Pay off or file injunction on neighbour harassing tenants?

Pay off or file injunction on neighbour harassing tenants?

16:36 PM, 15th March 2018, About 6 years ago 18

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I have rented out a property for nearly 2 years after relocating abroad for work. My property is an upstairs maisonette that I lived in with my wife for 3 years. Prior to moving we had problems with the downstairs neighbour who complained many times about leaks into their property, each time we had plumbers and the local water company out to investigate, however each time no leak was identified.

It reached the point where the neighbour would switch off our water supply in the street on a regular basis because they ‘thought a leak was about to happen’, but could never back their claim with any evidence.

In the weeks before moving out, we had the water company and our plumber formally write to us and the neighbour to confirm no leak was found between the properties and our estate agent confirmed the property was ready to let. We then let the property out to a tenant.

2 years later, our tenant is now moving out because during that time the neighbour continued to harass her and her daughter, switching off the water and consistently complaining to her and our estate agent. During that time many more plumbers have visited the property and on no occasion was a leak found.

Having seen the state of downstairs property which has been poorly maintained over more than 20 years I suspect the neighbour is trying to claim that a leak has caused damage and therefore someone else (us) should be liable to pay for repairs. The neighbour has sent many letters to us with false claims over the years in which they have asked for money for damages that we did not cause.

The neighbour has been making ours, our tenants and the agents lives hell for a long time and I now fear the property will be unlettable while the neighbours continue to cause problems. It seems for now my only options are

1. Try and pay off the neighbour in the hope that they leave us and our tenants alone. This is really not a preferred option and would feel like I’m giving into blackmail but may be the cheapest option (if we were to truly believe they would stop harassing us/our tenants).

2. Let the agent deal with it, find new tenants and hope the neighbours stop harassing them. This seems hopeful and maybe unrealistic, I also don’t know if the agent will want to continue letting the property after all the issues.

3. Take a legal route against the neighbour perhaps by filing an injunction. This I imagine would be costly.

If anyone has any advice on how to deal with this situation it would be greatly appreciated!

John


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Comments

Paul Tarry

18:02 PM, 16th March 2018, About 6 years ago

Dont pay them they will keep coming back for more

Report/liase with the council who have specialy trained people to sort this sort of problem out, having had problems with our neighbours and feeling the council would not do anything it is a case of building a history and file with them

Speak to the local PCSO's and Police, they will have a file and will add to it and get involved

Speak to the water supplier about having a tamperproof supply, they can fit a locking cover or box over it, also you have a right to supply of water as you have a contract with them, they should be sorting the neighbour out and stopping them shutting off the water

If no joy fill the stop tap access with expanding foam (joke)

Prakash Tanna

9:01 AM, 17th March 2018, About 6 years ago

Has somebody been inside the property below to see where they are suggesting the leak is coming in ? Might sound silly, but have you consider it might be due to a blocked gutter or downpipe and not internal plumbing within your flat above ??

Is the flat leasehold or share of freehold ? Is there a management / freeholder involved ? Who insures the building ? If there is a claim for damages, let the insurers deal with it.

HardworkingLandlord

10:20 AM, 17th March 2018, About 6 years ago

Had a very similar issue except they harassed my elderly lady tenant in her use of the shared garden so she felt she could not even go outside. I made it clear to the lady it was time to "stand up" so I reported this to the police as a harassment and the police did take it seriously and visited the tenant and the offenders. The problems eased off after this. Good luck

Ian Narbeth

9:38 AM, 19th March 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by JScholes at 16/03/2018 - 11:00
Hi John
I think your post "crossed" with mine so I had not seen it when I replied to silversurfer2017.
By the sound of it you will have to disclose matters, especially if there are letters between the parties. The fact that you were not yourself living in the maisonette is irrelevant. When the time comes, speak to your solicitors about it.

JScholes

9:52 AM, 22nd March 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 19/03/2018 - 09:38
Thanks Ian. In this case I don't have a lot to lose if I choose to make a legal claim against them as by the sounds of it I would already need to disclose issues to a future buyer. Our intention is to keep the property in any case and continue renting however if this proves to be difficult further down the line with future tenants we'll need to re-consider our options

JScholes

9:54 AM, 22nd March 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Paul Tarry at 16/03/2018 - 18:02
Thanks for your reply Paul, expanding foam has certainly crossed my mind! 🙂

JScholes

10:00 AM, 22nd March 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Prakash Tanna at 17/03/2018 - 09:01
Thanks for your reply Prakesh. A few plumbers have been to investigate but none have been able to identify a leak from our flat, I'm not sure the full context of what the plumbers have suggested to the neighbour as they do not want to speak with us. I'm sure this has been suggested as a potential cause but they are unwilling to listen to anything that doesn't result in some form of compensation for them.

There is a freeholder who have concluded the same as me (ie. there is no ongoing problem and therefore they do not need to intervene). I too suggested they should speak to the building insurer if they are looking for compensation (which I'm sure they must have tried to no avail). I'm sure they have tried everything within their power and are unhappy with the outcome, therefore their only solution is to harass anybody living in the property

Gunga Din

13:06 PM, 25th March 2018, About 6 years ago

Long shot, but as we know a leak can travel horizontally before revealing itself below, so is it possible a flat not directly above is the origin?
Definitely try to get the water supplier to fit a stopcock only they can turn off (unless the complainer has the special tool?).

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