Neighbours garden is horrendous

[Ladyof]

My next door neighbours garden is horrendous, it has always been bad but for the last 6 months its become worse and it now resembles a tip.

She has thrown a wardrobe, washing basket, broken toys, scooters etc all in a heap at the top of the garden and it is such an eyesore.

We might gave to put our house back on the market soon and I worry it will put people off buying it.

Any ideas she is lovely and I dont want to fall out with her so I don't feel like I could mention it to her. Argh.

We absolutely passed on great houses next door to unkempt neighbors. However, with the way the market is right now, you might not have that problem.

Your best bet for getting it cleaned up is probably to offer to do it yourselves. It is a very tricky conversation to start. I doubt your neighbor really wants to have that stuff in her garden, it’s probably back there because of the difficulty and expense of disposing of it properly, but pride is a difficult thing.

Landlords have no control over tenant behaviour, nor should they.

Whilst they have no direct control they can be held liable for tenants behaviour. Landlord have a responsibility to their neighbours. The council can and do take legal action against landlords who refuse to deal with nuisance tenants, usually drug dealers and such like.

Op it might just be easier and faster to offer to clear the rubbish yourself. Another route would be to contact the managing agent/ landlord to issue a warning to the tenant. You’ll likely not get very far with this latter option as in most cases, it’s only on checking out of a property that it is mandatory that the garden is returned to its original condition.

aSofaNearYou there will be rodents. Yes I agree I could have phrased it better - I was going out and wrote it quickly. Speaking from experience, if there’s rubbish there are more rodents. If it is a complete mess, you will quickly be overrun. I don’t know how much of a mess is a mess but environmental health caught over a hundred from a garden ‘in a state’ from us. You could see them running happily about in the daytime by this stage though.

I wondered if this was me! My pile of stuff is slightly different though so I don't think so...

My garden is a similar state (reflecting the general stats of my life at the moment tbh).

I have ADHD and am really struggling to keep on top of stuff. On a practical level, I don't drive so can't easily get it to the tip.

I lack family and friends locally who can help me make a plan to tackle this stuff or offer practical help (e.g. lifts to the tip) and I'm drowning right now.

If you were my neighbour, and said, kindly, that you're selling and the estate agent has said the stuff in the garden might put off buyers and would it be OK if you gave me a hand taking the stuff to the tip, and that you could use your car to do it, I'd be delighted.

In fact, I'd want to kiss you if you said this! I'd be so pleased of the help. I hate the stuff being in my garden too, but I'm so overwhelmed with stuff at the moment, my whole life is a list of urgent and overdue stuff competing for my urgent attention and the ADHD really isn't helping.

You said she's lovely, so my advice is put on your big girl pants and talk to her. If she takes it badly - well fuck it, you're moving anyway, right? But I bet chances are, you'd be doing her a big favour if you offered to help.

Either accept that it's there,and that you will be looking for buyers who won't mind ( and you can emphasise how lovely she is) or do what a previous poster suggested - tell her you are worried it will affect your ability to sell,and offer to do it for her,making it clear that you are doing it for you,not bothered about time/ paying for hippo bag etc,as its for your benefit,as it may be cost that is stopping her from dealing with it now.
Or she may not be bothered.People can have junk in their gardens,just like they can concrete or deck them over,or have a barren patch of grass ( much less appealing than a normal garden with a dead wardrobe and some scooters in it )

Fly tipping on your own land is illegal, we had this without neighbours. In the end the council rat man (who I’d also got in as we and they had a rat run) reported them to the council for antisocial behaviour as I wasn’t comfortable doing it. They were given a date by which they had to clear it up, and got a man with a van to do it (or most of it...)

I'd be very careful tbh. My parents had a similar issue and got on pretty well with next door. But a polite request that they consider getting rid of some of the old car parts and broken freezers made them take great offence and started a years long battle of wills. Next door took delight in using their garden to store more and more crap and my parents despaired of ever selling.

Paying for a skip yourself and persuading her to chuck it all in may be your best option here, even if if grates that the cost comes out of your pocket.

neighbour is not a drug dealer. And it is the council that make dealing with such low-lifes so difficult (believe me, I know!)

as repeatedly stated, with evictions banned at the moment there is NOTHING, REPEAT NOTHING any landlord can legally do about a nuisance tenant.

MN hard of reading disclaimer - not suggesting OP's neighbour is a nuisance tenant.

Hi he end of our garden is a state at the moment, it’s utterly embarrassing. I put it there having a clear out, then all the recycling centres shut last year. Then I was pregnant and really sick, and now have a newborn and post c section. My DH is hopeless (utterly fucking hopeless) at anything garden/tip related. He’s shifted a quarter of it (I nagged daily for 2 months and got my brother to help him) and he hasn’t bothered since. We can’t afford a skip or a man with a van.

It is so utterly embarrassing, I’m mortified by the state of it. I’d kiss anyone who offered to help me with it tbh!

Yes I am the same as several recent posters, I have a bit of a pile at the back of my garden that we were going to take to the tip just before they all shut, now it's all still there .I absolutely hate it but have a busy life with a toddler and just haven't been able to prioritise it. I would be very grateful if someone offered a solution for me and wasn't rude about it, it's not like I want it there.

That said, you probably do need to tread carefully because I can imagine some people getting their backs up if you didn't come across right.

