How Big a Problem Are Problem Neighbours?

Neighbours moved in 5 years ago and never spoke when i said hello or good morning.I felt they wanted to keep themselves to themselves and left it. I had put a perimeter fence all around garden and they painted their side with pale paint which ran through the panels and so i had to repaint my side.There was agap in the fence and their child would chat to my child through the gap and he was screemed at and told to not talk to my child.When a ball came over my fence i heard the parent say "we dont want it back we might get covid"When they had a second child they gave her the same name as my child which i find really bizarre.They have purchased identical garden furniture.They have same wallpaper (can see from window) same plants put into garden.They park across bottom of my drive even though there is space for 2 cars on their drive. They have a reguar visitor who reversed into my car in an attempt to get as close to the house as possible, raising my car off the ground and snapping reg plate in half. When i asked if they could pull forward to look at damage they became aggressive and swore at me twice,They spit when they see my children, the man urinates and baths in his bathroom without pulling down his bathroom blind which is clearly visible when we are in the garden, he looks and waves!

From my experience, past and present the problem with neighbours is always down to the same areas, a lack of awareness of their own actions and how they affect others, a lack of respect for others and their property and cars and a lack of self respect in general. Where I live we have landlords buying houses and renting them out to absolute morons, if you watch a film called idiocracy, 2006 Google and you’ll understand the level of people we now get. How can I improve the situation I am in? for starters you cannot argue with stupid people, Secondly most stupid people will resort to violence, threat of violence, intimidation or vandalism, it’s best to say nothing at all avoid any confrontation do not challenge them. Say hello and keep civil to avoid suspicion, but report them to every authority body you can, do not report to the landlord as they have been known to share the complainants details with the person. This will then come back on you. If you have a family kids and a partner if you confront the neighbours it puts them at risk too so think before you act. And remember in your head your “rocky” most fights never play out like this and you can get hurt. Be vigilant and covert.

Neighbour moved in next door from building next upstairs,it's became terrible,had this loud friend the visited all the time,was very familiar and loud,nearly a year ago she had her move in utter terrible,but l journled it all,now turned living room in to a bedroom,have their bed right against where my sofa sits,l sit on it occasionally all l get is she is sitting there wish she would move,lve have been called bitch a lot,for months it's been Hutton my surname,it's affecting me,stay in bedroom 24/7 have heard other things,she is a woman same age as me 67 and the other one is early forties had enough of them act like two bad teenagers

My next door neighbours rear garden has always been a bit unkempt but since having building works done a year ago it looks like someone has fly tipped there! There's part of the old kitchen,sofa,carpet, inflatable hot tub and piles of general detritus and rubble. What's left of the lawn is growing very quickly with no effort to control it . It doesn't look like he's going to clean up any time soon and it's only a matter of time before they have rats and such. To compound the problem his soffits and facias are dangerously rotten and we are worried they may come down onto our property and cars. He's an arrogant, aggressive little tw-- so no one in our once friendly street will attempt to approach him.

I have rough neighbours renting a house next door to me in Maidstone, Kent, the man has a big, leased car that takes up two spaces. We paid to turn our front garden into a driveway as I never got a parking space as his car was always in front of my house. The woman's Dad lives 5 minutes walk around the corner, but he always drives to the house next door, (he isn't disabled, as he works as a part-time cleaner). He parks in front of my dropped kerb and blocks my driveway so that I cannot park my car onto my driveway when I get back in the garages. The other week I was waiting for my in-laws to turn up who were going to park on my driveway, but this man came along and park across, I asked him if he was dropping something off or parking there, and he started shouting at me "I will park wherever I want, if I want to park across your driveway all day then I will", he then walked up the path of his daughter's rented house shouting "I pay my road tax, I pay my road tax", I called him a few swear words after this. In the evening I had the daughter (who is around 45 and overweight) and her husband (nearly 70) shouting and screaming at me that I dared to swear at her dad. The man threatened me twice, I was quite calm about it as I have a Ring doorbell and a security camera on my house, which recorded their disgusting behaviour, I have since given some of the recording from the Ring doorbell to their landlord. Whether this will do any good or not who knows, I also reported it to the police and the local councillor.

