Housing problem ...another update (Post #33)

Marcel

Marcel

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Marcel
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Further to the thread here, where the stupid mare in the flat above us leaked us out again...

We're both tenants of a Housing Association.
We've been to complain about the neighbour to our Housing Office, only to be told :

That there is *nothing* they can do. All they can do is write to her under the nuisance neighbour scheme.
RE: The damage in our flat (wallpaper etc), we have to claim from the other tenant directly, as it's not their responsibility...they "Don't get involved when its damage to a tenants belongings". If it was damage to the actual flat then they would.

So basically we're screwed. There is absolutely nothing they can do. We've asked for a surveyor to come out and inspect the property as it's been flooded so many times. This they said they'll do.

But as far as anything else is concerned...tough.

I thought it was the landlord of the other property that is ultimately responsible. And we should have to claim from the landlord, who, in turn, will have to claim their costs back from their tenant? As it turns out, that's not the case.

Obviously we can't afford to take this woman upstairs to court. Not that we'd get anything anyway (Judging by the amount of bailiffs ringing our buzzer to get to her flat).

We're now stuck here with stained wallpaper, a room that smells (although faintly now as it's been two weeks) of damp plaster, and a HA that will only "Write to her to tell her it's not nice and to ask her to be more careful".
 
Bummer Marcel ... tough one ... sorry to hear that ...:shake:

For your own sanity you gotta move m8 ...:shrug:

People can be right pigs ... and that's a fact ...:suspect:




:p
 
We might actually do that mrgubby. I'll look into how much it costs.
 
It won't cost you anything if you win (which you probably will). She'll have to pay your court costs.
 
Marcel, it stinks, and I dont mean the wet plaster!

You have to keep pushing one way or another, because after 10 years of her, you know there will always be another thing, a next time!

Personally Id keep pushing from the medical aspect too.
My neighbours damn near drove me insane but I foolishly never used that route to try & escape them. Years on, Ive learned of others who have been successful in moving on medical grounds and realise now that I was just too polite. When I was turned away, I went, when I was turned down I took it on the chin but, thats how badly these people had ground me down.
You always find its the peeps with the loudest shout who get action, either that or through sheer persistance!
Dont give up Marcel... you deserve better.
Good luck mate!
 
Very true. I got moved on grounds of my house being uninhabitable - my kitchen walls were 90% saturated... Wait for the surveyor's report and if there's ANYTHING untoward, get Environmental Health involved. That will bump your points up quite a bit...
 
Get doctors involoved, get them to state that the stress isnt helping and it is effecting health in general. Kepp hounding them, get your local MP involved as well, keep copies of letters and records of conversations with people about it, then if nothing happens threaten to go to the papers if nothing else is working.
 
Yeah, further to what everybody's said, get as many official types involved as you can. One of them is bound to be able to do something. Ring the police, and report it as criminal damage. Can't hurt.
 
Venomator said:
If she has the money ...:eek:


:p
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A neighbour has been through something similar recently - apparently the court will pay it out of the public fund and try to recover the cost from her. (Basically the court pays you, then issues a court order for her to pay £5/week or whatever directly to the court). If they can't recover it, its their problem then to deal with as they see fit.
 
I advert you to me earlier recommendation - Luger, petrol, matches. End of...
 
Arkady said:
I advert you to me earlier recommendation - Luger, petrol, matches. End of...
Click to expand...

Apart from the Luger = lotsa holes which someone might notice.
The petrol and matches bit woudnt work... its all wet. It'd just smoulder.:shake:
 
Marcel, you've only heard one position - that of the HA. Find a local solicitor that will give a free first consultation and run it by them.

Also - visit http://www.ihos.org.uk/ and see if your HA is a member. It should be. Then initiate a complaint through them.

Don't - do nothing.
 
Do you think she is trying to get a ground floor flat? Or is she just stupid?
 
Just because the housing association say they are not liable doesn't mean it's so. If you are considering the small claims court consider also suing them the same way. I'm pretty sure you could make a case for negligence on their part.
 
Steep said:
Just because the housing association say they are not liable doesn't mean it's so. If you are considering the small claims court consider also suing them the same way. I'm pretty sure you could make a case for negligence on their part.
Click to expand...

