That house next door....

Sorry to hear this Alie what a problem for you! None of us know what kind of neighbours we are getting do we? Even if they are fine when we first move in, they can sell up and others ie neighbours from hell can move in.I have a friend locally in the same position as you, and the house next door to them goes from bad to worse.Are you wanting to move fairly badly?Most people can't afford to 'take a hit' with the price [anything is saleable at a certain price] but if you want to move nearer to 'the city' in the future, then you won't be able to take a knock down price.I really feel for you.

Cannot imagine how awful and frustrating you must find this situation. I imagine you have taken all the steps you possibly can to resolve things with your neighbours and that must make it even more frustrating. [tea]

Thanks rosesarered - and sympathies with your friend!

I'm not actually in a rush to move from here. I wanted to know where I was at. I do feel that this is the point where I have to do something.
I saw a solicitor at an advice centre yesterday and he thought I should put in a claim via the courts.

The SODC have I think done all they will - except that I am still having an argument with them about my shed which was damaged on the way, and the fact that the clearance has killed a large apple tree next door which has already dropped a fair-sized branch on my hedge......

The other thing I've done recently is go to the bank which is their mortgage lender (found via the Land registry) and told them about the condition their investment is in. No response yet as the info had to be passed on to their mortgage dept.

Anyone got any more ideas, please??

noodles thanks for the tea, delivered while I was writing! yes it's frustrating but now I feel there is no point in waiting around - I have to act.

Having seen your neighbours' property, I'm not surprised at the estate agent's verdict. I agree that the time is ripe to 'see them in court'.

What age is the couple next door? Are they likely to be there "forever"? It is such a difficult situation but you do have ammunition re the work carried out in their garden by the council. I do feel for you

When I went on a visit to a town i used to live in in the mid 1950s the semi which adjoined what was our house was in a dreadful state windows cracked guttering hanging off.
After chatting up a local neighbour in his front garden I discovered that the owner was a retired nurse who had been there from the beginning as our neighbour, she was then in in her 90s and in hospital .

AllieO I think contacting their mortgage company is a good idea, is there anything they can do?

He is under 60 and she is under 45 according to the 192.com site.....don't know if this is up to date. I know very little about them.
The solicitor made a point about their insurance, was it up to date or were they actually insured - mortgage lenders would insist on this I'm told, would their bank tell me?

Nellie I am hoping they will at least investigate!

Oh dear, they are very young. I was thinking that maybe either or both would be pushing up daisies soon but I doubt it.

I cannot see the bank giving you information like that. The mortgage company is the way to go and soon before he finishes paying it.

Have you considered putting a note through the letterbox voicing your concerns or would the note be binned?

Mortgage is I think from 2002.
The solicitor said, write a 'Notice of Claim' to say I would claim...I am considering, but I might put a letter though detailing what is concerning me, while I think about this.....but the only time I really spoke to him he seemed to be on another planet and was completely denying anything was wrong.
I'm not rushing into court! I am in the process of finding out what is possible. I may go to the CAB again, but they were not much help last time.

I also would not rush into court as that could be very expensive. Would you be any better off financially? I doubt it as it would be difficult to extract money from him and also get him to do anything about the house.

I am told it doesn't have to be all that expensive.

One of the things I am thinking about is, what do I want out of this?
Basically I want something done about the way next door looks, so it would be possible to sell my house if I need to - which would be if my health gets worse and I need to be nearer my daughter.

What it has cost me so far is secondary.

It depends how much you want to claim from them. The small claims track is relatively inexpensive.
www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/search.htm?query=Small+claims+track

Perhaps if you threatened to sue them for the loss of value your property has suffered unless they make theirs look presentable, it would galvanise them into action...? [not very hopeful emoticon]

Alie, all my sympathy, what a difficult situation you are in. I had always assumed from the state of the house and garden that you were dealing with an elderly couple no longer coping. I wonder why they bought a house, they sound as if they are more suited to flat living.

Could you afford a consultation with a specialist property lawyer to find out what your options are?

DD is in an ex-council house and the next door house, once occupied by a pleasant elderly woman is now occupied by a problem family, who, similarly, completely neglect the garden. The Council are very good over this, when neighbours complain about the state of the garden or build -up of rubbishe the tenants get threatened with eviction if they do not tidy up the outside and get rid of the rubbish

However, at one point she was affected by the smell of cigarette smoke coming into her house from her neighbours. The council were very unhelpful about this and in the end after much thought she took up bedroom floorboards alongside the party wall and sprayed about six inches of builders foam all along the wall where the joists went into the wall, then replaced the floor boards and that does seem to have solved that problem.

I have discovered that when my house was sold by the council to the people before me, there was a condition attached that the property should be kept decent - which the solicitor I saw confirmed, from my papers, that this condition applies also to the successors in ownership of the house....and presumably the same applies to next door as well, both being ex-council houses. (I had trouble with the legalese!)
Can the council be made to do any more about this?

Thanks for sympathy everybody.
anno it would I think be under 10K. What I don't know is, can the small claims court deal with something coming under 'Private Nuisance'?

Oh lord - there is nothing worse than neighbour problems - you do have all my sympaty.

I don't know, is the answer, Alie. If you can work out how much their lack of care has cost you and send them a 'letter before action' asking for payment, you might be able to convince a judge that this is a legitimate demand. However, that's a bit far-fetched and you would need legal advice.

That would be the 'Letter of Claim', yes?
But yes, I do need more legal advice.....

Oh Alie I really feel for you. There is nothing worse than bad neighbours and the good ones are worth their weight in gold. I can offer nothing but sympathy and hope that someone somewhere can help.

I have no idea how it works, but once I went to look at a house that had had an enforced sale notice on it. The roof was starting to cave in, it was inhabited by a real hermit. Rats and rubbish abounded. It was too far gone for me to be able to cope with the renovations, and although cheap for such a big house I knew we wouldn't be able to afford to fix the roof, let alone the rest. We moved to a smaller one just up the road, and eventually a builder bought it. I felt sorry for the obviously struggling man who lived in it, he only got £85,000 for a huge house 15 years ago, which was barely enough to buy anything at all in that area. But at least he was detached.

I think maybe you should start looking into legal proceedings.

Wasn't there a case about 10 years ago where a reclusive single man in London amused himself by digging tunnels under his house and his neighbours?

Ah, yes, I have found it.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18898642

Gee thanks Flickety....I will consider putting out some small seismometers...