If you want to avoid problem neighbours.....never buy next to asians. Indian... Pakistani... Bangladeshi Just avoid like the plague The noise and the entitlement will ruin the enjoyment of your property and they nearly always overextend if they have the money to move several different generations of their family in...and they don't care how it impacts you at all

Lived in a terrace, had to make a noise complaint (after talking to them nicely and then not stopping the noise) she was school deputy head, her son in met police, they had family on other side of us, 3 yrs nasty harassment from both sides because of noise complaint, health got so bad through stress, scraped together everything we had to buy a detached, so imagine my horror when new neighbours all winter let alone summer in garden until 4am lighting smelly fires all night, talking loudly, always people staying over, woman in day treats her children so badly I wonder whether to call child support services. Other side so deaf and lives at night, tv so loud that even with windows closed, even though detached and my bedroom not near his side, i hear his tv in my room!so depressed at my bad luck and feel cursed I'm beginning to feel suicidal, they are on my mind constantly that it has become a fear, and a dread in our new home that we spent every last penny on. Why are people so selfish?

We have horrible neighbours that moved in to us. The mother who previously lived there was awful as well. The daughter is frequently drunk and staggering all over the place. Just 17 going on 70. She gossips and slags me off and also upsets my mother who is 80 and in poor health. We tried to be accommodating but unfortunately the bad feeling is such that we just don't want anything to do with them now. She's a nightmare to deal with. Her partner drink drives. We caught it on our CCTV and reported it to the local police. I also had to request a harassment warning be sent to the partner who was staggering and when drunk is abusive to me. They tried to get me convicted for harassment when the partner is like 20st 7 Both are clearly mentally ill. They said the same about me. But let them carry on. I had damage done to my car and after all the behaviour. She abused me when drunk we have it on CCTV from August and again the incident of November where I was alleged to have sworn and did no such thing. We have her builders approaching our delivery driver and our neighbour trying to slag us when they had no business doing so because she can't help herselves. I had to report it as a harassment claim. The builders have since not come back. We have camera's as we don't feel safe living next door to a bipolar woman with alcohol issues and her frequently mentally ill partner. We have had letters for debt sent to us. They started piling for their extension when I had exams. Just cannot stand them.It's really horrible having neighbours like that. And given what Pete says there are two sides to a story. Our next door neighbour is ugly and sounds like a man. He looks like a sumo but both are very passive aggressive feigning the victim. Unfortunately we have it all on camera for nearly a year their behaviour.

I have a very sad woman next door, who constantly causes trouble and lies all the time. All the above things are included. I think she must be deranged, lonely and unloved because she has few friends or callers. Why she gets pleasure from trouble is a puzzle what with these covid times you think she'd have other things on her mind? Her life is empty- no holidays - no outings - no chores by the looks of it, she doesn't seem to have much in her life except malice which makes her a very sad creature. As for her soul, what soul? Some people are just washed out humans with no hope. Maybe it's her looks, the lack of, I just don't really know! To everyone else be strong. The authorities have completely let down the people when it comes to dealing with this sort of thing, and that's worrying in a democracy.

@Feeling powerless. I sympathize some people are just selfish.I'd never want to upset my neighbours and luckily either side are lovely . But newish neighbours opposite have the ..it's my house, my garden I'll do what I like attitude.Had to hear her singing and screeching to bon Jovi and meatloaf and her voice is grating at best of times. My children had to sleep in my bed and now I have to swap rooms so I can put them to bed at a reasonable time . Not listen to them in their hot tub talking loudly.I don't mind a bit of noise but it's ridiculous. She's just brash and wants everyone to hear her.Not just me thats getting annoyed either .