Would agree with the above, the housing association have a responsibility to ensure that their tenants act in a responsible manner and do not damage the property, from what you describe she is consitently damaging the property with water. Take her to court and the same with the Association, you may find they will act quickly. Maybe also the local press, stories of nuisance neabours always interesting, especially if she a silly cow.... Ian :shrug:
 
She's just stupid, I honestly think that.

We've always said there's something not right about her, and this proves it...she's dozy. In our conversations with the past, we've concluded she's 'not all there'.

I did ring the local Housing Advisory service yesterday, who basically said the housing was legally right. Wallpaper etc is contents, and they aren't under obligation to replace it. Nor can they be held accountable for her leaking us out. The reason being...because it's non intentional. If she was deliberately doing it, it could be considered anti-social behaviour and there's a clear cut path of action to take with that. Because it's accidental, it's a different matter.

I do think however, we have a case with a neighbour nuisance claim.
From the Housing Associations website / published policies :


From the Housing Associations own publication :

Neighbour Nuisance (NN)
The Association defines Neighbour Nuisance as detailed under section 144
and 148 of The Housing Act 1996 ‘not to cause or do anything to cause a
nuisance, annoyance or disturbance to a tenant or any other person residing
in or visiting the dwelling house’…
Click to expand...

This, coupled with the banging about in the early hours, the drunken slanging matches, the throwing fags into the garden (and either burning the kids toys or ruining my bloomin carrots....(Still miffed about that...lol)), definitely makes it a neighbour nuisance.

What is puzzling my mum and I though, is this.

My mums husband drinks in the locaxl with the Housing Officers father-in-law, so mentioned our situation to him. Naturally he agreed she wasn't doing her job, and that something should have been done a while ago....and offered to have a word with her. When he did, she denied that it was her that my wife spoke to, but said "Well, now I know who they are, tell him to come into the Housing Office and we'll sort something out".

So yesterday we went in. When we did though, she asked us who had made the appointment, to which we replied "No one, your father in law passed the message onto us to come in and see you", so she said "Oh yes, right".

She was then really flustered for some reason. I took in photos of the leak damage (like in the other thread), all printed and a photo from a previous leak, and we had to keep shoving them under her nose to get her to look at them. She looked very embarassed, but as though she just wasn't planning on doing anything. She took no notes, nothing. She just basically refused to help. She also then admitted, that on the morning of the leak, just after my wife phoned her....she then phoned the upstairs tenant to see what was going on.

Home phone calls are a regular thing now are they? The housing has never phoned us in 10 years (Yes they have our number). Everything is done by letter. It then clicks into place that they might be friendly with one another which explains the reluctance of the Housing Officer to help. (The upstairs neighbour works behind the bar in a local pub).

My mum and I both agreed yesterday that something wasn't right when we went into the housing. My mum knows her, and she said "That's not the way she is...she's never normally that flustered or embarassed".

Thinking out loud now....
 
Something malodorous in the state of denmark methinks.

I smell something as fishy as an otters pocket!

This is the sort of goldmine of scandal that the daily 'Scum' would love to hear about I'm sure.......

Again, just thinking out loud ;)
 
Has she not got a manager you could talk to about all of this.
 
sue said:
Get doctors involoved, get them to state that the stress isnt helping and it is effecting health in general. Kepp hounding them, get your local MP involved as well, keep copies of letters and records of conversations with people about it, then if nothing happens threaten to go to the papers if nothing else is working.
Click to expand...


i have to agree with all of the above,doctors notes and letters particularly about stress, before i lived where i am now, i lived in a block with a few smack heads,a real pain in the arse with loud music etc, but of course they never had to get up in the morning to go to work, so it did,ent matter to them that i did, it did take about 10 months to get out of there, but i used to be on the phone to my local MP at least once a week,for regular updates about the situation, he in turn kept onto the council, i always worked on the assumption that if i kept on there case they would get fed up with me, and the only way they could get rid of me was to rehouse me, which worked in the end, admittedly i had to tell a few porkys to them along the way, but as i've learnt from experience, you very rarely get anywhere with government agencies by telling them the truth, and as sue said keep hounding them, be like a bloody dog with a bone that does'ent let go.
 
Marcel said:
I did ring the local Housing Advisory service yesterday, who basically said the housing was legally right. Wallpaper etc is contents, and they aren't under obligation to replace it. Nor can they be held accountable for her leaking us out. The reason being...because it's non intentional. If she was deliberately doing it, it could be considered anti-social behaviour and there's a clear cut path of action to take with that. Because it's accidental, it's a different matter.
Click to expand...

