Gardens matter to many people. Some treat theirs as a hobby, others run a mower over the lawn occasionally, and a few seem to forget they have a garden at all. When a garden next door becomes badly overgrown or ends up as a dumping ground, it affects people living nearby: weeds spread, pests move in, and the look of the whole street suffers.
If your neighbour's overgrown garden is attracting pests or affecting your property, and it amounts to a statutory nuisance, you can formally notify the local authority using our free Council Complaint Letter Builder.
An untidy garden, on its own, is not against the law. A messy lawn or a few overgrown shrubs do not give you a right to force a neighbour to tidy up. Something more has to be going on before the council can step in. For background, see our piece on Problem Neighbours.
When the law gets involved
Your rights come from a mix of legislation: the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, and older laws like the Weeds Act 1959 and the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949. The key question is whether the garden amounts to a statutory nuisance, meaning it causes a real and ongoing problem for your property or health. A bit of mess is not enough. Smells, vermin, overgrowth coming through the fence and damage to your land are what count.
If growth from next door is pushing onto your land, or rubbish is attracting rats, mice or foxes, the council environmental health team is the right contact. They can inspect, serve notices and, if ignored, prosecute or carry out the work themselves and bill the owner. Our guide on the risk of rat infestation has more on what to look out for.
Under section 2 of the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949, occupiers must inform the council if rats or mice are present in substantial numbers. If you can show a neighbour's garden is the source, that gives the council grounds to act. Photographs, dates and a short written record of what you have seen will strengthen your case.
Tree and Hedge Dispute Advisor
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Try our Tree and Hedge Dispute Advisor free, here on this site →Hedges, trees and what you can cut
You can cut back branches, brambles or roots that cross into your garden, but only up to the boundary line. You cannot reach over onto their side or go onto their land without permission. Anything you cut technically still belongs to your neighbour, so offer it back. Most will tell you to dispose of it, but make the offer.
Trees need more care. Tree Preservation Orders can apply to individual trees, groups or whole woodlands, and some trees sit within conservation areas. In either case, you need written permission from the council before doing anything beyond removing clearly dead wood. Cutting a protected tree without consent can lead to a substantial fine. Our article on problems with neighbouring trees covers this in detail.
High hedges are dealt with under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003. If an evergreen or semi-evergreen hedge over two metres tall is blocking light to your home or garden, and you have tried and failed to resolve it with your neighbour, the council can step in. There is usually a fee, and they will expect evidence you made a real effort first.
If creeping weeds, bamboo or ivy are coming under the fence, a physical barrier sunk along the boundary can help. Around 15cm depth stops most surface runners, though bamboo or Japanese knotweed need much deeper barriers and professional treatment. Japanese knotweed is a special case: allowing it to spread can lead to a private nuisance claim, and it must be disposed of as controlled waste.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
Talking to your neighbour and knowing when to escalate
Most problems get sorted without involving the council. People with very overgrown gardens are often elderly, unwell or struggling, and a quiet word is often enough. A friendly approach, offering to help if appropriate, works far better than a formal complaint out of the blue.
If a conversation goes nowhere, put your concerns in writing. Keep it short and factual: what the problem is, how it affects you, and what you would like them to do. Keep a copy. If things still do not improve, that record will be useful when you contact the council.
Go to council environmental health when:
- There is clear evidence of rats, mice or other pests linked to the garden.
- Rubbish is piling up and creating a smell or health risk.
- Overgrowth is causing damage to your property or blocking access.
- You have tried speaking and writing to your neighbour with no result.
For boundary disputes, high hedges or protected trees, contact the planning department. Mediation services, often free through the council or Citizens Advice, can help where the relationship has broken down but legal action feels excessive.
Court should be a last resort: slow, expensive, and likely to worsen relations with someone you still have to live next to. In most cases, a calm conversation followed by a measured complaint to the council will get the result you want.
See also: Letter Template: Problem with Neighbour's Tree for more on this topic.
