Nuisance Neighbour

[cassa333]

Hi, Can anyone help me with a problem I am having.

The retired lady who lives next door to my tenant has complained that she is a nuisance and she wants me to evict her.

As far as I am aware she has had a couple of parties (she has been there since last May) and has had to replace the front door as it slammed shut when her toddler was in the house and pans on the hob so she had to break it down.

Tha back garden (totaly enclosed) is a bit of a mess but what do you expect with a small child?

The neighbour is demanding we evict her and that we show her the gas cert to prove we have one which I will not do as it has nothing to do with her. She sent this letter by registered post and demanded a reply within 7 days.

This girl is a single mother and gets her rent paid by HB. I don't want to just evict her, she is a single mum after all. Can this neighbour make me get rid of her?

I have suggested she contact the local council noise abaitement officer and see what they say.

The last tenant I had was a quiet couple with no children but I think this woman just wants everything her way.

I have read the riot act to the tenant and told her to be conciderate of the neighbours but a girl with a young child is going to be noisier than an old woman on her own.

[daffy654]

If the elderly neighbour has noise problems with your tenant then she does need to take the matter up with the local council noise abatement officer(environmental health).If you have spoken to your tenant then there is not a great deal more you can do.You can warn her that she may be subject to eviction if she doesn't stick to the tenancy agreement and hope that she doesn't have any more parties.

[DanAB]

you cant really evict someone because of one complaint. i would only take it seriously if more people have complained to you. my guess is just an old lady who has got nothing better to do.

[LoftyLottie2]

I would agree with both posts above. The old lady should complain to the environmental health officer, but it doesn't sound as if there are any really valid complaints. The environmental health officer will just ask her to keep a diary of events to substantiate her claims about noise. They will not worry about an untidy garden unless it is attracting vermin or overgrown to such an extent that is causing problems to the neighbours.

[cassa333]

Thanks

Thats what I thought.

She is a retired head teacher and I think she was working on the assumption that my agent is young and she could 'bully' her into getting her own way.

Cassa

[LoftyLottie2]

The old lady does sound like a bullying teacher, asking you for evidence of your gas certificate and demanding reply in 7 days! Old habits don't die hard! :o)

[natalie_1982]

Hi cassa, I work in an office that deals with reports of anti social behaviour, we work closely with the police, social services and environmental health, amongst other agencies. If your tenant's neighbour has any concerns she should contact the relevant authority, who will ask her to complete incident diaries and would consider installing noise monitoring equipment, etc.

Sadly, we get a lot of complaints from people who simply want "nice" neighbours, i.e. not neighbours whose rent is paid by HB. We often get the same when an Asian or African family moves in. I would suggest you advise the old lady to contact her local authority / council who will point her in the right direction, you have been more than helpful already in responding to her and speaking with your tenant.

However, replacing the front door does sound fairly suspicious, although her excuse may well be valid, I would keep an extra close eye on it.

Hope everything works out x

[themas]

As well as all the above, you have to consider whether you would be able to evict her if you wanted to. I assume she has a normal Assured Shorthold Tenancy, so you would have to get a Court order to evict her unless you leave it till the end of the fixed term.

From what you have said, I think it very unlikely that a Court would grant an eviction order.