighbours..(she didnt actually know he had at the time- would not have approved at all) but it worked a treat!..you could stylishly shop them to the police/council maybe?

he has everything thug in the country after him, so he comes and goes. he stays with some stupid cow in the next stair when things get rough.

well ismoke, not indoors, ever, and i would also be very pissed off if the smoke was in my home.

def ring the HA, and say you cannot put up with this, Plasterboard sounds feasible?

Ok how about I change the equivalent to incense (which can also damage health)/smelly candles?...fact is you should not be able to be overpowered in your home by your next door neighbour doing anything.

They need to contact their housing assoc..nothing to do with the neighbours..obviously something wrong with the property.

Can't disagree mayorquimby, obviously the practical solution is to ask the Housing Association to sort it out and as another poster has suggested, may be as simple to fix as fitting some plasterboard/plaster over the bare breeze blocks. I just wonder whether the Housing Association will care enough/have the funds to do it. Wouldn't have thought it was a good idea for the OP to do the work herself in case they object to it, but would be sorely tempted to do it anyway.

Will stick to pensions law from now on . I do know something about that, honest.

And to throw fuel on the fire, I personally think all people who smoke smell unpleasant, and they're kidding themselves if they think their personal hygeine enables them to smell fresh. I think you get immune to the smell of smoke when you're exposed to it for a long time, so you just can't smell what others can. I hate it when someone sits next to me on the train who's obviously just finished a fag. It's not nice. I would be really angry if a neighbour caused my house to stink of fags (or anything else, for that matter). My house smells of cats, and that's the way I like it .

The smoking bastards have also had their house raided twice by the police, and one of them jumped my back fence and lifted out my fence panel to get away from them, i also heard the police officer on his radio saying they were known shoplifters, buts thats another thread

On another practical note, you could always get a little air purifier, which work really well.

I know you say you can't afford to move, but if you don't own the place then can you not try? We moved due to noisy neighbours once, after being driven nearly demented for a whole year. Nothing worse than bad neighbours, it's awful when you can't relax in your own house.

yeah but moving involves huge costs, plus esp if vinegar has been in her home 20 yrs, she shouldn't have to be pushed out by the stinkys.

insulate your walls, we have had same problem in the bedrooms and it has worked!

Environmental health at your local council can take action over smells as a nusiance - however it is rarer than noise and tends to be people complaining about resturants or silage. It is worth getting advice from them before going to your housing association.

I know she shouldn't have to be pushed out, but sometimes you have to do what works rather than what's right. Moving does involve significant costs though, that may be prohibitive.

If you don't get any joy from asking the housing association nicely i wonder if its worth having a chat with your doctor? If this is agravating your asthma and your child's health maybe they would write a note. Guess HA might have to take it more seriously then - it would be a health issue rather than a complaint about people smelling (yes smokers you do)

The sooner smoking is banned altogether the better. Smoking smells. Smoking kills.

Another reformed smoker here, smokers do smell vile, you just don't realize it till you stop and then have to be close to a smoker. I never believed what nonsmokers said about smokers smelling like the bottom of an ashtray, I always thought they were just being rude and really the smell must be more like the smell of normal cigarette smoke - sadly no! Think of the smell of a really yukky, stale, dirty ashtray - that's what a smoker smells like. (They also taste pretty disgusting if you kiss them.0

I have known (and loved) smokers who didn't smell, though.
There are definitely degrees of it.

Mumcentre, I don't think incense is a proven carcinogenic and neither are scented candles. Both are far more innocuous.

If someone was running a petrol engine in the house next door and the smell/fumes were infiltrating your premises that would be a bit of a better analogy, though possibly an illegal example...not sure which is more toxic.