Just reported loud music to the landlord she was warned but 2 weeks I get another call from landlord nuisance neighbour has called can't play music or have friends round.. I told the landlord(social housing) my problem has never been who she has in her home or backyard, my problem is loud music from loud speakers.. I get told how it's within the neighbours right to play loud music as long as its within the stipulated times... So how do we get protected from these selfish people? Thinking of involving a lawyer... Been keeping recordings and will continue to do so... Not spoken to the council yet but will certainly do so. Maybe as Asbo would work.

I have a problem neighbour too,its very distressing.I cannot use my back garden at all.My neighbour has a very small rear garden and has decided to keep bees.At times I have 3 hives up and running.He's bees constantly deficate on my laundry and my car is also covered in excrement. Apparently anyone can put as many hives as they like on their garden and right upto boundary fences.The flight path is over my garden and I mean head height. No chance of sitting out in my garden at all.On top of that he has been encouraging rats, and for a while I had to contend with rats as well as bees.He said he was feeding the birds. Come autumn the bees attract wasps. My neighbour is a real joy.

Hello, came across this thread as couldn’t sleep and I also wanted to share our story. Me and my husband bought our 1st house, got married, wanting a family and quiet life. Our neighbourhood is so quiet and we hardly see anyone, as either pensioners or working class people around till lockdown hit and our neighbour next door (single lady in her early 40) started working from home and leaving her german shephard dog barking in the garden from 6am till midnight sometimes 4am I would wake up it barking in the garden. We never expected this from her as she said she worked for government, property is well maintained, clean so it all was a shock to us for her to do that. When we tried to speak to her about it she racially abused us (we are not english) and blamed the barking on everyone else. We have police and council involved but to no resolve as expected we are made feel invisible and not important so we decided to sell the house as our mental health has suffered plus I am heavily pregnant and I cannot raise my 1st baby in this situation. The barking is constant, plus loud metal music is put on as soon as we go in our garden, constant staring and intimidation from her, looking over our fences, it is utterly unbearable and we cannot wait to move out. We just hope the next buyer doesn’t mind the dog barking and that they are english. We feel so heartbroken to have to go back to renting again after so many years of hard work and saving but we value our mental health and our baby’s development that we have no choice as we did not get any support from our neighbours and authorities have always excuses for doing their job. I feel very sorry for all of you and feel for everyone of you and wish that these people get what they deserve at the end... After 17 years living and working (never claimed a penny for anything) in England I would never dream I would be told that I am an illegal immigrant and that my marriage is fake while being pregnant by a woman who feels we do not have right to even breath the same air as we are not english. We are so sad and depressed and if it wasn’t for my husband and his business we would move somewhere in the country with nobody around it is my dream! As I have become so not wanted to see people or have any relation with anyone around. We pray for everyone who is suffering that another door will open for all of us where we can find peace and ourselves again.

I lived in a rental semi and next door to a punk for 10years, then moved to a quiet terrace only for a lady to move next door 2 years later and wreck the walls so we could hear every little thing. So we moved to a detached. Sadly I was only looking at the house and the school for my son. I wish I’d sat outside the house a lot more as during lockdown the people that back on to us are completely unbearable. Leaf blower most days, basket ball, shouting, I’m sure the kids don’t go to school, music, they leave their dog in a shed quite often and it’s barks into the night. People are scared of them as they aren’t the nicest of people. Think they are the traveler type. We plan to do up the house and move in a couple of years but I feel like we’re going to be trapped. Why do people think it’s ok to be so disrespectful.