Blox m8 ... sorry ... once might be accidental ... once a year is downright negligent nuisance ...:suspect:

And if those are HA 'rules' you quoted ... then they have an obligation to enforce them ...one way or the other ...end of ...:thinking:

Give them ultimatum before going to court ... get her out ... or get you out ...their choice ...:shrug:

Whatever route you go ... good luck Marcel ... we're all rooting for you ...and if there is anything we can do ...:D




:p
 
But surely she has damaged your flat - she has flooded the place and all the walls are damp. Isn't that classed as damage? :thinking: I'd echo the sentiments of everyone else. Get as many people as possible on your side and shout loudly to make yourself heard.
 
Well the walls don't feel damp anymore. Not to the touch, but one thing I've noticed is that if we leave the windows shut, when we wake up in the morning, theyre full of condensation, which they never used to be (and I don't just mean at the bottom, I mean all up the window).

Surely that's indicative of moisture in the air?

I'll be wording a letter this weekend to send recorded delivery to the housing on monday, requesting the problem be addressed through the neighbour nuisance program.

I've been logging all dates, times and incidents with her (mostly of noise).
Last night she buggered off out and locked her grandson out (He's 9 or 10 I think), and he ended up ringing our buzzer to get in. Then he was banging about for a couple of hours.

I know I'm beginning to sound like Victor Meldrew now...lol


As for the medical aspect, I do have Asthma (as does my daughter). I've had a bit of a cough / chesty wheeze since it happened (we sleep in this room she leaked out). I've now developed a cold, and funnily enough, I'm already on medication for depression. A visit to the doctors the other day and before upping the dose, she asked me if there was anything that might have contributed to the recent bout of depression.

Me like a tool said "Er, not that I can think of". Everyone says I should have told her about this problem, but I didn't think at the time (nor attributed it to this). I suppose I'm too bloomin honest to say anything.

Thanks for all the replies everyone :)
 
Marcel, wet plaster can take weeks to dry out - literally - so the additional moisture will be coming from that.

As for last night, going out and so on - I may be mistaken, but I think it's against the law to leave a child under 12 unattended.

And your doctor - mention it again to her. She'll put it on your records, so you'll have it documented there too.
 
Catdaddy said:
Marcel, wet plaster can take weeks to dry out - literally - so the additional moisture will be coming from that.

As for last night, going out and so on - I may be mistaken, but I think it's against the law to leave a child under 12 unattended.

And your doctor - mention it again to her. She'll put it on your records, so you'll have it documented there too.
Click to expand...


I thought so too. But they've done it for years. The amount of times we've seen him sat on the step outside, waiting for them to come home.
Earlier this year, we were having a BBQ in the back garden, and he was sat round the side waiting for them to come home. They'd just buggered off out and left him again, so we ended up feeding him.

We did the same with the great grandma once. Very old and frail. Taxi dropped her off one day and there was no one in, they'd gone into town shopping. We couldn't just leave her stood there for god knows how long so we invited her in and made her a cuppa etc. She was really nice, but did the daughter / other one say thanks? Not a sausage.
 
Jeez - some people, eh? She seems to be a complete waste of a skin!
 
Get back in touch with the doctors and tell them you realised what could be making it all worse and get them to put it on recorded and write you a letter to send to the housing people, get them to give it to you first and then you can keep a copy for your records, tell everyone about it, look into reporting the incidents to the police, more you have to use against her in time the better.
 
Well, a little update.

We got offered a house today :D

Can't go and view it until Monday though, and although it looks like a couple of jobs need doing on it, it looks spot on :thumbs:

Chuffed is an understatement. Although it looks like we might not be moving this side of christmas....
 
Wooh! Sounds great Bodders. I bet you're well made up. :thumbs:
 
Excellent news Marcel - best of luck with it!
 
Good news, maybe you should drill holes in your ceiling and stick a hose pipe up them as a leaving present....
 
Oh that is good news Marcel. Really hope it works out well for you :thumbs:

BTW, just make sure the day you move out you remember to turn all the gas taps errr ............. off ? :naughty:
 
Fingers and otherbits crossed
 
That's brilliant news Marcel ... so pleased for you at last ... but make sure you check out the neighbours thoroughly m8 ...:D
 
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