Nightmare Neigbour - Can the landlord be forced to evict?
Discussion
We live in an end terrace house, next door is privately rented to a single female who has lived there for about two years. She has been a bit problematic from the start however over recent months her behaviour has escalated. This includes-
A frequent strong smell of cannabis coming into our house including out 3 year olds room.
Noise nuisance at all hours including randomly turning music on at 2am at full blast for about 5 minutes and then switching it off again.
Throwing litter into our garden (have this on cctv)
Her guests littering the street (have this on cctv)
Shouting sexualised verbal abuse at my wife and I, including such terms as "paedophile", "kid f@@ker", "you have no penis" etc etc
Making posts on a local facebook page giving my address and stating that we were child abusers.
Guests to her house have previously threatened to "cut up" and have swore at my wife whilst she has had the baby in her push chair.
Making bogus police reports of harassment against us because my wife politely asked her to stop smoking cannabis in the house.
Having tried to ignore her antics for the sake of a quiet life we have now reached the end of our tethers. We have reported the criminal matters to the police and the noise issues to the council. Our neighbour was arrested a few weeks ago for harassment and malicious communications offences against me and is currently on conditional bail. I have no confidence in the local police and the council to resolve the situation and my neighbour is impossible to speak to or reason with in a sensible manner.
we have previously contacted her landlord regarding the issues and after initially fobbing us off he now ignores emails.
Whilst I am familiar with criminal law, is there anything that could be done under civil law to force the landlord to evict her? I know he has the power to do so as a result of her anti social behaviour under section 8 of the housing act but he seems to have no will to do this.
This has now got to the point where it is causing serious upset to my wife and I am absolutely fed up. We love our house but are now thinking of selling, but who would buy it with such a neighbour?
A frequent strong smell of cannabis coming into our house including out 3 year olds room.
Noise nuisance at all hours including randomly turning music on at 2am at full blast for about 5 minutes and then switching it off again.
Throwing litter into our garden (have this on cctv)
Her guests littering the street (have this on cctv)
Shouting sexualised verbal abuse at my wife and I, including such terms as "paedophile", "kid f@@ker", "you have no penis" etc etc
Making posts on a local facebook page giving my address and stating that we were child abusers.
Guests to her house have previously threatened to "cut up" and have swore at my wife whilst she has had the baby in her push chair.
Making bogus police reports of harassment against us because my wife politely asked her to stop smoking cannabis in the house.
Having tried to ignore her antics for the sake of a quiet life we have now reached the end of our tethers. We have reported the criminal matters to the police and the noise issues to the council. Our neighbour was arrested a few weeks ago for harassment and malicious communications offences against me and is currently on conditional bail. I have no confidence in the local police and the council to resolve the situation and my neighbour is impossible to speak to or reason with in a sensible manner.
we have previously contacted her landlord regarding the issues and after initially fobbing us off he now ignores emails.
Whilst I am familiar with criminal law, is there anything that could be done under civil law to force the landlord to evict her? I know he has the power to do so as a result of her anti social behaviour under section 8 of the housing act but he seems to have no will to do this.
This has now got to the point where it is causing serious upset to my wife and I am absolutely fed up. We love our house but are now thinking of selling, but who would buy it with such a neighbour?
- *No suggestions of sending the boys around either, not really an option given my occupation**
Just running out of the door so can’t reply in detail - but when tenants were taking illegal substances in one of my properties I was contacted by the police and was told I had a responsibility to act.
http://www.drugsandhousing.co.uk/Tenants%20and%20D...
http://www.drugsandhousing.co.uk/Tenants%20and%20D...
The short answer is 'no', in respect of the fact that the OP, a third party, cannot force his neighbour's landlord to take action in relation to an alleged breach of an assumed tenancy agreement. There are things that can be done in terms of complaints to the relevant bodies, e.g. the police, but don't expect anything to happen quickly, or indeed at all.
You've reported it to the police and they have acted. She's on conditional bail. You've reported to the council, you'll need to keep a diary of noise nuisance for them.
Not sure you have any right to ask someone to stop doing something in the privacy of their own house.
