Do you like your neighbours

[Ghostpumpkin]

We only have one neighbour next to us and they are ok, couple with a baby daughter no problems, although they dug up the whole back garden and put it all on the front and there’s still a huge pile of mud there, you’d think it would get on there nerves our old neighbours were very odd. The story was that she owned the house and he was initially a lodger, they fell in love and ended up having a baby but they looked like they were in their late 50s/60s. She never worked I don’t think but he worked in a bakery, he was very odd, I once looked out the window and saw him stood naked on his sofa watching the lion king in black and white! Weird! They randomly split up and he knocked on the door to tell us they were moving out, he was actually a lot more normal than we thought.

 

[Gembo]

The first place my husband and I lived together was like Ramsay Street, everyone had lived there in excess of 20 years and were great friends, used to stand in the street chatting, went to each other’s weddings and funerals, it was really lovely. The second place we lived our neighbours were a nightmare, it gave me such bad anxiety and I know this might sound extreme but I think I have some sort of PTSD from it, I get really edgy now if I hear loud music late or night or see someone parked somewhere they shouldn’t be, they were hell. We ended up in a legal situation with them cos of parking and had to declare when we sold, it was the single worst experience of my life. We actually went into rented before the sale went through because we couldn’t stand being next door to them any longer and we paid a removal company to pack all our things so we didn’t have to go back. They were utter scum.

The house we’re in now is detached and before we bought it I knocked on all the neighbours doors to see what they were like, I wasn’t taking any chances. Our neighbours now are lovely and I would never buy an attached house ever again. I’d much rather a tiny detached than a bigger semi, for me it just wasnt worth the stress. If I could give anyone any advice when it comes to house buying just as a starter, never buy a property with shared access or a shared driveway, you might not have problems but if you do it can be a lot of trouble.

 

[princessdeniz]

I’ve lived in my family home for as long as I can remember and I only know my right hand side neighbour. She’s a little over 80 and her son is her caretaker. They’re both lovely. We’ve had so many people move in and out of the house on our left. At the moment there’s a noisy family of 6 with 3 noisy dogs who are out in the back garden until 3am everyday. It’s driving me insane as I’m a uni student trying to study but my mum doesn’t want any trouble so I can’t really tell them to stfu

 

[Hendrix]

I live in a semi detached house that me and my partner moved into in December last year and it’s a couple about our age (early 30s) with a 2 year old attached to us. Hardly see them but during the summer we had a few chats over the fence in the back garden and they seem nice. We hear their daughter having tantrums sometimes when our house is silent but compared to our old house I’d take a child crying occasionally over dogs barking for 12 hours a day..

Our neighbours on the other side (not attached) is an older couple (60s) who are lovely and always say hello in passing.

I like having neighbours that say hello, I couldn’t be bothered with the awkwardness of saying nothing.

 

[ClockworkDolly]

The first place my husband and I lived together was like Ramsay Street, everyone had lived there in excess of 20 years and were great friends, used to stand in the street chatting, went to each other’s weddings and funerals, it was really lovely. The second place we lived our neighbours were a nightmare, it gave me such bad anxiety and I know this might sound extreme but I think I have some sort of PTSD from it, I get really edgy now if I hear loud music late or night or see someone parked somewhere they shouldn’t be, they were hell. We ended up in a legal situation with them cos of parking and had to declare when we sold, it was the single worst experience of my life. We actually went into rented before the sale went through because we couldn’t stand being next door to them any longer and we paid a removal company to pack all our things so we didn’t have to go back. They were utter scum.

The house we’re in now is detached and before we bought it I knocked on all the neighbours doors to see what they were like, I wasn’t taking any chances. Our neighbours now are lovely and I would never buy an attached house ever again. I’d much rather a tiny detached than a bigger semi, for me it just wasnt worth the stress. If I could give anyone any advice when it comes to house buying just as a starter, never buy a property with shared access or a shared driveway, you might not have problems but if you do it can be a lot of trouble.

Very good advice regarding driveways.

My recent (previous) house we each had our own driveway, but in a side-by-side arrangement. Well if you have someone who drives a truck it can get rather crowded. If that same someone is an hole and likes to take over your driveway, as well as his own, that’s when it is either time to move or have a row. I chose to move as even though we never rowed, I could see it coming to that. If he had not moved in, I might have stayed there a little longer. But, my main reason for moving was to be nearer family. But some neighbours help you make that decision a little bit quicker.

