Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Have we rendered our home un-sellable?

149 replies

SaveMeTheWaltz · 20/12/2020 16:58

I'll try to keep this brief. In October we purchased and moved into our new house (one street over from our old flat - we've lived in the area for years and it is generally considered a 'nice' area, so what has happened has taken us by surprise). It very quickly became clear that the tenants living in the council-owned property next door had a major marijuana habit - think acrid skunk, smoked from around 11am until bed time most days. We initially tried to address it with them politely in person, which resulted in the female tenant threatening me; after a quick call to the council we decided route go down the route of police and council involvement.

Fast forward a few months. The police have visited the property several times, and the tenants have admitted marijuana use on camera. The police have issued a community protection order against the tenants, who don't seem bothered at all and are still carrying on as they were before. The council is now refusing to acknowledge the problem, and will not respond to my emails.

This was supposed to be the home that we'd bring our children up in and live in until we got old, but the whole situation is so horrible that we'd like to cut our losses, sell up and move on. However, there's now a record of anti-social behaviour at the property next door, which we'd have to declare. Has anyone managed to sell a house under these conditions? Has anyone managed to get their local council to take drug smoking tenants seriously? Can anyone give me advice? I'm feeling increasingly desperate and trapped and would very much appreciate an outside perspective on this. Thanks for reading this.

OP posts:
GreyhoundG1rl · 15/06/2021 19:28

It doesn't matter whether they felt it was a problem or not, it's only official complaints that require disclosure.

JChilesQC · 15/06/2021 19:38

I was in a similar situation. I thought we'd be stuck for life as our neighbour was a huge druggy with MH problems who caused a litany of problems, all of which we declared. Amazingly we got a buyer quick at an OK price. In a rising market with limited supply I wouldn't lose hope. I'd speak to a senior negotiator at the best local estate agent and discuss a strategy - worked for us!

Blossomtoes · 15/06/2021 19:48

The morals in this country are in steep decline now and have been since it's been easier to claim benefits, in my opinion. As a child of the 50s who lived in council property when there were no benefits to be had or very few, all the neighbours were nice and hard working and never caused any trouble and I think the councils were more likely to act fast to get rid of trouble makers

I’m a child of the 50s who briefly lived on benefits in the 70s, take it from me it’s never been harder to claim benefits than it is now.

I’m very sorry, OP, but I suspect your neighbours will be there a lot longer than you.

LakieLady · 15/06/2021 19:55

I don't mind the smell of weed too much. I'd rather have that than the stench from my NDN's dogshit filled garden, complete with endless amounts of flies everywhere.

They run their washing machine at 4.45 am, and their water tank is just the other side of the party wall, so I have the joy of being woken at stupid o'clock 3 times a week and have to listen to the tank filling for the best part of an hour.

And we're in a "naice" area and they own their house.

Fancy a swap?

MsMitford · 15/06/2021 19:56

@LakieLady

I don't mind the smell of weed too much. I'd rather have that than the stench from my NDN's dogshit filled garden, complete with endless amounts of flies everywhere.

They run their washing machine at 4.45 am, and their water tank is just the other side of the party wall, so I have the joy of being woken at stupid o'clock 3 times a week and have to listen to the tank filling for the best part of an hour.

And we're in a "naice" area and they own their house.

Fancy a swap?

Sadly we have the dogs hit problem as well as the weed! Still happy to sway?
MsMitford · 15/06/2021 19:56

**dog shit problem as well as the weed! Still happy to swap?

skodadoda · 15/06/2021 19:57

@Egeegogxmv

They're operating under such a radically different moral code to me that I don't even know what to think of this you are trying to police what they do in their own home and you are surprised that they take offense?
If what they do in their own home affects other people in neighbouring homes have every right to act.
MrsMiddleMother · 15/06/2021 20:08

I don't know why anyone would be okay with weed filling your garden or house everyday unless they were druggies too. Weed is vile, the smell and the effects. Hope it gets sorted soon x

osbertthesyrianhamster · 15/06/2021 20:11

@MrsMiddleMother

I don't know why anyone would be okay with weed filling your garden or house everyday unless they were druggies too. Weed is vile, the smell and the effects. Hope it gets sorted soon x
Nope, I'm not a druggie. It doesn't bother me and unless they're physically in there puffing like Cheech and Chong, it doesn't fill your garden and house. It pongs and you light a candle or open a window. It literally doesn't bother some people.
LemonSwan · 15/06/2021 20:12

Unless you have a crime number or a council case number I would be quite, stop escalating, live with it unfortunately for a year or two and sell at the earliest opportunity.

The council and police are probably ignoring you because they know this is not in your best interests either to escalate.

GreyhoundG1rl · 15/06/2021 20:14

The council and police are probably ignoring you because they know this is not in your best interests either to escalate.
Eh? Confused

mumwon · 15/06/2021 20:19

I wonder if the landlord knows (may have missed this) I would definitely contact them & complain - they may not know its amazing how much tenants can hide & THE POLICE DO NOT ALWAYS tell them (really bitter experience here!) if they don't know they will be able to kick them out with a section 8 because of their behaviour & there is no restriction on this because of covid unlike section 21

whataboutbob · 15/06/2021 20:19

I had a stoner in the downstairs flat. Acrid skunk 24/7. Sadly, he died of lung failure after we’d been there about 7 years, but I did consider moving out before then. It really is horrid and depressing, I think the sense of smell is an underrated one and really does affect emotion.

