We buy a home with a vision of how wonderful it is going to be living there. However sometimes we end up getting a nasty surprise that for the most part we can do nothing about, bad neighbours.
The problems our neighbours can create for us are endless, ranging from annoying through to downright destructive behaviour. People take it very personally when others affect their ability to enjoy their home and privacy and this is compounded when the problem lives next door 24/7.
The most common complaints people have of their neighbours are the following:
Rubbish all over the place
Barking dogs
Noisy children
Parties all the time
Spousal fighting
Spying on you Parking disputes
All of these issues, if left unchecked, may put a great deal of stress on your relationship with your neighbour. I lived in a rented house a few years back that had a family with two small boys living next door. The children enjoyed throwing their toys over the wall and watching them smash on the paving I had at the back. The tenant before me had merely thrown the pieces back over the wall, I didn’t want to do this for fear of injuring one of the children as they were rather large toys.
I know children will be children but their parents never scolded them for dirtying my yard and it was only after they started throwing drill bits at people that I was forced to increase the urgency of my complaints. I had children myself that may have been injured.
Whenever dealing with their parents I was always polite but firm because they would try and excuse the behaviour by saying that it only happened a few times a week and we should just throw everything back over the wall which I refused to do. The parents needed to realise how inconvenient it was for me to keep dealing with their mess by making them come and fetch the things that were thrown over.
Eventually, after many months of complaining every time it happened, they finally stopped throwing their things over the wall.
The best way to deal with something that is basically just annoying is to be persistent but polite. Eventually your “annoying ” persistence should show results.
However in the case of more serious transgressions one should always deal with the authorities, such as vandalism of your property by a neighbour or threats of violence.
Remember that when dealing with a neighbour you are more than likely still going to be living next door to them for years to come and that it is very unpleasant having a bad relationship with your neighbours. Try and keep your dealings with them as amicable as possible.