 

[Gembo]

Very good advice regarding driveways.

My recent (previous) house we each had our own driveway, but in a side-by-side arrangement. Well if you have someone who drives a truck it can get rather crowded. If that same someone is an hole and likes to take over your driveway, as well as his own, that’s when it is either time to move or have a row. I chose to move as even though we never rowed, I could see it coming to that. If he had not moved in, I might have stayed there a little longer. But, my main reason for moving was to be nearer family. But some neighbours help you make that decision a little bit quicker.

Yep I will never buy anything with shared access or drive again. It’s hard to explain the layout of our driveway but we were each able to park one car and then it allowed for a turning circle. They would park both their cars and let their guests park there and we could get in and out but it made it much harder than it needed to be. Plus where they would park a second car was literally at our front door and in front of our downstairs window so it felt quite intrusive and intimidating. We tried speaking to them nicely and got attitude. We went to a solicitor who sent a letter and that was met with ‘we’ll park wherever we like’ plus the night they got the letter standing outside out house at almost midnight screaming at us which woke us up. We’d even been reasonable enough to say if you want a guest to park there could you just let us know as we were willing to compromise but they were utter scum.

we loved that house and we did consider going the legal route as we knew we were legally in the right but it’s expensive, they were starting to intimidate us plus they were as noisy as anything, my dad had just been diagnosed with cancer, my mum was then diagnosed as terminally ill, I was scared to walk out my front door, I would sit in the house in utter silence and not even flush the loo when they were home. If I had to go out I’d be shaking and then I’d wait in the supermarket car park for my husband to finish work so we could meet and go home together. We talked about it and decided it wasn’t worth the fight. Even if we could legally put a stop to the parking and noise they would just intimidate us and it would be unbearable. You can’t fight with stupid people and nor would I want to. I was devastated selling that house as I loved it. in contrast our new house is tiny and a really bad layout and drives me crazy but I lie in bed at night knowing I won’t get woken up by thudding music and shouting after they get in late from the pub with their friends. I have my own driveway now and I never have to worry about getting on and off my drive or if I’ll even be able to park. I’m so much happier. No house is worth your inner peace. I can sit in my lounge now and relax I’d honestly honestly rather live in a tent than next to anyone like that again, it made me physically ill. Utter bastards.

 

[Yolo_polo]

I have the nosiest neighbour directly across from me. A few years ago my house was damaged in a storm, a large tree fell in my garden and my roof was badly damaged. Fortunately I was at the hairdressers at the time but my lovely neighbour thought it was appropriate to put the photos all over social media. I got a bit of a fright seeing my house in such a state all over Facebook, not exactly how you want news like that broken to you but it got her a few likes and shares which I suppose was the important thing to her!

 

[hellisotherpeople]

Live in a converted house in central London. Got an elderly woman above who’s lovely.
The other ones are scumbags. I’ve had them steal amazon packages. My kids birthday cards have been opened and left. I’m guess they were checking for money. They throw their rubbish everywhere including nappies. They also throw lit cigarettes down into our garden which burnt a hole in the trampoline. I absolutely hate them.

Planning to move out of London soon. Despite being born and bred I hate it and can’t wait to get out.

 

[SavvyBee]

I’m in London, big development. One side is a couple we rarely see but have signed for the odd parcel during lockdown (our concierge has stopped taking them) and say hello if we both happen to be on the landing. Other side I’m not even sure if they live there, don’t see or hear a peep. I smile and say hello to everyone I pass in the communal areas or car park but nobody to chat to. We have a friendly & helpful residents Facebook group though. I would only want a detached house but I’d love to live in a small development with a few nice neighbours! I’ve had relatives who have become poorly with the stress caused by nightmare neighbours but despite having had maybe ten different sets all in London I consider myself very lucky.

 

[Aliceinherpalace]

Yes, the lady next to me (attached) is 70 so twice my age But we get on well, pop in on each other for a g&t, let each other know if we’re cooking something too much for one like spag Bol and share with each other. The only thing that does annoy me if that I have 2 parking spaces and she only has 1 - I once made the mistake of saying if there was no one parked there then she could use it if she had visitors and she said she’d check each time. Her daughter parks there a lot and she never checks if it’s ok. My fault though! The other side (not attached) are a pretty chavvy family but are fine really, we take each other’s parcels and say hello

 

[lemonlime]

My neighbour's gamer son and his ruckus was driving me insane but thankfully he moved in with his girlfriend months ago. The rest are alright, there can be some tension time to time due to sharing a living space but it could be much worse.