Sparkle ,my heart goes out to you and your lovely sensitive son . Here are my thoughts , you are obviously an empath who feels for and considers others feelings when in this world there are many who dont and wont . So you must learn to put your son and your family first and ignore this selfish womans remarks .How dare she criticise your son while he is struggling . Be strong , turn away and live your life without a thought for her . Dont let it cause more issues with your boy . He is a sensitive soul who needs much love from you . If she doesnt like it let her move .Much love x

We have lived in our home for 5 years but it was previously owned by my parents. The neighbours have lived there since my parents bought the house 30 years ago.She’s always been a bit of a misery and not what you would call a nice neighbour. They have grown up children who have moved out. We have two children aged 15 and 12. Sadly my mum died several months ago (my children saw her every day) and it was sudden and very traumatic and since then my 12 year old has developed a ‘tic’ which has resulted in him making a barking/throat clearing sound. It is awful and can be constant. We live in a semi detached house and the walls are quite thin. We have been to the GP and he has been referred to CAHMS, Action for Children, etc but we are on waiting lists as they are inundated since the covid pandemic and so many children struggling with their mental health. Our neighbour has knocked to say that she can’t take it anymore and we need to do something about it. What she thinks we can do I don’t know. He doesn’t even know he is doing it half the time. He is so upset and crying now and the best of it is when he is stressed he makes the noise all the more. I feel I don’t want to live here anymore even though it used to be my parents home and we have such lovely memories here (my dad has passed away as well). I don’t think we could afford to move somewhere else as we are in ‘mortgage prison’ so I wonder about selling up and renting? I just can’t believe she has complained, especially when I have told her of his condition that developed since mum died as she asked if we had brought a dog. I’m so angry with myself as we used to live in such a lovely house and area with nice neighbours but moved here as couldn’t bear to see the family house sold to strangers. What a mistake I feel I have made.Any advice?

Like ricky3star we lived in a 3 bed semi for 25 years, the next doors neighbours son was 10 when we moved in,already he was swearing and verbally abusing his parents who were too weak to resolve the situation.Over the years it got worse,when he reached 35 he erected an eyesore of a shed and belted rock music out till 2 am,we couldn't, sleep in the rear bedroom of the house, trying to sort it out with his parents was useless,they,by now in their early 70,s were somewhat fearful of him.Somewhat reluctantly we sold up,fortunately we were in a position to buy a detached house,we are not snobs but the thought of buying another semi and perhaps reliving the nightmare again wastoo much.We waited years hoping he would move out when he was in his 20.s, it never happened,my advice to anyone in this situation is get out as soon as you can,because 90% of the time it never gets better,only worse,even if you are reasonable and polite in requesting them to be quieter.My only regret is not getting out sooner,concil authorities can sometimes help but in my opinion after you lodge a complaint the guilty parties know they are lowering your quality of life and do it all the more,also it can make it difficult to sell your house,when we moved our estate agent said he couldn't,t sell terraced housing easily anymore because of noise problems,I think noise issues are affecting semi detached housing increasingly now because more and more people seem to care less and less about the pain and suffering they inflict on others.

We are at our wits end. Our neighbour is loud, aggressive, volatile etc. We suffer loud music at random times, day and night. She is abusive and threatening and a danger to others. Police, council and housing don't seem to have any control over this. She has numerous offences against her but because she suffers from mental health issues she seems to get away with it. Myself and my partners quality of life and health have suffered enormously. I am scared to even leave the house. We want to sell up and move but would struggle to sell with her next door. We feel so trapped.

I had a lovely old guy that moved next door ten years ago. Then a couple moved in with 3 kids in a semi 3 bed house and now have 8 kids and two Rottweiler. My personality has changed and I’m always on edge from the dance music.The guy mends cars he’s outside banging past 9pm. Went to the council twice and now can’t sell my home properly due to these people who have no understanding of how to behave in a decent way to neighbours. They have reduced me to tears on many occasions and the council have to have constant noise these lot are very clever and it’s Radom at different times of the day. It’s hell and no one understands unless they have been there, you end up seen as some crazy fool??

