Neighbour died and home has not been cleaned since

[Frogponder]

Our elderly next door neighbour who lived alone died last month.

We and other neighbours noticed we hadn’t seen him about and his lights were on all night so we called the police who sent in a paramedic who found him. They took the body and told us he’d died a week earlier, which was shocking and sad.

Since then nobody seems to have been into the property, and we’re getting worried about rotting food, flies, rodents etc.

Another neighbour has written to the council and put a letter through the letterbox for the Executor (hoping there is one).

That neighbour is now suggesting we could all go in and just clear out the rotting food ourselves as the back door is unlocked.

Though this would be the quickest way to prevent a possible pest problem my instinct is that we should not go in, it would be trespassing (and unpleasant) and should be dealt with by the council. But the council may not deal with it quickly as they are over-stretched.

Any advice?

It doesn't. But there are a lot of posters on this site trawling the boards for an opportunity to put the boot into someone. Don't take it personally, you sound like a good neighbour x

What horrid people you are.

I wouldn't go in but I think the example of contacting your local councillor is a good one. They'd be able to find out if someone at the local council is going to be left to organise clearance. If their needs to be a post mortem or inquest I can't imagine it being cleared before that.

Are you saying that your friend's daughter waited nearly two months before entering her late mother's house?

Surely this isn't usual?

Going against the grain here … but I think that as a neighbour who knew him quite well and was trusted and invited into the house to help out sometimes this would not be unreasonable.
Will you go to the funeral OP?

I wouldn't have thought so. I certainly wouldn't be waiting that long. My mother would be turning in her grave to think of washing up undone and milk going off in the fridge!

This poor man was laying dead in his home for a week before he was found - the house will (in the nicest way) be incredibly unpleasant and will require specialist cleaning teams - not well-meaning neighbours.

The coroner will organise everything. Leave it alone. You would be breaking and entering.

How the fuck would his family feel? We would have been very grateful - because I can assure you, going into a house where someone had lain dead for a while is not a nice thing to do. If my dad’s neighbours had gone in before us and cleaned the food so we didn’t have to deal with the flies and maggots then we would have thanked them profusely.

My mum died and was un contactable this time of year. She had possibly been dead a week before I got the police to check her. There's was nothing disgusting to see. Smell of death yes. Gore no. Flies no.

Police secured the property and billed us.

Also there was a recluse living in our road who hadn't been seen for weeks. I didn't notice because in three years I'd had never seen him even once. I never saw or met him or caught a glimpse since we moved in. I never saw his car move. He ignore us when we put notes through his door for our extension and tree cutting. His gardener was contacted by another neighbour when they noticed the garden was getting wild. It was summer. He had been dead over a month. Maybe two or more. The police dealt with the body and the house was cleared about 18 months later. No vermin and no flies.

It was broken into once word got around. But that was years later.

Yes.

Poor neighbour was dead for a week but if food might be rotting everyone in the street is desperate to get in there.

Good point.

The legal position will depend on the jurisdiction but 'breaking and entering' isn't a crime in England at least.

As others have said, just leave it alone. If no family are forthcoming there may be legal issues determining who is now in charge of the property. Or there may be family who aren't local who have to say work out a time they can take off work and take the kids out of school to have time to come over from abroad. You don't know what the state the property is is and what cleaning is needed and it isn't your business to do anything.

Realistically speaking how much food would an elderly man who lived alone have in his house? I can't imagine it would be enough for any kind of concern. Elderly people aren't exact known for their huge appetites. It's really a non issue.

You're being dramatic! Most food will be sealed in the fridge. A few apples or bananas or a loaf of bread out aren't going to cause a neighborhood 'vermin' infestation. Even if a mouse and a few flies are in there it won't affect anyone else.

Even if the home isn't unpleasant, we don't know the cause of death, whether it's being treated as suspicious or whether the police need to do further investigations. Going into the property uninvited is just not a good idea.

💯 no one noticed the poor man was dead, but now they're concerned with a few rotten bananas 🤨

If the door is unlocked you're not committing a crime. If you go in and empty the fridge and any inside rubbish bags and switch off any sockets.

Yes they are. If they remove anything, it is still technically theft.

The property should be secure. However you know it isn't you should contact the local police through an email.or 101.
Squatters are a bigger problem than flies.

Do not go in.
They may be appealing for next of kin.

They shouldn't go and disturb anything - we don't know if the police need to do further investigations or whether the death is being treated as suspicious.

Blimey, some of the responses on here are way over the top! When my neighbour’s dog barked all night, we knew something had happened to her. We were close but despite this, we still called the police to come in case someone needed to break in. Her German shepherd was a big girl and very intimidating for the police officer! Luckily i accompanied him and just shoved a handful of treats in her gob. The neighbour had had a stroke so the paramedics took her away and I used her phone to contact her ds to come and secure the property.

Removing perishable food from the kitchen and putting it in the bin would be unlikely to qualify as theft under Section 1(b) of the Theft Act 1968. In any case, the CPS would need to conclude that it was in the public interest to pursue a conviction for throwing out a half-empty box of porridge oats without the permission of the executors.

I'd contact the police and report that the back door is unlocked so property is insecure. And leave it at that.

Hopefully that will stop your other overly invested neighbour from going in.

Also, since he died alone without being seen by a doctor the house is potentially a crime scene until post mortem done, so do not go in!!

Although if there was any real suspicion of there being a crime there would be blue tape, but the principle still applies, leave well alone.

There are countries where it would be normal for neighbours to help to this extent, but the UK is not one of them.

Also, I would hate the idea that neighbours (even friendly ones) were in my house after I'd died seeing how I lived and checking my food!