Doris86 · 15/06/2021 20:21

@supadupapupascupa

You can't do that. It may well have not been an issue to them.....
You can if you can prove it was an issue then. That may not be easy though.
Ozanj · 15/06/2021 20:24

If you’re in London it won’t matter very much because most council owned flats have problems like this. You still have to declare it but it shouldn’t affect the price of your flat too much. You could even sell directly to a Landlord - just talk to local agents to set up specialist viewings.

mumwon · 15/06/2021 20:26

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/problems-where-you-live/complaining-about-your-neighbour/
Ah misread - its a council tenant
Now use the complaint procedure - I had to do this for something completely different (not council housing) & this system does work better & I would also suggest the mp - especially as the neighbour has threatened you & keep a log & record all incidence & those in the past

Babygotblueyes · 15/06/2021 20:38

Who is your councillor? If the local council are not responding, I would be getting them involved. And possibly your MP.

GreyhoundG1rl · 15/06/2021 20:43

You can if you can prove it was an issue then. That may not be easy though.
No, you can't. If they haven't officially declared it as an issue, they have no obligation whatsoever to tell you about it.
Caveat emptor, and all that.

Ostara212 · 15/06/2021 20:47

@amillionrosepetals

The Property Information form asks 2 questions:

Have there been any disputes or complaints regarding this property or a property nearby?

Is the seller aware of anything which might lead to a dispute about the property or a property nearby?

So it isn't just as simple as saying "well I'm not bothered so I don't have to declare it".

If I sold my flat now, the neighbours smoking weed wouldn't occur to me for either question.

Kids shrieking in the corridor - yes. I'll be honest when the time comes and say I've asked them to be quiet a couple of times.

But the weed would not have occurred to me before reading this.

I can only guess the smell is affecting OP more due to the garden or thinner walls or something?

TheRebelle · 15/06/2021 20:54

@Ostara212 it’s great the smell doesn’t bother you but honestly the OP is not being over sensitive here, lots of people find the smell revolting, invasive and unacceptable. Lighting a candle just wouldn’t cut it for me.

GreyhoundG1rl · 15/06/2021 20:56

[quote TheRebelle]@Ostara212 it’s great the smell doesn’t bother you but honestly the OP is not being over sensitive here, lots of people find the smell revolting, invasive and unacceptable. Lighting a candle just wouldn’t cut it for me.[/quote]
No, nor me.

anonymousobserver · 15/06/2021 20:57

Is it Hammersmith and Fulham, OP?

ButYouJustPointedToAIIOfMe · 15/06/2021 21:02

OPs update here

*Updating this thread, partly to get it all off my chest, and partly because it might be useful for anyone going through a similar experience.

The police issued a Community Protection Notice (CPN) in March, after at least three written warnings. It helped that on both occasions when the police visited the house the whole place reeked of weed, so the problem was very clearly evidence-able.

The CPN made not a jot of different, tenants carried as before. I kept a detailed diary of marijuana use, which I submitted to the police on a weekly basis. After a few month a nice police man came and took a sworn statement from me, which was used to 'invite' the tenant to an interview under caution. We're still waiting to see what the outcome of that interview is.

Council have been rather slow and reluctant to do anything, have indicated that they might be willing to serve a letter before action. So I'm also waiting to see what happens there.

Tenants clearly think that smoking bucketloads of skunk all day is completely normal, and can't see why we've got a problem with it - this has led them to conclude that we're maliciously using it as a way of harassing them. They have retaliated with a range of behaviours designed to bully / harass us. We've had name calling, verbal aggression, borderline physical aggression, banging on the party wall, deliberate noise nuisance, and most recently, the removal of all the trellising (and my lovely plants) from the top of our shared fence. (We've managed to evidence quite a lot of this and report it to council and police). So this is turning out to be a bit of a nightmare really.

Recently noticed that our lovely home has had four different owners in ten years - really unusual in an area where family sized homes are in short supply and people tend to hang on to them for several decades. Suspect subsequent owners decided to sell up rather than confront the problem as we have done. Rather wishing that I'd taken this tactic too now.

(PS: I suspect that anyone wondering why I've got a problem with a bit of weed probably hasn't lived in a Victorian terrace next to people hotboxing their house with skunk all day.)*

Staffy1 · 15/06/2021 21:02

[quote TheRebelle]@Ostara212 it’s great the smell doesn’t bother you but honestly the OP is not being over sensitive here, lots of people find the smell revolting, invasive and unacceptable. Lighting a candle just wouldn’t cut it for me.[/quote]
Agreed. It smells like horse crap to me, I wouldn't want to live with that smell.

Ostara212 · 15/06/2021 21:04

[quote TheRebelle]@Ostara212 it’s great the smell doesn’t bother you but honestly the OP is not being over sensitive here, lots of people find the smell revolting, invasive and unacceptable. Lighting a candle just wouldn’t cut it for me.[/quote]
I'm not saying OP is being over sensitive.

I'm suggesting that suing the previous owner is the wrong route to take, for many reasons.

However, I realise now that OP posts aren't highlighted so hopefully she rejected that idea and I just didn't see.

Swipe left for the next trending thread