I feel for you all life is torture with bad neighbours , i know ive suffered 3 years until they moved out , the house is now rented to family members who are quiet, but im left with the emotional bruises from the horrendous parties which would go on 12 hours and more . No support from my other neighbours,i dealt with it myself . Anti social team wrote letters but they were ignored . My whole personality has changed thanks to those who own the house attached to mine , i am no longer the smiling neighbour i used to be , at one time i would greet people who lived next door but now i keep my eyes lowered , its best to remain distant , being nice can be seen as being weak , and they abused my nice . My best wishes to you all , i feel for you

After 19yrs living under horrible neighbours in a council flat the situation finally came to a head when myself and my daughter were threatened after asking them be be quite at 5.30am. They also threatened to poison my dog. I managed to swap flats and moved. After a few weeks, in moved a lunatic to the flat below me. He beat his girlfriend, there was a young baby in there which was heartbreaking to listen to. He used to shoot the garden birds in my garden and all my solar ornaments with a high powered gas air gun. I reported him to to police and council but didn't make any difference. He also threatened me and my daughter. I finally managed to buy my own home and thought I had escaped to a quiet terraced row only to find I had moved next to a half way house run by the council (not been told by the seller) OMG hell on earth. drugs, drunks, noise, filthy house with rats which came into my roof. We are on neighbour number 9 in only 5yrs it's New Years eve they have just moved in 2 very loud dogs and TV cinema size bellowing through wall. Can't take much more of this. Happy New Year. There should be a law to help protect peoples right to live in peace and quiet also not to be threatened. I have worked hard all my life and to finally own my own home was a dream its fast turned into a nightmare.

Hi there, First of all, thank goodness there is a site like this, to vent common problems and stories to do with horrid neighbours. My family, (though not perfect ourselves, but better than most) have been subject, to general ignorance, nosey ness, intimidation tactics, door slamming, dog barking, and plenty of rudeness over the years. I can’t believe these type of people exist, a bit vague in my description of events, there is a hell of a lot to tell! Wow what an eye opener! Did want to say that from reading all of the comments, the re occurring themes I get from you all is that, it is quite a lonely place to be put in this position, it is desperate, and there is very little hope of resolve, I cant believe how disgusting some people have become of modern times, selfish, rude, entitled, and just very very ignorant. I have noticed this past year in particular. Thank you.

I read the comments on here often as i was also a victim of anti social behaviour but a miracle happened and they rented out their house to a quieter family who are relatives of theirs, 3 years of disgusting behaviour too much to mention , my story was on here a couple of times . My heart feels deeply for all of you who suffer . I just do not understand how these people are allowed to create hell for decent living people , why isnt a law brought in to help and protect us . I will move if the vile creatures who own the attached house to me ever move ba k in i could never live with the hell i went through again . So sorry for you all

I've vile neighbours also.I complained to the council about their excessive noise and antisocial behaviour waking me up when I've to be up at 4.30 for the day shift.Obviously they dont work or do very little work on the side.Up all night and asleep all day.I had threats from their family members that I'd be beaten up and almost got killed by the grandsons friend mounting the pavement in his car outside my house to scare me.The police havent been any help.Theyre a well-known local "hard" family,the police are often there but it never goes any further. The council sent out the necessary letters,made the necessary phone calls,seemed to work for a while.Now the teenage grandsons taken it outside at all hours,whistling under my bedroom window,shaking the fence,alone and with friends,blowing skunk fumes through the airbrick in the living room.The males are always looking in.The 60 odd year old grandfather lurks about when I go out to work at 5.30 am,whistling so I know he's there.Im a 56 year old woman who lives alone,I own my home,they rent from the council.To say I'm fed up is an understatement,I've had one or another form of harassment for almost a year.Where do these scumbags come from? How do they get away with it? The police have made me feel I'm complaining for nothing and the council want proof of the noise,which is now sporadic once they knew I'd been given the noise app to record them.I can't catch the worst noise,usually in the middle of the night.But it helps to know it's not just me,as sometimes it gets me very down.