 

[lexle]

Been very lucky and have wonderful neighbours either side. Both elderly couples and so lovely

 

[Hello Kitty]

Yes mine are fine. Sometimes they are abit weird and don't always say hello but whatever

 

[Londoncailín]

No. The end

 

[watermelon sugar]

We have neighbours directly opposite us and they just sit and smoke/drink on the step alllllll day long. When I say all day I mean all day. Two blokes. Always see them coming back from the shop at about 10am with their cans of Carlsberg and they stand on the step all day. I always look out the window when I go to bed and their still there. Scruffs. We live on a lovely street with lovely houses as well

 

[HoGi]

I echo previous comments. We are detached now and would never share a wall again. We had horrendous neighbours in our old house, the lights used to shake from the noise from them!

Now we have a lovely couple in their 50s on one side and will chat to them if we see them but don't go out of our way to spend time with them.

The other side is rented and new people only moved in this week. Family of 3 with 3 working dogs that make a lot of noise! Bit of a change from the single doctor who used to live there that we never heard from

 

[HowlOwl]

We have a retired couple on the other side of our semi. They can be a bit petty about parking and stuff but they’re not too bad, not noisy. We had a Polish couple on the other side who were fine apart from the fact he worked in a woodworking factory (think they work a lot with wood from the forests in Poland?) and he was forever building things, drilling, sanding, every bloody night. They’ve moved out, new neighbours moved in, British, in their fifties, and he’s forever building and hammering out the back as well!

 

[Gemz27]

We recently sold our terraced house, it was hell on earth. Elderly couple next door were obsessed with us and were always watching us and listening against walls and fence constantly and accusing me of hitting her car door. Bloke the other side was a weirdo, about 50, living on his 0wn, came across as an utter creep and was always moaning about the kids playing in the garden.
Sold up and bought a detached house this year, honestly don't feel like we have neighbours now. We see them in passing out the front and say hello exchange a small chat but its so lovely being detached, and I would honestly never buy another house attached again.

 

[ClockworkDolly]

@Gembo

I am familiar with that type of neighbour you describe. It is the kind of stress none of us need, especially when it takes place near our home. Our homes should be our sanctuary, a place of refuge, not feel as though you are doing battle every time you walk out the front door.

The houses in Britain are so badly designed. If you live in a semi, you’re guaranteed to hear your neighbours. Parking is often an issue and if you do get a parking space, it is often invaded by someone else.

You made the right decision in moving away. Like you say, peace of mind is far more important. These type of scum are everywhere in life, but there have been times when I’ve wished a bloody bomb could wipe the lot of them out. Leave us peaceful folk to get on with life.

 

[Tilly3]

Not really

I live in a weird kind of flat, its a massive house and we have the whole downstairs and our own garden, then our neighbours are upstairs and have their own garden. Their front door is next to our bathroom and one of the women there coughs like maaaad. Im sat on the toilet and she is like heaving shes coughing that much trying to have a bath/shower shes coughing her guts up. Trying to bathe the buba shes borking and coughing honestly its so vile
We have our own drive but they have 3 cars and because we don't drive they have just claimed it. My fella wants to say something because our bubble drives and they have to park on the road and really it's our drive. Its probably petty but it gets on my nerves
Their always in the front on the drive. When we have the blinds open they look in! I was sat on the couch one day and had awkward eye contact because the bloke just peeked through the window. Why are you looking through my window!? I just keep the blinds closed
We say hiya and have little convo and their alright people i guess. They just do the annoying neighbour stuff or im just really petty

Oh I wouldn’t be able to cope with that, I can’t understand folk that stare in other peoples windows it’s so rude, I would have to give him two fingers!!
Your fella should say something to them, I would but then again I can’t keep my gob shut if something annoys me, I’m not one for being diplomatic and I would put one of them metal posts in the drive and just unlock it when your visitors are due.
And as for the for the woman coughing her guts up
Hope things improve for you x

Yes. We've lived here for 18 years and had the same next door neighbour on the right all that time. She's ace, has been to our big events, we go out occasionally etc. We've had a couple on the left in that time. The originals were polite but we didn't get on. But the ones since have all been great. We won't move because we love our neighbours so much

You’re so lucky x