What to Do About Intimidating Neighbours?
Your home is meant to be your sanctuary. The place where you step away from workplace stress and the challenges that life brings. Unfortunately for some of us, that safe haven doesn’t exist. Intimidating neighbours can cause your home life to be fraught with difficulty. It can be something that can set off a chain of events causing damage mentally, financially, and occasionally, physically.
What do you do if such a situation arises though? You could approach your neighbour, but you may not feel comfortable doing so. You could contact the police, but could this further exacerbate the tension? Or do you leave it, and just hope things return to a level of calm?
We’ve put together a blog explaining what to do if you have intimidating neighbours. It’s worth noting that not all issues with neighbours are classed as a dispute or intimidation, so you should explore all avenues before taking action as you could make the situation worse.
What is classed as a dispute with neighbours?
A dispute with a neighbour is anything that causes stress or friction between two or more parties. This could range from something relatively small that could be solved quite quickly to something significant that requires legal intervention. None of these make for a comfortable environment, regardless of how easy they are to solve, and nobody would feel comfortable living in a home having to face any of them.
Common forms of disputes between neighbours include:
- Anti-social behaviour
- Criminal activity
- Boundary disputes
- Noise pollution
- Harassment
- Party wall disputes
What is classed as intimidation from neighbours?
Intimidation can stem from any of the above situations and could range from threatening emails and verbal disagreements to vandalism and physical altercations. At times, the intimidation may not be directed at you. But the behaviour of the neighbour in and around their property could make you concerned. This can still feel intimidating, and make you feel unsafe in your home. Even if you are not the target of their behaviour.
What should you do if you feel intimidated by your neighbour?
Intimidation can feel scary, especially if you don’t completely know your neighbour and how far they may go if a situation gets out of hand. There are a few steps you can take to help defuse the situation.
Assess the situation
If you have been on the receiving end of what you believe to be intimidating behaviour from a neighbour, you should first assess the situation before taking any action. Is the behaviour intimidating or simply a misunderstanding? Or could your attempt at intervention or reconciliation make things worse? For example, if an angry note has been left on your windshield due to how you parked your car, it may feel a little concerning at first, but it might just be the frustration that you blocked them in that led to the note being left.
Be calm and courteous
If you decide to approach your neighbour, you should always remain calm and respectful. If approaching them in person, remain clear in your explanation of why their behaviour is making you feel intimidated. Perhaps explain in writing, if you prefer. Don’t let the words become malicious though. Accusations or intimidation from yourself could inflame the situation. If their intimidating behaviour has stemmed from a dispute over a boundary, for example, present evidence if you have it, that they are misinformed about the boundary.
Set boundaries
When explaining your concerns to your neighbour, clearly establish boundaries. Let them know what you deem acceptable, and clearly explain what is causing your household distress and why those actions are affecting you and the others living with you.
Document incidents
Regardless of whether you have contacted your neighbour regarding their behaviour, you should document what has been happening. Include dates, times, and details of what has been happening. Should the intimidating behaviour require escalation to the police, this documentation could come in useful. If you have been sent threatening e-mails, keep them, if you have had nuisance phone calls, log when they happened and what was said in the call.
Seek mediation
If you either do not feel comfortable approaching your neighbour or have but haven’t seen any change in their behaviour, you could seek mediation. If their property is rented, you could look to contact their landlord who may act as a middleman to help settle the situation. If reaching out to a landlord is not a possibility, you can seek the services of a third party. Commonly used for neighbour disputes, mediation can also be beneficial when neighbours have been intimidating. The intervention of a third party may show your neighbour that you are serious about their behaviour being addressed.
Contact local council
Some forms of intimidation from neighbours aren’t deemed illegal but are an inconvenience or disruption to the neighbourhood. Loud dogs, excessive music and more can all present an intimidating atmosphere, and if you have tried to placate the situation calmly in the past to no avail, the local council may be able to enforce action.
Contact the police
If the intimidation from your neighbours has reached levels where you feel unsafe or have concerns over the security of your property, you should contact the police. Use the information you have documented previously as a backup to your claims. If the behaviour from your neighbour either verges on being illegal or in fact is illegal, you should contact the police immediately.
Move house
As a last resort, if you feel that living in the area is no longer suitable, you should look to sell your house and rid yourself of the intimidating neighbours right away. Unfortunately, the traditional method of selling means you could find yourself in this uncomfortable position for considerably longer than you wished. An alternative would be for a guaranteed sale that can happen in as little as seven days. Companies like Gaffsy operate a “We buy any house” business model that means you can sell your house fast, without worrying that a long drawn-out process lies ahead.
Do you have to disclose intimidating neighbours when selling your house?
When selling your house, you must declare any neighbour disputes. It is, in fact, a legal requirement. Should you fail to declare a neighbour dispute on the TA6 form, you could find yourself accused of mis-selling your home and have legal action taken against you. There are several things you must disclose when selling a home, and disputes with neighbours are just one of the many.
Sometimes an intimidating neighbour can bring extremely uncomfortable levels of stress and worry to your household. If you have exhausted all avenues and found things are not getting better, or simply want to avoid the risk of things escalating after attempting to fix them, speak to Gaffsy. We can facilitate the rapid sale of your home with a no obligation cash offer. We even cover your legal fees, so your sale is completely worry-free. Simply contact us today to see how easy it is to sell your house, or sell your flat fast. And if you think your house has become more undesirable due to the disputes or intimidation you’ve encountered, you do not need to worry. Gaffsy are the industry experts for selling a house deemed unsellable, we’ll even do it in seven days.