I'm also not sure what else you expect to be done. Just because you have fallen out with your neighbour and things have become antagonistic between you, is hardly the fault of the landlord or the police or council.
I understand it's far from ideal, but she didn't just fall out with you did she? She obviously took exception to how something was handled in the past and it has now escalated. The landlord isn't going to lift a finger because you are now a nuisance to them. As long as they are getting the rent, they won't care. The council won't support an eviction because the tenant then becomes their problem.
You have my sympathy, but there is no easy answer.
Not sure you have any right to ask someone to stop doing something in the privacy of their own house.
I'm also not sure what else you expect to be done. Just because you have fallen out with your neighbour and things have become antagonistic between you, is hardly the fault of the landlord or the police or council.
I understand it's far from ideal, but she didn't just fall out with you did she? She obviously took exception to how something was handled in the past and it has now escalated. The landlord isn't going to lift a finger because you are now a nuisance to them. As long as they are getting the rent, they won't care. The council won't support an eviction because the tenant then becomes their problem.
You have my sympathy, but there is no easy answer.
Jordie Barretts sock said:
You've reported it to the police and they have acted. She's on conditional bail. You've reported to the council, you'll need to keep a diary of noise nuisance for them.
Not sure you have any right to ask someone to stop doing something in the privacy of their own house.
I'm also not sure what else you expect to be done. Just because you have fallen out with your neighbour and things have become antagonistic between you, is hardly the fault of the landlord or the police or council.
I understand it's far from ideal, but she didn't just fall out with you did she? She obviously took exception to how something was handled in the past and it has now escalated. The landlord isn't going to lift a finger because you are now a nuisance to them. As long as they are getting the rent, they won't care. The council won't support an eviction because the tenant then becomes their problem.
You have my sympathy, but there is no easy answer.
I haven't fell out with anyone, I have never had a conversation with the lady and have no wish to do so. Things have not become antagonistic between us, we do absolutely nothing to her and would rather just have a quiet life but her behaviour is now so bad that it cannot be ignored any longer. She has committed criminal offences against us and I have CCTV and audio evidence of these offences I just have no confidence that they will be dealt with properly. Not sure you have any right to ask someone to stop doing something in the privacy of their own house.
I'm also not sure what else you expect to be done. Just because you have fallen out with your neighbour and things have become antagonistic between you, is hardly the fault of the landlord or the police or council.
I understand it's far from ideal, but she didn't just fall out with you did she? She obviously took exception to how something was handled in the past and it has now escalated. The landlord isn't going to lift a finger because you are now a nuisance to them. As long as they are getting the rent, they won't care. The council won't support an eviction because the tenant then becomes their problem.
You have my sympathy, but there is no easy answer.
Is it not reasonable to politely ask someone to stop doing something illegal that is impacting on your family?
Jordie Barretts sock said:
I understand it's far from ideal, but she didn't just fall out with you did she? She obviously took exception to how something was handled in the past and it has now escalated. The landlord isn't going to lift a finger because you are now a nuisance to them. As long as they are getting the rent, they won't care. The council won't support an eviction because the tenant then becomes their problem.
You have my sympathy, but there is no easy answer.
Count yourself lucky you have never met a proper nutter in your adult life You have my sympathy, but there is no easy answer.
There are people out there who see polite requests as grounds for a fight (physically or figuratively), and will immediately go thermonuclear (i.e. full-on doxing with accusations of noncery) to try and win that fight. I've seen it (albeit without the accusations of nonceing), fortunately she acted that way to literally everyone in the street so everyone just ignored her. Sometimes people are like this because they have mental health issues, more often they are just a
holes.OP, the latter part of this post is an angle you could try - "she's bound to end up sectioned or in prison eventually, wouldn't it be better to have new tenants in who aren't going to do that?".
Jordie Barretts sock said:
You've reported it to the police and they have acted. She's on conditional bail. You've reported to the council, you'll need to keep a diary of noise nuisance for them.
Not sure you have any right to ask someone to stop doing something in the privacy of their own house.
I'm also not sure what else you expect to be done. Just because you have fallen out with your neighbour and things have become antagonistic between you, is hardly the fault of the landlord or the police or council.