Having real problem with my neighbour. When i first moved in they got a huge extension built, whole house renovated etc.working weekends.we had some issues because they ripped down our fence and placed building materials overnight in my garden. Spoke to them/builders about this and at the time seemed sympathetic and that they understood. Only other issue has been once they blared music so loud you could hear it word for word and we asked them to turn it down. Years later, we are in the position of renovating our house along with having a baby. My partner and his dad do most of the work themselves (within recommended hours aside from once which we apologised for) and they were aware of this as we seemed to have a good relationship beforehand. Now they have began working night-shift again ive had posts on facebook about me, my partner being questioned and shouted at in the street as to when and what was being done and when and then yesterday had a man (who didnt say who he was) come to my door to ask me if we were doing anything because they heard noise, when in fact it was someone else on the street. I tried to speak to my neighbour who didnt answer the door. At a complete loss, i have spoken to them before but next day a facebook post again they said they didnt want us chapping letting them know when we were working as its during the day its allowed. But what do they want? I know the noise is irritating but we do try our best. I just can't figure out how to move forward. For me personally it was a step too far. They have never came to the door to ask us or discuss but sent someone else to do their dirty work? Any advice? Thanks

I have to sympathise with everyone on here. We are semi-detached and in the same situation. We live next door to a couple who are old enough to be our parents. They slam every door in their house constantly, have a very noisy dog and have friends round every Friday and Saturday night until 1/2am and keep us up and with whom they sit in the garden with in the summer swearing and being racist and homophobic. My fiancé is a police officer and works shifts and they have taken no notice of what he has said. I have taken the view that we won’t be pushed out of the home that we work hard for by people like this and the law firm that I work for has wrote to them. They sent their vile son round and I don’t think he probably anticipated the response he got. We will now take them to court and deal with whatever when we want to move but for now, we have had enough and they deserve nothing less than what they are getting.

How would readers handle this awkward situation? My family own a semi-detached property in which we have resided for thirty years. We have a drive suitable to accommodate three vehicles but have only had one car. Unfortunately, we are no longer able to use our drive. The house directly across from us now have three cars parked up on the road. Since the mother of the household bought a 4 x4 this is now restricting us driving up to our house, which is in a cul-de-sac, to manoeuvre into our driveway. We have to try to park on our drop kerb. We cannot back in as the turning circle always has a vehicle parked there, again, restricting us. Of late, this 4 x 4 is being parked across from our vehicle. Bin wagons and delivery vans, also neighbours have started complaining there is insufficient room between the vehicles. I cannot park either side of the drop kerb. I’m at my wits end and my husband wants to move house. Any offer of guidance will be gratefully received. I have approached the owner of the 4 x 4 in person and recently by letter, very polite and courteous but I now have lost patience. This selfishness is causing us a great deal of stress.

I have moved to a property 16 months ago and I have a nuisance neighbour who likes to rev his car all day.I have phoned the houseing who dont seem to care and I have phoned the council. I have been told by a neighbour that he has been warned about the cars for years but still decides to rev them even which he doesnt have a licence. No respect for others.Im getting to the point where I want to punch him in his ugly face

Like many of you, I also find solace knowing that I'm not alone. We live next door to a vile family (our story is similar to that of MW1982). The parents defend their teenagers behaviour and say they can do whatever they like. They are renters - letting agent has washed their hands off the problem. The council weren't much help. Now I've approached our local councillors for help - will see how that goes. Definitely worth a shot.

Just reading everyone's comments. It may seem abit selfish that I'm a little relieved im not the only one suffering as most of the time I feel I am. Iv been in my flat 2 years new neighbours upstairs moved in a year ago its been nothing but hell. I'm 25 and hes nearly 40 with his younger girlfriend he bangs on the floor early hours of the morning. Hes been to my door kicking it when iv come in late from work about the bins hes spread rumors about me that are not true and tried to turn other neighbours against me he says its just a game. I feel he isn't wired properly because his behaviour is disgusting. He's been rude to my mum when she has visited he stands outside when I leave my house and stares hes very loud and aggressive and trying to bully me I can't take anymore and I need to move as I am feeling very mentally unstable like I am about to snap any minute I can not take much more of this iv got to pack up and leave. Yet again tonight no sleep as been woken by him on the phone shouting and winding his dog up. The joys of trying to have a peaceful life ey.