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Irish Times
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
My neighbour has been dumping their rubbish in my back garden and trespassing. What can I do?
I have recently inherited my parents' property, which includes some land bordering the west and south sides of a neighbour's property . The land has grown wild over time and a lot of it, particularly the boundary area with this neighbour, is obscured from vision. In the past couple of months, I have worked my way through the overgrowth to inspect the boundary and found a number of issues relating to the neighbour. They have been actively dumping over the boundary wall for some time. This includes loose ashes, loose organic waste and plastic bags of same, as well as old gutter pipes, other building and gardening scrap items. Additionally, I noticed that a Ring camera with a very wide viewing angle is installed on the neighbour's gable end. The camera is obviously directed over the boundary wall into my property. I have evidence that this camera is actively detecting motion on my property from quite a distance away. At some point, the neighbour also employed someone to go onto my property and cut away a large swathe of the overgrowth. Presumably they felt they had a right because a hedge may have been growing over to their side, but the cleared area is approximately seven metres back from the boundary and is easily more than 10 metres in length. The neighbour also has a long-standing shed built up against the boundary which has, more recently, had a waste pipe extended out the back wall across the boundary. It is hanging in mid-air within my property, excreting what I presume is water vapour from an oil burner in the shed. READ MORE I have approached the neighbour directly, but she doesn't really seem to care. The waste pipe has been cut and is now downturned on to the boundary. There are now a large number of waste bags piled on the corner of her site, ready to tip over into mine. I will not be surprised if local wildlife tear these bags to bits. I have approached the council, which has 'suggested' to her that she use the local waste collection service, which she shares with a sibling a few houses over. She has not shown any inclination to do this. I'm worried that the only way I can force her hand into rectifying these issues is to contact a solicitor to take a civil case against her. If at all possible, I do not want to go down this road. Are there any other actions I can take that might motivate this neighbour to get herself back into a legally correct position regarding these issues? Thank you. The dumping of domestic waste on adjoining properties is, unfortunately, quite a widespread practice, but one which is generally confined to locations that are overgrown or out of sight of the property owner concerned. The perpetrators can dump conveniently and undetected for some time. This is what has happened in your case. You are fortunate that the boundary is clearly defined by a wall, otherwise a contentious dumping issue could develop into a boundary location dispute. You are right to be concerned about taking a civil case. However, it is prudent to deal with it as if you were preparing the groundwork for a civil case. This means you should document all relevant data, including the nature of the dumping, trespassing, damage and dates of events including details of conversations etc. Check to see if the dumped material contains any item that directly links your neighbour to it. Your evidence should include photographs. You should also monitor the situation as frequently as possible. Patrick Shine is a chartered geomatics surveyor, a chartered civil engineer and a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland Your best course of action would be to approach your neighbour again, restate your concerns and, without accusing her directly, put the situation in context by explaining to her that the dumping is in breach of the 1996 Waste Management Act and that you will be obliged to make a formal report to the local council. You should also point out that the cutting of overgrowth on your land is an issue of trespass and damage that you will have to report to the gardai. You should explain that the Ring camera position is in breach of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and is a matter for the Data Protection Commissioner. Despite the seriousness of the situation, your approach should be conciliatory and expressed in a tone that seeks an amicable resolution. In effect, you would be asking her to consider the situation and giving her an opportunity to see what she can do to resolve the issue. As your land borders the west and south sides of her property, your overgrown hedge is likely to be preventing direct sunshine to her property from late morning to late evening. This may be an issue and if so, you could consider offering to cut back or reduce the height of some of the hedge, as part of building a cooperative relationship with her. [ I'm worried about our home being devalued because our neighbour's trees block light. What can we do? Opens in new window ] [ My son lives abroad and wants to sell his house here but the tenant won't move out. What can he do? Opens in new window ] You may feel that this approach is too conciliatory, but this issue can go one of two ways. Either your neighbour is persuaded to cooperate and remove the dumped material, or she ignores you and leaves you with little option but to get legal advice, which risks escalating the situation into litigation. This is the route you said you want to avoid. Another reason for avoiding litigation is that your evidence is largely circumstantial. You do not have direct evidence of her dumping, trespassing or damaging your hedge. An option you could consider, if your neighbour refuses to cooperate, is to clear the overgrowth. This action is undesirable from an environmental perspective and subject to seasonal restrictions. However, as people are unlikely to dump waste across their boundary on property that is open to view and well maintained, it may transpire to be your only option. Patrick Shine is a chartered geomatics surveyor, a chartered civil engineer and a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland Do you have a query? Email propertyquestions@ This column is a readers' service. The content of the Property Clinic is provided for general information only. It is not intended as advice on which readers should rely. Professional or specialist advice should be obtained before persons take or refrain from any action on the basis of the content. The Irish Times and its contributors will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from reliance on any content.