I understand it's far from ideal, but she didn't just fall out with you did she? She obviously took exception to how something was handled in the past and it has now escalated. The landlord isn't going to lift a finger because you are now a nuisance to them. As long as they are getting the rent, they won't care. The council won't support an eviction because the tenant then becomes their problem.
You have my sympathy, but there is no easy answer.
You seem to be making a lot of assumptions on what's going on in the background here. What are you basing them on? Not sure you have any right to ask someone to stop doing something in the privacy of their own house.
I'm also not sure what else you expect to be done. Just because you have fallen out with your neighbour and things have become antagonistic between you, is hardly the fault of the landlord or the police or council.
I understand it's far from ideal, but she didn't just fall out with you did she? She obviously took exception to how something was handled in the past and it has now escalated. The landlord isn't going to lift a finger because you are now a nuisance to them. As long as they are getting the rent, they won't care. The council won't support an eviction because the tenant then becomes their problem.
You have my sympathy, but there is no easy answer.
I had a complaint about a tenant a few years ago with regard to illegal substances. I had every reason to believe what was said, based on having a long standing decent relationship with the neighbour giving me the heads up, and the fact that said neighbour knew I would want to be informed of anything that would be of detriment to those potentially affected. The property in question was in Newcastle, in a complex that I live in.
I was working away in Southampton at the time. As a landlord, I value my property and my neighbours right to a life that isn't made unreasonable by those I've allowed to live near them, seriously enough that I flew back to Newcastle and dealt with the situation to the satisfaction of all concerned. Landlords get a bad rap for all kinds of reasons, don't assume they're all the same.
donkmeister said:
Count yourself lucky you have never met a proper nutter in your adult life There are people out there who see polite requests as grounds for a fight (physically or figuratively), and will immediately go thermonuclear (i.e. full-on doxing with accusations of noncery) to try and win that fight. I've seen it (albeit without the accusations of nonceing), fortunately she acted that way to literally everyone in the street so everyone just ignored her. Sometimes people are like this because they have mental health issues, more often they are just aholes.
OP, the latter part of this post is an angle you could try - "she's bound to end up sectioned or in prison eventually, wouldn't it be better to have new tenants in who aren't going to do that?".
Oddly enough when the wife asked her to refrain from the cannabis her response was to ask if my wife and her man (me) wanted to have a fight with her and her man in the field at the back of our house to sort things out. There are people out there who see polite requests as grounds for a fight (physically or figuratively), and will immediately go thermonuclear (i.e. full-on doxing with accusations of noncery) to try and win that fight. I've seen it (albeit without the accusations of nonceing), fortunately she acted that way to literally everyone in the street so everyone just ignored her. Sometimes people are like this because they have mental health issues, more often they are just aholes.OP, the latter part of this post is an angle you could try - "she's bound to end up sectioned or in prison eventually, wouldn't it be better to have new tenants in who aren't going to do that?".
Her background is that she is a member of a certain community who like to sort things out with straighteners of the bare knuckle variety. I have no idea why she no longer lives as part of that community.
I'm making no assumptions. The OP has stated the neighbour is on conditional bail. Therefore something is being done/has been done. The noise nuisance has been reported.
I find it very odd that someone would randomly start calling "sexualised abuse" without provocation and we are only getting one side of the story here. If you believe the OP 100% then this neighbour is certifiable. Obviously they are going to paint their side of the story as black as possible, but there's more to this, surely?
What about the neighbour on the other side? Are they getting the same verbal attacks, litter in the garden?
And lastly, littering the street, whilst disgusting is hardly the OP's responsibility is it?
I find it very odd that someone would randomly start calling "sexualised abuse" without provocation and we are only getting one side of the story here. If you believe the OP 100% then this neighbour is certifiable. Obviously they are going to paint their side of the story as black as possible, but there's more to this, surely?
What about the neighbour on the other side? Are they getting the same verbal attacks, litter in the garden?
And lastly, littering the street, whilst disgusting is hardly the OP's responsibility is it?
Jordie Barretts sock said:
I'm making no assumptions. The OP has stated the neighbour is on conditional bail. Therefore something is being done/has been done. The noise nuisance has been reported.
