We live in a semi detached house. Our neighbour cooks strongly fragranced foods which seem to seep through our walls into our hallway, bathroom and front bedroom. All these areas connect to the party wall. We have another wall separating the staircase from our lounge which seems to prevent the smell spreading further. The neighbours don't have this wall, it was knocked down so their entire ground floor is open plan.
The neighbour doesn't open windows or doors when cooking and they don't have an extraction fan either.
We have to open all upstairs windows to clear the smell. During the summer, if there is a breeze then it clears, however if not it hangs in the air. In the winter we waste so much money heating the house only to end up opening the windows to ventilate.
All this occurs regularly, around 4 times a week and lasts at least 2-5 hours on each occasion.
We tried to speak to the neighbour on several occasions but she's a bit anti-social and never answers the door. We have written her letters asking her to ventilate her property whilst cooking and have told her how it effects us. She wrote back saying it wasn't her fault and if there is a smell in my house then it must be for another reason!
We contacted Environmental Health who said they could only assist if a commercial business was the cause of the problem. They won't get involved in residential/neighbour disputes.
We're at our wits end and feel that the only solution is to take legal action.
Can anyone advise me what legislation or acts are in place which she might be breaching. Someone mentioned the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Is that right?
All we want is for her to show some consideration and work with us by ventilating her property.
Sorry for such a long post!