Common questions
Can the council force my neighbour to tidy their garden?
The council can only act if the garden amounts to a statutory nuisance. That usually means rats or mice, harmful smells, or growth and rubbish causing real damage or a health risk. An untidy lawn or a few overgrown shrubs are not enough on their own. Environmental health can serve notices and bill the owner if work has to be done for them.
What can I do about my neighbour's overgrown garden if it isn't damaging anything?
Speaking to your neighbour is almost always the right first move. Many people with badly overgrown gardens are elderly, unwell or struggling, and a quiet word, sometimes with an offer to help, fixes more situations than any letter or complaint. Keep the tone calm and avoid threats.
Can I cut branches and brambles coming over from next door?
You can cut anything overhanging your boundary, but only up to the line, never into their garden. Anything you remove technically still belongs to them, so offer it back as a courtesy. Be careful with trees: a Tree Preservation Order or conservation area status means you need council permission first.
I have spoken with my neighbours who excuse themselves by calling their weedy front garden a 'wild' garden. I therefore wish to know my legal standing as I wish to sell my house and it's reportedly driving buyers away. Is there anything I can do?
A member of the council has come twice to take photos and is in complete agreement with me regarding the matter but despite this and many promises 13 months later nothing has changed.
There are a number of black bags to the side of there house, a carpet of there’s was dumped over there front part of the house and the grass has almost completely grown over it, there are piles of metal and other rubbish to the side of the house along with broken toys etc etc it is a complete eyesore.
Talking to them is hard because of there broken English but I’ve tried to explain everything to the best of my ability but nothing is done.
I wish to sell my property but it’s impossible to sell if prospective buyers look over the wall to my neighbours garden and even looking at the front of the house is awful.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
uctant to pau someone. What can I doi
I know it's just me because it looks such a sight and it gets me down thinking how they've just let it go. Their kids can't play out back either because the grass and weeds have taken over. Its a dam shame. Its a lovely property underneath the overgrown mess.
We cut anything down that drops onto our side that becomes a nuisance and always ask their permission first, which the seem happy for us to do. I keep thinking to myself, perhaps I could ask them if I could tidy up a little for them, but I feel I'd be overstepping and it's really not up to me. Some people love gardening and some don't. I will keep on good terms, as I've said, they are a pleasant family but the gardening or lack of it is something I will have to live with.
Dame you Joe.
Told council and they done nothing lazy gets all.
So don't knock it
.
But next door keeps just flat grass
They have a rabbit and keep
Complaining about rats
I have two big dogs - no rat is safe in my garden!
Now this beautiful meadow of wild flowers including oxeye daisies and red clover, cornflowers, poppies and iris is apparently a reason to complain to environmental health
Under the weeds act or something
Yet sure grass - as it spreads so fast should be the same? I have tried to minimise grass to maximise clover, camomile and creeping thyme
There are also 72 lavender plants in there somewhere
What I’d like is for government to step in and make wildlife gardens safe from prosecution
I have two wildlife ponds bird feeders and 6 nest boxes as well as bug hotels and a hedgehog house
I live in the country - fields all around me and I believe my bird bath and ponds are really important to the local birds in the summer - the same birds who provide agricultural pest control in the fields.
Anyway rant over - wildlife haven will stay as long as it can.
And long grass attracts rats and is detrimental to other animals.
I’ve politely asked them to remove , but they just ignore me! They have hung pots and pans on their washing line too right on our border and less than 20ft to our house. I’ve asked them to move them four times and they simply ignore me
It's 2022 and humans are ridiculously selfish and closed off from empathy, it's disgusting and disappointing to know that people are so shallow and judgemental that they don't even consider how other people feel and live! Pause and breathe for a moment, take a second to calm down and try and think about other people, slow down and be an actual human being..
so complained to the anti social behaviour which they to note and would apply a notice to him otherwise he would foot the bill i was kept updated i looked on my email and was sent a message mentioning ACTION in force i left it for another month and it read action has closed meaning for this ACTION TAKEN
I got my deeds out just to make sure and you can’t do anything like they have but if I want to do something about it I’ve got to get a solicitor and pay why
He said that the gardens are nothing to do with him he only rent's the house out.
We are complained next door garden pile rubbish since last end of October. Rats and mice around there also we are fed up keeping look their garden. I have child so my daughter playing to the garden and so many mystique and ants so pls clean to the next door garden. I request you She live one old woman house. I would like send you a video.
Now I am caring for three people.
My Mum, husband and daughter.
I do the best I can with my garden.
Haven't got the money for a gardener.
Some people in the neighbourhood are now gossiping about the weeds in my garden, including my friend who has told me to get them pulled up.
I am ?? exhausted
Truth is they don't know my situation.
I pruned my tree a it took two trips to the recyclinv centre in my car, on my own, with no help.
I am gutted.
My back garden is huge and immaculate, but they complain about my front.
My front gardens grass is trim and I mow it regularly, my flower pots are all watered
It is only the path where the weeds have taken hold.
Yes I am using this site to moan.
I have been pulling the buggers up in the hot sun while my poor husband still needs me to do his shopping and get his tea.
At Mums tomorrow to help her wash and do her washing.
It's easy to judge people when you dont know their circumstances.
What can do about this is email can send to someone preferably anonymously.
There are foxes nesting, rats and mice, 6 foot high nettles and other weeds which are causing a really bad midge problem.
I've asked poitely and they have recut even further away from our boundary.
How dare you mention someone’s race as a point. I know many asians with beautiful gardens. I know someone of every race with a terrible garden. The fact you judge someone on race … if they neighbour were white and had a terrible garden, what would you have said?
Come to look for advice from fellow gardeners, and i can see it’s a bunch of entitled people.
I’ve had the environmental health up Twice. But they said they can do nothing as it’s private property. But now I see they can do something reading this. So will be on to Swansea council on Monday.I have put 3 notes through his door but he has ignored all of them
The front garden... how do they get to the front door?? Trees have taken root, that are now heading for the bottom of the upstairs window. We have weeds blowing across our living room window. I am worried about the roots of these trees given how close they are to the house.
Their weeds and brambles keep coming straight over the fence and twining in our lovely bushes. I have my garden looked after by our gardener and our bushes and fences look a complete mess and its ruining our bushes.
Something needs to be done ????
It is a small semi-detatched house situated between 2 council properties.
I am enclosed by two very overgrown and frankly unhealthy gardens. I have tried to
keep a low profile as I don't wish to make my life difficult. However over the past 12
weeks thinghs have got very bad for me.I now have rat infestation problem. I spoke
to one of the neighbours, asking if she had seen any rats. Oh no she said but living
so close to the park this is to be expeced;
I have seen the rats coming from HER garden and through my garden
to the other overgrown garden.
I regularly spend time away from my home with my friends as I simply cannot cope.
So far I have tried the council but I have not received any success. To have a home but not able to live in it is a shame.
TTo be so unhappy and stressed that one can't even stay in their own home is a shame.
AAny suggestions I would be most appreciative.
What's more, for the last few days they've been burning rubbish including plastic. They're really polluting and air and giving off such bad toxic fumes. I have health problems and they're making me really ill.
What can I do?
The back garden is so overgrown with weeds which keep creeping through the fence. We have spent a lot of money on garden so it looks nice. It’s so annoying we are housing association we pay our rent in full, she doesn’t work and gets everything.
I am new to the area and do not know who to contact about this. I want to send her a letter first and talk to her but she is always quite cranky and I don’t want to be on bad terms with her, I just want her garden cleaned up to adroit more pests and bramble. Help
Secondary to the messy gardens both front and back, he has a lot of rubbish in his back garden - old sofas, pallets and at least 5 ladders. We have a shed on our side, recently I noticed the door had been chewed at the bottom and there was an overwhelming smell of urine emanating from it, along with a considerable amount of droppings. I also physically saw a rat scurrying from his garden early one morning as I walked our dogs. We have complained several times to him and to environmental health. However, they have just said he has assured them he will be removing the rubbish. This has been going on since before Christmas and it is still there
Thanks
Last summer/autumn the daughter turned up regularly to mow the front lawn, although nobody looked at the back garden. After the altercation we had with her in February regarding the guttering/downpipe (q.v.) the daughter hasn't been back and nobody has really touched the lawn for months, although the son had a feeble stab at it with a lawnmower, and did a couple of yards. The grass is about two feet high and full of weeds and they blow onto our lawn. When we had the downpipe replaced and the soakaway built I found stuff that had apparently been flung into a bush on our property: a soup ladle, a rubber glove, some sort of mechanical thing. On the son's side there is a rusy shovel on the path, two squirty bottles, and a bucket with some rags and stuff in it. The back gate next to the garage was hanging by its bottom hinge for several months and has now been removed. This is really nothing to do with us, I know.
But the back garden is affecting us. The whole area has now been taken over by brambles about ten feet high and heading toward us, such that the garden is no longer acccessible. Our real problem though is an area at the back of the garden, about 15 feet deep and the width of the property, that has never been touched at all in the 45 years we've lived here. It has several trees including a sycamore which is about 90 feet tall which has never been maintained in any way and which is nearly on our boundary line and which we are worried about. It is tall and thin and we are concerned that it could blow over onto our property. The neighbours behind us also happened to mention that they are concerned about this tree as well. We have been cutting small branches off when they come into our garden but we have been unable to discuss anything with the son or the daughter. Thank God at least we have a fence between us (which we had to pay for to be replaced and erected).
What can one do about a neighbour who just doesn't care?
They never leave the house although they have a toddler I’m not able to approach them
At the front of the property he says the fence (dilapidated) is his and we can’t touch it, which we haven’t. However he’s thrown so many tree branches and wooden pallets against it that it’s partially fallen our side. He’s completely oblivious and due to a fairly recent head injury with a chainsaw, we think he may have dementia, so it’s a sensitive situation. We are trying to move house but worry the garden issue will put people off.
I am looking for some advice on behalf of a friend.
He has a large back garden of which is not in the best of conditions, it is a little overgrown, and has a lot of clutter. (vehicles to restore/work on, little side projects, old materials etc)
He is in his 60s and has limited mobility, which causes him to fall behind on his goals, hence how his garden has become the condition it has.
He has recently had a letter from the local council asking him to remove it all in the next 6 weeks, with the current lockdown in place i cant help finding this deadline difficult to achieve, however i am looking for advice on how to help him with seeing what his options are. if he is able to keep his vehicles on the property ( some of which hold high sentimental value) and to keep his current materials and other possessions on the property, yet abide by the regulations set by the council. i dont own my own home so am very unfamiliar with how to go about helping him as much as i can.
Any information and advice would be greatly appreciated in order to help him combat the stress of loosing a lot of possessions in this current climate.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, stay safe everyone. take care
The front of the house is a wreck.. Windows are rotten and covered in Ivey.. Driveway overgrown and full of rubbish.. But a new Audi parked there!
I've complained to the Council but he's ignored them.. Its taken about 10%or more off the value of my house. He's not poor.. Has a good job.. And to see him you would not believe he lives in this state.
What more can I do?
Sorry for long post, but I'd be really grateful to know if he's just posturing.
My concerns are that:
the tree's roots might cause a problem to both properties;
the tree will obscure our property and that gives me concern for our security;
as the tree gets bigger it will be very difficult to remove.
I am not able to communicate with the neighbour two door's away about the problem, as they do not open their door to people, and I do not think they would respond to my concerns, even if I could talk to him.
I did ring the council about the matter and they say it is a civil matter. But I do not know whom I need to contact and I don't want to start legal proceedings.
All I really want is that the tree can be cut down before it causes greater concerns.
I would be grateful for any advice.
The authorities came to me and I explained. I am hurt because I planned this space for the wildlife and the fussy neighbours are all about manicuring their places, I guess. Makes me sad.
They also piled up all their garden waste and rubbish against one of the board, further damaging our rear garden fences causing it to collapse slightly towards our side.
We knocked on their door and kindly asked them to remove those waste but they write to us, telling us off because we knock on their door uninvited (that we are trespassing). Who can we report this to and is it illegal that we point it out to them by inform them face-to-face.
All the smoked come inside my daughter bedroom, the smell very strong, Im worried about my daughter, I had to make her sleep in the living room, I dont want my daughter have problem.
I told them to stop it but they keep carrying on burn waste till 1hour.
This neighbours garden is so mess too, old sofa, carpet and rubbish a lot in they are garden. I have take some pictures of it. The thing make me dont want a call council because everyone know each other in my areas. And worries if they break our car out side.
We do want a move from this area, but is to expensive to move house, as we need a lot money for deposit. So we just stuck here :(
We dont know what to do any more.
Any advice please
What are my other options?
I have had the councils environmental health round to lay poison down several times on my property and at my expense. They said there were no nests on my property, the one hole was just a run through to the neighbours.
I have also reported the problem about next doors rubbish but basically been told to mind my own business.
Can I go higher than my council as the problem is getting worse & the rats are huge. We don’t want them getting in the houses. My neighbours the other side sre elderly and unwell. It’s stressful for them.
Where do I go next, help please !
We have recently installed a thin artificial hedge (Screen), but very soon the weeds and brambles are going to start coming through again and damaging our hedge screen, which we paid over 150 pounds for, we stay in the Scottish Borders and have recently found out that very little can be done.
hasn't bothered us much but we are now trying to sell our property and our estate agent has
said that the neighbours garden is detrimental to our selling as potential purchasers have
discounted our property owing to the mess in the neighbours front garden. We had not
realised how much the wood pile had increased topped off with tyres and bicycle. Talking to our neighbour would not be an option as he has no where else to put the wood and could not dispose of it easily. What can we do?
Environmental health are not interested in the problem. Advice needed urgently.
We removed our fencing down the bottom of our garden due to garden waste falling against it and branches falling from the neighbours tree on more then one occasion and causing damage.
The rubbish is a habitat for rodents which we have made the neighbour aware of, but will not have the area cleared.
I contacted the local environment agency this morning and have been told as our neighbour is private there is nothing they can do, as its up to them what they do in their garden.
Can you advise please.
Any suggestions?
Our garden early in the morning when we were asleep . Have had to do something
About it or the man told me we'd face a fine . My old aunt didn't want it done our garden wasn't a dump till they dumped their trees and knocked our garden fence down. The
Neighbor hasn't offered anything for the fence dividing the 2 properties. It's cost her nothing. It's cost me £360 pounds. and her gets a old age pension. It's a stupid law
And ought to be stopped. Our garden was
Tidy to the neighbors dumped their stupid trees on our back garden. Someone came in august telling us to clear their stupid trees
Away telling us we could be fined . If they wanted the trees cleared they should have cleared them and payed for it themselves.
A stupid law which the government thought up and people are abusing.
I am wanting to sell my house yet I am unable to as people are being put off by the state of the garden next door.
I have spoke to there landlord who as advised that they will have to borrow a strimmer as there's is broken this was about 1 month ago.
Any suggestions?
She did it first time only after speaking to her and dropping a note through her door
Now two years later she haven't maintain it and it reached the top of the bricks and will
Soon go on the roof which can damage roof tiles .
I will speak to her again possibly ask her to remove the plant to save me worrying but what if she refuse.where can we go from there ?
"Rubbish which has been left piled up in a garden is also cause for concern and could attract things like rats, mice and other pests. Obviously, this then creates a health hazard, with the Risk Of Rat Infestation, as well as attracting a whole host of other unwanted pests. Once again, the Environmental Health Department can forcibly order your neighbours to get rid of any rubbish or weeds if they are breaking the law, and legal action can ensue if they fail to do so."
My neighbour refuses to tend to her garden desire repeated requests (polite notes and conversation). We end up cutting her front grass and it still looks awful. The back garden is like a jungle but council won't help until it is 2 metres high?
I am desperate as ruins the road and want to sell but worry no one will want to buy our house because of their garden. Can I do anything? Any ideas??
I would like this matter investigating as a matter of urgency please.
In the bottom corner of the garden I have a good sized Bramble bush that has got a little out of hand and requires attention. Now, this is on my to do list seen as the weather is starring to fair up. The problem is that my neighbour has asked me (in a rather unpleasant way) to remove the Brambles that have grown over onto the top of her Greenhouse. Under civilised circumstances I'd have gotten to it sooner rather than later but due to her attitude and abusive nature towards me I'm rather inclined to hold off on said Brambles until I see fit. So my question is, am I legally obliged to remove the offending brambles from her Greenhouse or can I politely tell her to crack on and do it herself.?
The odour and flies are all year round though obviously much worse in the summer months. We are unable to sit out and enjoy our garden and patio. We are unable to invite any of our friends round to sit outside and enjoy. Our son and daughter in-law are reluctant to bring our grandchildren to see us, only if we stay indoors. He says the flies could be a health hazard to our grandchildren.
On some days the smell is so bad my wife is unable to hang our washing out, and if she does the back door has to be constantly shut each time she goes in or out. The back door can never be left open.
We had new double glazed windows installed March 2015; These windows have never been opened because of the amount of flies, However now that winter is almost here we have found it necessary to open a couple of windows at the front of the property. The reason we have found it necessary is because we have discovered mildew a kind of white substance that has a musty odour on some linen and other materials. We have been told this is caused by poor circulation to our house.
The smell of cats was detectable under our stair cupboard and landing cupboard that both share the adjoining wall with our neighbour. I have relined the upstairs cupboard and filled any gaps in the under stairs cupboard. This has helped, though we keep permanent air fresheners in these cupboards.
Our neighbor's property and garden is getting to a stage of disrepair. The property is now hardly visible from the road because of overgrown trees, shrubs and vines; the gable end of the property is now completely engulfed in vine and is rapidly spreading across the roof. The guttering to the rear is now blocked and overflows on to our side and down our property wall. There is no guttering at all to the front of the property, I fear this could eventually create damp and spread to our adjoining wall.
Our neighbour is causing a health hazard which does not enable us to enjoy both the inside and outside of our property. Our neighbour is allowing her property and land to fall in to disrepair, which is causing our property and others in the surrounding area to decrease in value.
My wife and I are both retired; my wife suffers from severe Raynaud’s syndrome. This is a blood circulation problem. She now finds it quite difficult to climb stairs so we have decided to sell our property and seek bungalow.
In the past four weeks we have had three very interested couples considering purchasing our property. The first two decided not to proceed after seeing our neighbours property and garden. The third couple liked our property so much they decided to place an offer which we accept
If there's no chance of any decent communication between us how can this be resolved? Also, so many weeds and brambles coming over from his garden its a pain!
Many thanks, Laura.
Although it's a "communal" garden her neighbor directly next door have built a makeshift fence and keep the section in front of their house very tidy, they have built a shed/treehouse in section in front of their house. If her son goes anywhere near the shed or in front of their house they keep telling him off. As its a cooperative housing it's the tenants who sit on a committee that makes decisions what should be in the best interest off all members, unfortunately two of her neighbors are committee members and refuse point blank to allow me daughter to tidy up the section in front of her house. We've tried talking to them but it's turned very badly. Does she have any rights..
As with most friendly dogs, once in a corner they may bite back.
If one neighbor complains, because they just can't rule the other, first sit down and determine what it is that's really bothering you. Bad day and the office? Lonely and want attention,can't rule the roost? Whatever? Isn't it better to have a good neighbor,one that you can say hello to better than an angry one that is looking for a fight? What about offering to help the clean up? Why not try to find out their reason for having their yard unkept? Maybe it's because of an illness, their work load,or maybe they have never been given a chance before you complained? If you continue to make trouble,you will get it back! There's only so much people will take before they too get fed up with accusations. Some people like flowers,some are allergic to them.not all people are born the same with beautiful surroundings.some are born trying to make a living with things you may call ugly,they may call for sale to make ends meet. Be nice!
My latest issue is not with the family who now occupy the property but with the landlord who bought the upstairs flat and who accuses me of being un-neighbourly by virtue of not cutting their grass when i cut mine. Consequently their garden is now something of an eyesore while mine, in remembrance of my late Father, is pristine. i have already been down the route of cutting the successive upstairs residents gardens usually without the courtesy of a thank you or acknowledgemet so to me enough is enough. Am i wrong in this?
When I was on holiday
He actually removed 3 panels of boundary fence, entered my garden and cut down a tree (that was not overhanging his garden) he the attempted to steal my land in order to errect a shed. Obviously,, on return I stopped this and the fence was put back up. During the recent bad weather his boundary fence blew down. Next day he entered my property without permission, dumped a load of his own garden rubbish in my garden and then I caught him cutting branches of another tree again not overhanging his property - he now says he is gong to burn all the garden rubbish on my land! I am fuming - is this guy mad! He has already set fire to the back of his own fence with a bonfire in his own garden! Do I call the police or what . I am an OAP on my own and I am really frightened.
Everytime I look over our fence I can see a mess!
It is getting worse.
They are renting -we know the owner and she is aware of the situation-has said Letting Agent says he has visited - we have never seen him! If he has visited it hasn't changed the situation at all!
A friend said to write a note- but I couldn't do that-the wife of the couple is pregnant-and it may cause her distress. At the same time mess is causing me distress -(I'm a pensioner of 71) !! I am worried about rats.
Because of the odour and flies caused by the cats, dog’s faeces and urine, particular more so in the summer months we are unable to sit out and enjoy our garden and patio. We are unable to invite any of our friends to sit outside and enjoy. Our son and daughter in-law are reluctant to bring our grandchildren to see us, only if we stay indoors. He says the flies could be a health hazard to our grandchildren.
On some days the smell is so bad my wife is unable to hang our washing out, and if she does the back door has to be constantly shut each time she goes in or out, the back door can never be left open.
We had new double glazed windows installed March 2015; These windows have never been opened because of the amount of flies, However now that winter is almost here we have found it necessary to open a couple of windows at the front of the property. The reason we have found it necessary is because we have discovered mildew a kind of white substance that has a musty odour on some linen and other materials, this is caused by poor circulation to our house.
The smell of cats is detectable under our stair cupboard and landing cupboard that both share the adjoining wall with our neighbour. I have relined the upstairs cupboard and filled any gaps in the under stairs cupboard, we keep permanent air fresheners in these cupboards.
Our neighbor's property and garden is getting to a stage of disrepair. The property is now hardly visible from the road because of overgrown trees, shrubs and vines; the gable end of the property is now completely engulfed in vine and is rapidly spreading across the roof. The guttering to the rear is now blocked and overflows on to our side and down our property wall. There is no guttering at all to the front of the property, I fear this will eventually create damp and spread to our adjoining wall.
He has been sectioned at the moment, but is bound to return I would assume.
His house is becoming in state of disrepair. Windows boarded garden overgrown, Gutter leaking, soffits rotting, rubbish bags piled in back garden.. ;Looking to sell property, Is there anything we can do?. Person concerned is unapproachable because of his mental state.
The other flat owner says they won't deal with it. I have tried reporting it to the local council but they won't even come to look at it.
Who else can I contact in order to remedy the situation?
The problem is that I cant get into their plot to hack down the creeper and I am worried that it will soon either break the telephone line or pull out a section of wall as a lot of weight is now hanging off this one cable that was never designed to take any weight.
We don't have contact details for the owners of the plot.
What do you think we should do?
This owner is a single man approx. 35 years old and he has 1 tenant himself in the flat with him. There is also a piece of land (10 metres x 8 metres) to the rear of the properties which belongs to the upstairs owner.
Both areas of garden are unkept and as a result are overgrown with weeds.
The front unkept piece of garden is adjacent to the service road for the flats and is in front and to the side of my own front garden and is detracting from the look of the frontage to my own flat.
I have my own front set out in chips to be maintenance free and fear that the state of the upstairs front and rear garden areas is detracting sufficiently from the appearance of my downstairs flat to be having a negative impact on my ability to attract the required
type of trouble free tenant which I would prefer to take up the tenancy of my property.
The land is on my deeds.what I'm wondering is. If the land could be communal and on everyone's deeds also.
Or is it just mine
.thanks
But next door to myself have a house that is rented out to a single man whos only early 40s who does not work and smokes some sort of drugs all day.
His garden is full of his Dog poo all over garden and in open buckets and full rain water so the smell disgusting. plus mattress ,beds and car parts and rubbush.
Ive had to replace two fence pannels due to presure against my fence and it has broken.
I have asked nicely to sort it out plus the house on his other side of him as asked also.
All hes done is pushed everything to the sides and cleaned his foot path for the dog as he was having to step over it all.
Who do i contacted with photos ive taken as now am getting mice in my house after living her 12yrs never had a pest issues untill his garden became this bad.
Neighbours said its been like it for over ten years. The flat was empty for a while as well.
The other gate leads straight into her garden and rubbish area.
So now we have another problem as well as all the outstanding ones!
We were told as soon as we agreee to letting acess though our gate, they will action a "garden cleanse" as she cannot do it herself! but this could take months to organise as theres a queue.
we have found out the lady has been a tenant in the property for 4 yrs now, so we asked about the condition of tenancy and keeping gardens tidy.
The answer we got was "i really dont see a need for eviction here, as soon as the issue of the communal gate is agreed (with a signed good neighbour agreement we are drawing up saying she must put her rubbish in the bin because of the rats and she must always shut the gate because you have a dog) we will then look at actioning the garden cleanse"
It totally mindblowing! We just couldnt belive it!
Birmingham City council aware of this for 7 months now and done nothing, even wrote to mp and ombudsman. Council said they will send letter but nothing. All avenues have been exhausted, even though these neighbors are breaking all tenancy rules.
rubbish bags dumped outside our front door
cigarette buts and chocolate papers mysterously appear in our garden under their kitchen window
noise late at night
and now the place stands empty all week and only occupied one night a week
So fed up with the lack of support, theres no one else to approach anymore.
People like these who take no interest in anything should be put in a high rise flat with no garden!
Ive even asked the council if they could take it off her and give it to someone who could treat it as an allotment, as id rather see someone tending veggies and flowers everyday. than 20ft high tangled weeds and brambles in a rat infested plot!
so angry
Oh the joy of couldn't care less neighbours. Makes other peoples life a misery,
I have come home to find that my border hedge has been cut, me and my nieghbour are both council tenants and don't get on at all.I'm no gardener i must admit, i cut the grass when needed and trim the side border when it gets too bushy but not the height as far as im concerned as long as i can't see the nieghbours the better. But like i say i have come home to find that she has cut her own side down and then come round to my front garden to cut mine and just left all the folage in my garden, can she do this?
By the way the height of the bushes (not hedges) were above the half way of our semi detached and the bushes are in my part of the garden.
However the rear garden has now become overgrown with brambles and bindweed which has not only started to impact/cause damage to the adjoining fence but is now appearing in my back potentially cuasing future damage to the decking and the actual garden.
I can not contact the owner - who rarely visits the property - is there anything else the council can do
dirty mrss having been poohed on by the dog so much.
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