FOOL'S EYE VIEW
You, Your Neighbour And The Law

By Jane Mack (TMFJane)
October 21, 2002

Like many people, I've lived with a few dodgy lodgers or flatmates down the years. Usually any problems are relatively easy to resolve. Lodgers you can get rid of, and flatmates come and go – or you can. It's only rent after all. But what about when you own your home and the problem is your neighbour?

As various TV series and newspaper headlines on the subject seem to testify, neighbours from hell are not so easy to cope with – and it's a growing problem. Most of us are able to put up with the stresses and strains of daily life but it's usually in the knowledge that at the end of the day we can go home and shut the door on the outside world. We've got our little 'castle' to go to. A safe haven. But what happens if you actually dread going home because you've discovered you live next door to the neighbour from hell?

Various laws have been introduced over the years to try and combat disputes between neighbours, and some of them are very good laws if you're prepared to use them properly. But they've thrown up a problem that can make it very difficult for people to just sell up and move away from the source of their aggravation.

Nowadays, when you sell your home, you have to answer a couple of very important questions on the query form sent to you by the buyer's solicitor. They go something like this:

"Is the Seller aware of any past or current disputes regarding boundaries, easements, covenants or other matters relating to the property or its use?

Has the Seller complained, or had cause to complain about the state and condition, or the manner of use, of any adjoining or neighbouring property?"

In other words, have you ever fallen out with your neighbours?

If you're selling your home to get away from your own neighbour-from-hell, what do you do? If you say: "Yes", you'll have trouble selling your property. If you lie and say: "No", the buyer can later sue you.

If the unwary buyer can find evidence that you misrepresented the truth on the pre-sale questionnaire, they can sue you for damages, get a reduction in the price of the property or most drastic of all, ensure that the sale is rescinded. (There are some tips for prospective buyers who'd prefer to avoid this sort of thing in the first place in the Viewing and Making an Offer section of our Homeowning Centre by the way.)

It's the homeowner who's got the actual problem neighbour who is really stuck between a rock and a hard place. Whether it's excessive noise, damage to property or constant smelly bonfires in the back garden, the obvious solution is to try and nip any dispute in the bud, of course. Unfortunately there are some people who simply aren't reasonable and if the initial friendly chat over the garden fence doesn't go quite as planned, then it may escalate into something that you hadn't bargained for.

Mediation UK may be able to help in such circumstances. They've got lots of tips on how to handle your neighbour if you want to resolve any dispute yourself but will provide a free, informal, mediation service which could help if you don't want to tackle your inconsiderate neighbour on your own. They claim a 90% success rate – so it could be a good option to go for if you don't want the problem to escalate – or to face that troublesome pre-sale questionnaire if and when you finally decide to move.

On Wednesday and Friday, we'll look at the various official or legal actions you can take if you really cannot stomach dealing with your neighbour. You do have rights – quite a lot of them. It's just that you need to go about asserting them in the right way as well as following through with the process to get the result you want.

More: Homeowning Centre

Part 2 - Dealing With Noisy Neighbours
Part 3 - Neighbours From Hell

A version of this article was published in October 2001.