I find it very odd that someone would randomly start calling "sexualised abuse" without provocation and we are only getting one side of the story here. If you believe the OP 100% then this neighbour is certifiable. Obviously they are going to paint their side of the story as black as possible, but there's more to this, surely?
What about the neighbour on the other side? Are they getting the same verbal attacks, litter in the garden?
And lastly, littering the street, whilst disgusting is hardly the OP's responsibility is it?
If her guests are littering the street its anti social behaviour linked directly to her property so it is relevant.I find it very odd that someone would randomly start calling "sexualised abuse" without provocation and we are only getting one side of the story here. If you believe the OP 100% then this neighbour is certifiable. Obviously they are going to paint their side of the story as black as possible, but there's more to this, surely?
What about the neighbour on the other side? Are they getting the same verbal attacks, litter in the garden?
And lastly, littering the street, whilst disgusting is hardly the OP's responsibility is it?
The neighbour on the other side has only recently moved in, he is a tenant of the same landlord, oddly enough he is the 3rd tenant of that house since my neighbour arrived. Never had an issue with any of them to be honest, they all seem like normal sensible human beings.
See? I said there was more to this and already you have told us she's a member of the caravan and lucky heather enthusiasts club.
All you can do is keep a diary of all the actions against you. I'm not sure why you have no faith in any action being taken, it's already started. She's on conditional bail. Or were you expecting her to be immediately evicted? Surely you know these processes take months and months and months. There was a thread on here in the last few years about how long it took a landlord to evict tenants. And that was a landlord who wanted them out.
All you can do is keep a diary of all the actions against you. I'm not sure why you have no faith in any action being taken, it's already started. She's on conditional bail. Or were you expecting her to be immediately evicted? Surely you know these processes take months and months and months. There was a thread on here in the last few years about how long it took a landlord to evict tenants. And that was a landlord who wanted them out.
ED209 said:
donkmeister said:
Count yourself lucky you have never met a proper nutter in your adult life There are people out there who see polite requests as grounds for a fight (physically or figuratively), and will immediately go thermonuclear (i.e. full-on doxing with accusations of noncery) to try and win that fight. I've seen it (albeit without the accusations of nonceing), fortunately she acted that way to literally everyone in the street so everyone just ignored her. Sometimes people are like this because they have mental health issues, more often they are just aholes.
OP, the latter part of this post is an angle you could try - "she's bound to end up sectioned or in prison eventually, wouldn't it be better to have new tenants in who aren't going to do that?".
Oddly enough when the wife asked her to refrain from the cannabis her response was to ask if my wife and her man (me) wanted to have a fight with her and her man in the field at the back of our house to sort things out. There are people out there who see polite requests as grounds for a fight (physically or figuratively), and will immediately go thermonuclear (i.e. full-on doxing with accusations of noncery) to try and win that fight. I've seen it (albeit without the accusations of nonceing), fortunately she acted that way to literally everyone in the street so everyone just ignored her. Sometimes people are like this because they have mental health issues, more often they are just aholes.OP, the latter part of this post is an angle you could try - "she's bound to end up sectioned or in prison eventually, wouldn't it be better to have new tenants in who aren't going to do that?".
Her background is that she is a member of a certain community who like to sort things out with straighteners of the bare knuckle variety. I have no idea why she no longer lives as part of that community.
Have a look at Community Trigger, apparently it can be quite a powerful tool. This site has a link to the details for each LA:
https://asbhelp.co.uk/community-trigger/
I'd wait until the current bail/police issue is completed though, since at the moment they will just say that everything seems to be working ok!
https://asbhelp.co.uk/community-trigger/
I'd wait until the current bail/police issue is completed though, since at the moment they will just say that everything seems to be working ok!
Missy Charm said:
Sheepshanks said:
Jordie Barretts sock said:
Not sure you have any right to ask someone to stop doing something in the privacy of their own house.
It's not her own house.Missy Charm said:
Sheepshanks said:
Jordie Barretts sock said:
Not sure you have any right to ask someone to stop doing something in the privacy of their own house.
It's not her own house.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff