Neighbours

[Katiebee]

My friend and her family (including 2 teenage daughters) have neighbours who are Housing Association tennants. Since they moved in 3 or 4 years ago they have made my friend's life a misery with their antisocial behaviour ie loud noise at all hours of the day and night, bullying, harrassment, intimidation, groups of youths loitering at the front of the house, verbal abuse etc. They are constantly in trouble with the police. It recently culminated in the neighbours starting an argument leaning over the fence and then my friend's husband being punched in the face and being knocked out and having to attend A&E - the culprit running off as soon as he'd done it. My friend and husband were reluctant to take things further in case of reprisals.

Despite numerous phone calls and log-keeping and letters to the Housing Association, they seem powerless or unwilling to do anything. The last comment was that they are unable to evict the tennants until they breach their tennancy agreement. Well, I would say that, on reading the HA's website, their tennants have flouted virtually all of the rules they have set out. They have said that to secure an eviction, they would need the tennants to have a conviction for something.

My friend and her husband have contacted the police about pressing charges for the assault but have been told that because there were no other witnesses, it would not get anywhere.

So where do we go from here? Just how much more does my friend have to put up with? She has never done anything to her neighbours and yet she and her family live in constant fear and apprehension while they do as they please and get away with it.

[Mr Veritas]

I am so sorry for the situation that your friend finds herself in.
We have had many such questions on AB before,and they are not easy to resolve.
It strikes me that your friend has done all in her power to placate the neighbours and at the same time investigate all the possibilities of solving this fraught situation.
Now that presumably all possible routes have been exhausted,only one seems (to me) to be open and worth considering.
That is your friendand her family should consider moving away,even if the house is owned,it would remove her and her husband from this soul destroying situation.If they rent then it would probably be even easier/quicker.
Now you are going to say to me "Why should HEY move,and be friven away" and it's a good and valid point.However,I (persoanlly) would use any available avenues to get out of the terrible state that they are in.
Don't forget,the neighbours might calm down and become pleasant (unlikely,but bear with me here) but how long would it be before they would start off again,even if it went to Law?
This is only my sugesstion,you don't have to take it to heart,but how else are they going relieve themselves of this unbearable burden.
Move,and hope that the new people going in will be worse than the ex neighbours,that would teach them a lesson.

[daffy654]

I would advise your friends to get a CCTV system set up (with sound recording capabilities).Use the video evidence to make the HA listen to their concerns.The neighbours DO NOT have to have a conviction for them to be evicted at all.All HAs state that you must behave in a manner so as to not cause nuisance to neighbours,otherwise it is a breach of the tenancy agreement and can result in eviction.

[jackthehat]

Rather than appealling to the H.A. for help, perhaps your friends ought to consider writing a stiff letter to them indicating that should they (the HA) prove unwilling to assist in this matter, your friends may have to take legal action against them (the HA), for (erm.......help me out Barmaid :o)) 'breaching the own rules'............or something.

[Barmaid]

The HA are talking out of their nether regions. They CAN and should take action. There does not need to be a criminal conviction before they can apply to the Court for a demoted tenancy or an injunction under the Housing Act. All they need to prove is incidents of anti social behaviour.

The alternative remedy is a private law one. That is to seek an injunction under the Protection from Harrassment Act. Unfortunately, that will be costly.

I would firstly keep a log of every incident of anti social behaviour. I would write to the HEAD of the Housing Association detailing the incidents that have occurred and direct them to their powers under CPR Part 65 and under s82A Housing Act 1985 or section 6A of the Housing Act 1988. You may have to write once a week detailing the incidents. If they fail to take action, unfortunately, you don't have a remedy against them - although you could threaten that you will take proceedings against them in negligence (but I doubt that would be successful).

[paraffin]

Why isn't your friend posting this? Not wishing to be controversial, but does she even know about this? Are you her spokesman?

[Nosha123]

What an awful situation for your friends.
I would strongly consider taking action to get them evicted - and if it looks like that is unlikely or they are unwilling to do that - then move.

Its the only way to stop the problem. Scumbags like that dont change. The HA will more than likely ship them on to the next house where they will harrass their new neighbours.

Where were they housed before? Did they get moved due to problems there?

All the best

[Katiebee]

There's always one isn't there - paraffin, does it really matter to you why I'm posting this? Maybe she asked me to, maybe she didn't. Maybe she doesn't have a computer. Maybe she's not good with words.

Thank you all, the rest of you, for your helpful answers. They have filled in incident logbook after incident logbook already. They have phoned the HA on numerous occasions. They do have CCTV but have been advised by the Police that it should only cover only a certain small area at the front of their house rather than being able to cover anything the neighbours are up to - this was after the neighbour complained that my friend put up the CCTV! Unfortunately, they do not have the finance to move or even to rent so that is a no-go as well.

I did think the HA was talking nonsense myself but I will check out the references you gave Barmaid, and let my friend know.

Thank you all once again.

[scotman]

I am not an expert in this area but I think moving might be a problem if these people have to declare things like disputes with neighbours etc. I believe that would put off most prospective purchasers anyway.
I seem to remember back some time ago someone posted here about a bail hostel or something similar opening in their street and were advised by someone to contact the local council about getting their rateable value reduced due to loss of amenity.
This may be an option here.

[paraffin]

I'll overlook your tetchy remark, Katiebee. The reason I was asking was because I suspect your friend and her family are probably foreigners? In which case it would not be unreasonable for someone to seek help on their behalf, that's all. I may, of course, be wrong.

They also have recourse to their local Citizens Advice Bureau which can provide free legal advice. Well worth considering.

If your friend lives in England, for example, as opposed to another UK country, the housing associations are governed by a body known as the National Housing Federation (NHF).

The attached links may be of interest:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_associati on
http://www.housing.org.uk/default.aspx

Your friend appears to have been fobbed off by the Police whose remit is not to act as Judge and Jury, their responsibility is to investigate such allegations, gather whatever evidence is available, and present their findings to the Criminal Prosecution Service (CPS) which is the body tasked with bringing prosecutions and who are the ultimate authority on whether to prosecute or not.

I'll give you another link which may at least be of interest and is on the subject of Mediation which is a relatively newish concept in the UK whereby local authorities can appoint such a Mediator to try to resolve neighbours' disputes for example. It may not be the answer but is worth considering:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediation

I hope this information may be of help. Good luck.

[Katiebee]

paraffin - I apologise for my tetchy remark to you. Thank you for your response. No, my friends aren't foreigners and they do live in the UK. They've lived at their house for many, many years and are respectable, law-abiding people, who have never been in any trouble with anyone. They just want a quiet life and to be able to enjoy their home and their garden. The first week the neighbours moved in, they complained to the HA about the leaves falling into their garden from a small apple tree that my friend had. She was asked by the HA to cut it back , which she did, and then she eventually just cut it down completely because she couldn't stand the hassle, yet she has to put up with cigarette butts and all sorts being chucked into her garden.

I quite agree that they are being fobbed off by everybody at the moment, and seem to be banging their heads against one very large brick wall. As for mediation - been there, done that. The HA suggested mediation - my friend attended a session, but the neighbours chose not to! You can see the problem. It seems that whatever my friends do, they get nowhere. All the evidence points to the neighbours being in the wrong yet they're still there.

You've all given some very useful comments and information, so thank you again.