Independent Singapore
28-05-2025
- General
- Independent Singapore
‘It's like their storage unit' — Woman asks what can be done about neighbour who clutters the entrance corridor of their HDB unit
SINGAPORE: Fed up with her neighbour's clutter, a woman took to social media to ask how she can deal with the problem, adding that she's also concerned with making sure that her family stays safe, especially in an emergency. 'How to handle this kind of neighbour?' asked 岑燕飛 in a May 28 (Wednesday) post on the 岑燕飛 Complaint Singapore Facebook page. Screenshot She added that the neighbors clutter their entrance corridor to the point of making it difficult to go in and out every day. The post author also claimed that the neighbour stores items inside their electric meter drawer, which could be dangerous. Moreover, she added that there are slippers and dirty socks 'spreading everywhere.' She also featured photos of the clutter on her TikTok account. 岑燕飛 explained in her post that before she and her family moved in, the neighbours used the corridor as their 'private storage room' and when they first saw it they were shocked. At the time, however, the neighbour promised to clean up everything before 岑燕飛 and her family moved in, but instead of doing so, they simply made excuses, and only half of the clutter was cleared up. Three weeks after they had gotten the key to the unit from HDB, the neighbour's clutter was still there. 'We can't keep waiting for them… as we also need a place to stay,' she wrote, adding that she and her family had thought the neighbours would clear the rest of their items out once they moved in, as 'normal people will do if they know how to respect their neighbours.' And while 岑燕飛 's husband tried to communicate with the neighbour's son to ask them to clear their clutter, even more stuff accumulated, including a washing machine. As for the post author, she only keeps a broom outside her main door. However, her neighbour moved the broom to make way for their own items, doing so in such a noisy manner late at night. The post author wondered what would happen if an accident should occur, how she, her husband, and their three young children would be able to get out quickly. The Independent Singapore reached out to 岑燕飛 , who told us that she has since heard from the Town Council and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). An officer from the Town Council is scheduled to come over on Thursday (May 29) to hand over a notice to the neighbour informing them they need to remove the items within seven days. 'Every day, I must face this kind of neighbor. It is really very stressful as I have kids around me. I just worry that if any accident happens, I won't even be able to escape, nor save my kids.' She added that she had thought many times before reporting her neighbours, out of respect and the desire to maintain good relationships with them. However, due to their actions, she told TISG, 'I have no choice.' /TISG Read also: Elderly karung guni clutters corridor in Potong Pasir HDB but neighbour worries about fire hazards —who should give way?
BBC News
23-05-2025
- BBC News
Antisocial behaviour: 'Every night there is banging on our walls'
"I was physically sick, and we are all mentally exhausted – every hour of every night there is banging on our walls."Sarah*, a mother of two, said she had endured persistent antisocial behaviour from her next-door neighbours for more than two years, and her landlord, Birmingham City Council, is ignoring her pleas for local authority said it had established a new set of standards in dealing with antisocial behaviour and added: "It is an issue we take seriously and want to improve upon." Living in a semi-detached property in a Birmingham suburb, Sarah told the BBC it was as though the walls between the neighbouring properties were paper local authority had sent warning letters to neighbours, but the noise continues, Sarah said, and some of the wall has crumbled away as a result of continued of this comes at a point Birmingham is seeing large numbers of complaints about antisocial have obtained figures through a Freedom of Information request that show that since 2022, the council has received and investigated 16,575 complaints about antisocial behaviour in council numbers have fallen from 5,491 in 2022 to 4,624 last year. Sarah's neighbours were served injunctions in 2023, preventing them from harassing or abusing her family, and it also applies to threats made against council employees who visit the down in tears, Sarah told the BBC her son had been self-harming due to the continued anxiety."All I've had from the city council is constant excuses for my neighbour. We submitted CCTV footage, and they told us it's 'normal noise'."I feel like they're afraid to go any further with it, and I can't understand why when I'm literally on my knees begging them to help us."Sarah's experience is not in the figures we have obtained also show that since 2022, only 27 tenants have been evicted, but the authority said it did not currently categorise antisocial behaviour as a reason for data was finally released to us last week, after several months of Information Commissioner's Office subsequently found that the council had breached the Freedom of Information Act by failing to release the data to the BBC within the 20-day time limit. Preet Kaur Gill, Labour MP for Edgbaston, said she had seen a big increase in council tenants contacting her over antisocial behaviour and is urging the authority to review its response."The council does have an effective policy, so it needs to make sure it's compliant with it."We have to look at how on earth we have got to a situation where we have around 5,000 cases of antisocial behaviour every single year. "We only have about 100 housing officers, so how will they cope with that level of demand?" The MP also said there should be a fresh look at how tenants gather is concerned tenants have lost faith in housing officers and are considering CCTV cameras trained on neighbouring properties to gather evidence of wrongdoing. Paul*, who lives in sheltered accommodation, contacted us to say he had "hit a brick wall" where he could not get help after complaining about a neighbour's antisocial behaviour for two described verbal abuse from a female resident, including threats of violence, while car headlights had been deliberately beamed through his has recorded some of the behaviour on a CCTV camera, and his neighbour has been handed a community order, the BBC understands, but like Sarah, he said the behaviour was ongoing."I'm not sleeping or eating properly; I have a heart condition, and it's making life a misery," he said."The authorities, I think, should have acted a lot quicker than they have done over the past two years because they've practically done nothing."I don't want [my neighbour] to get into trouble, really, I think they need help, but if they carry on, they need to be moved." Paul and Sarah are among a growing number of tenants who are contacting me, suggesting the council is failing to resolve neighbourhood disputes.A council spokesperson decided not to respond to Sarah and Paul's cases but instead said: "We now have 102 housing officers who deal with reports of antisocial behaviour, who will… visit and work with tenants and also make visits to perpetrators… in an attempt to find a resolution."The council aims to deal with antisocial behaviour by using a range of tools and powers. This includes mediation, as well as eviction, which is used as a last resort when all other solutions have been tried."Sarah said the authority had a duty to ensure its tenants could feel safe in their homes."If the shoe was on the other foot and it was happening to them, it wouldn't be allowed, so why is it allowed for me to sit here and deal with it? It's just not fair."*Sarah and Paul are not their real names. If you are experiencing any difficulties or want more information, support can be found through the BBC'S Action Line Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Independent Singapore
14-05-2025
- Independent Singapore
Holland Village resident spends $800 to gather evidence against loud neighbours, receives sympathy from Singaporeans
SINGAPORE: After it was reported that a man living in Holland Village allegedly spent $800 to gather evidence against his upstairs neighbours who made loud noises at different times of the day and night, commenters expressed sympathy, and many shared similar experiences, as this problem seems to be not at all uncommon. The man, 47, has lived with his mum, 85, for more than four decades at Jalan Merah Saga. However, over the past six years, they have reportedly been subjected to different kinds of noise from the unit on the floor above them, where two elderly sisters reside. These include the sound of chairs being dragged, objects smashed, and the heavy tread of footsteps. According to a Mustshare News report, the loud sounds bother him and his mum during the day and wake him up at night. The man has resorted to messaging the sisters to remind them not to make so much noise. While there was a mediation session between the neighbours in an attempt to resolve the problem, the elderly women refuted the allegation that they were responsible for the loud sounds. As a concession, the women accepted the man's suggestion that they wear slippers in their unit to minimise the noise their footsteps make, but Mustshare News says they've done 'little' to resolve the issue overall. Three years ago, the man took steps to soundproof his flat, but says that this has not been effective in sufficiently muffling the sounds from his neighbours. Unfortunately, the noises have even bothered his mum in the middle of the night, causing her to wake up screaming, not just once but twice. The man has also taken to going on walks when the noise prevents him from sleeping, but he has grown easily irritable due to the situation. The report added that he has since hired a company for the specific purpose of gathering evidence of the noises they make, spending $800 on having the company record the noises that he and his mum have been subjected to. It also says he has no desire to take legal action against the elderly women, who are acquaintances of his mother. But during the pandemic, when as many as 500 footsteps could be heard in his flat, he called the authorities. Taken from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m., the recording is said to have caught the sounds of footsteps, knocking, moving chairs, and heavy objects, which took place at least two times per hour of recording. The loudest noise registered at 57 decibels. For comparison's sake, 50 decibels is what a moderate rainfall sounds like, and 57 decibels is loud enough to be bothersome to someone who wants to sleep. Sympathetic commenters acknowledged that the problems the man and his mother face are common in Singapore. 'In a dense living (HDB), public housing consisting of small units with basic amenities environment like Singapore, extremely experiencing noise may be inevitable, which can lead to conflicts and disputes among residents,' wrote one. Another told his own story, 'Noise is a very difficult issue. My neighbour below confronted me for making noise, dragging chairs. A few weeks later, he came to apologise and said he had found the source. It is the unit below him making the noise.' 'It's true, if you really want to buy an HDB, you better be the one at the roof, so you won't encounter too many problems,' a Facebook user advised. 'Same as my upstairs neighbour. Consistent knocking (dragging of furniture, dropping heavy objects like hammers, etc) and some days of drilling,' wrote another. /TISG Read also: 'Help, my neighbour blasts music at 3 am, wakes up my toddlers!'