Toddlers love a junk tip. So long as it's not too hazardous (and nothing sharp and pointy), it keeps them busy for ages. Old laundry baskets and bike wheels especially.

It's none of your business how her garden looks like, I think you're just being horrible and mean spirited about it. I'm glad, I haven't got a busybody like you living next door, quite surprised your neighbour is being friendly.

I'd avoid the enviromental health route, as you would most likely have to declare it when selling.

As above the best solution is just the power of persuasion and a concrete solution, offer to pay for a skip and a (wo)man in a van.

@Zandathepanda

Report rats to the council? Or to her? Even if there aren’t many, the thoughts of rats may make her take action.

Apart from being untrue, that is also something you have to declare as a seller. As soon as any sort of grievance or complaint or neighbour issue has been formalised in writing then it has to go on the seller declaration about the property. So if the eyesore of rubbish does not put off any buyer, the fact of alleged rats will, or indeed any other sort of written complaint or request in the last, I think, three years. Silly idea.

How is it not her business if she looks out on it every day and it can affect her ability to sell/move on/the price she could sell for which in turn could affect where she can live?

I don't get how it isn't her business if it's the next door garden and very visible. If I dumped a load of stuff outside I'd expect someone to ask me to move it!

MrMucker as I said previously, I have no idea how bad the garden is. I was speaking from personal experience. There will be rodents. There are everywhere. If the garden is that bad, it won’t be long til they will start to appear during the day.
For instance, I know one landlord who ended up burning the whole garden and rubbish in a desperate attempt to get rid of them.
Maybe rodents are on my mind as I woke up literally face to face with a live field mouse last week! After several circuits of the bedroom, Dh managed to catch it in his hands and set it free! Very impressed! He didn’t half squeal though (mouse not Dh)!

@skybluee

How is it not her business if she looks out on it every day and it can affect her ability to sell/move on/the price she could sell for which in turn could affect where she can live?

I don't get how it isn't her business if it's the next door garden and very visible. If I dumped a load of stuff outside I'd expect someone to ask me to move it!

Precisely because it’s the next door garden, not her garden, is why it’s not her business.

It’s not her property. She’s got no ‘right’ to an unspoiled view.

I feel for you. My neighbours have a cluttered shit tip for a garden and it gets me down.

A messy wild garden would be lovely. It pisses me off they prioritise alcohol over spending a weekend turning their garden into a garden. They have a car and work and own their house. The only thing they could do to make me hate them more is to put plastic grass down.

It sounds like you have nothing to lose by chatting to her about the state of her garden. You're minded to move if she doesn't sort it; if she reacts badly, you'll be extra motivated to move due to soured relations.

So she was always messy but now worse -- maybe something bad has happened to make her become more disorganised.

You need to have a really clear picture in your head what you want to happen & what support you can give to help make it happen. I could imagine owning the 'problem' by saying you are the one who likes tidiness and seeing her untidy garden is getting you down. You would be willing to help her tidy it if she would let you help. The support you give may be a lot more than physical, be ready for that.

Thanks for some great ideas guys.

I'm not even rising to the dam right rude ones such as @sharlashanti !!!

Our neighbour the otherside is also gutted about how it looks now, she doesnt work so it certainly isn't lack of time and she has a car, the wardrobes are broken down and it would all fit in their car.

I will definitely tread carefully as we get on well and although it is awful to look at I wouldnt want to upset her.

Thanks again x

Could you ask if you can have the wardrobes for firewood? Then take to the tip?

Ha I've been on the other side of this. Moved into an HA property 3 years ago after the breakdown of my marriage so single mum with two SEN children. Garden was a bloody disaster when I moved in and within two weeks I was threatened with an ASBO because the neighbour didn't like the view.
I swiftly told the HA where they could shove it and explained that two weeks was a ridiculous time frame to expect the mess I inherited to be sorted! I told the neighbour that complained that if they were that bothered they should have offered help not tried to get me slapped with an ASBO.
So yeah whatever you do, don't be a dick and don't do what a stupid pp said about making up a story about rats ffs!!
Ask if she needs help.

It's not your neighbours job to maximize the price you get for your property. She pays rent if it's not a health hazard it's none of your business.

not stupid just realistic and have experience. My story: I helped take care of an elderly person who was not well and their neighbours were complaining about the mess. However the council weren’t bothered about neighbours complaining until one mentioned to me they saw a rat, then I telephoned the council who immediately took notice. We obviously could see the rubbish but it was only when we went into the very back of the garden we realised about the rodent problem. The council were kind to the person living there, as were the landlord, as they were clearly unwell. In the meantime we saw a few rats but loads and loads were found when the council came round to assess. The elderly person, faced with evidence, allowed us to clear some stuff that had been building up for years. The council and landlord helped. In fact this started the ball rolling to get this person some more help. In they hadn’t found evidence of rats the council may have left the rubbish? The landlord wouldn’t have bothered helping out.

It does sound like it hasn’t got this far in this case so I will bow out now. I am not trying to offend, just speaking from how we got things sorted.

I’m so glad I don’t live near half the posters on this thread. What unneighbourly selfish opinions. Op - you have my sympathy. Offer to pay for the rubbish removal and offer help. I think you won’t get buyers. Why would anyone want to look at the mess when they can buy elsewhere?