Updating post from Reddit.
I've been a tenant in my property for two years. The rent is expensive, but I always pay it on time. I'm also a British citizen with a good job, so I think that makes me a desirable tenant. My fixed term tenancy has ended and I'm now on a rolling contract.
My direct neighbours have somehow got the contact details of my estate agent and have been using them to complain on a regular basis. The main issue seems to be the garden and it appears that they send photos from over the fence.
The grass was in a poor condition when I moved in and continues to go up and down in quality depending on the time of year. There have also been complaints about noise, although I go to extreme lengths to reduce this.
The estate agent has been requesting regular visits under the guise of inspections, but has now revealed that they are actually to follow up on every little thing reported by the neighbours.
I feel harassed and like my quiet enjoyment of the property is being ruined. I have now started refusing inspections, but am worried I will be kicked out.
I have repeatedly asked the neighbours to approach me with any issues, but they refuse to do so.
As a landlord, would you want to know this is happening and how should I handle this?
Tell the agent to get lost
It’s winter. No ones grass looks any good. Presumably it’s been trimmed in the autumn, it’s not easy to cut this early in the year and it’s growing slowly anyway.
Agent needs to deal with the neighbour.
It's patchy but was patchy when I moved in and I have photos. In the summer it gets long and healthy again, which the agent knows from previous visits. The neighbours keep saying I have destroyed the garden though.
It's probably not the grasses fault. If you dig up the bald patch I bet it is full of rubble and bricks.
It's a new build, so you're probably right. I used to own one and the drainage in the garden was awful. I think it's a similar thing with this property.
Keep what grass there is tidy and if it bothers you get some grass seed. As long as you have photos from when you moved in the agent/landlord can’t go after your deposit.
Tell agent you won’t entertain any more of these petty complaints and they need to deal with the neighbour and organise a landscaper if serious work is needed.
You have people afraid of confrontation or resolution. Maybe they don't like you for some silly reason you have not heard of. You come home at 11pm and slam the car door for example. Maybe because of hte noise ocmpalints the neighbours just want you out.
What does your contract say about periodic inspections? As as landlord I would want to know NOT so I could get involved but that I may be losing a good tenant because of nosey neighbours.
I would absolutely draft up a letter and maybe run it by chatgpt
"Dear xyz estate agent,
I have lived at 19 xyd road for two years. During this time every rent payment had been on time, every bill paid and I have not had the cause to receive a visit from the council, police or any other body that may cause concern.
In the last two years my property has been visited x times. Our contract says you can visit x times per year causing me to use my annual leave to be present. Given the last visit was two weeks ago I hope to not receive another visit until xxxx as I have the right to quiet enjoyment. This goes for all forms of communication from visits, to unnecessary email and calls.
At this stage I feel I am being harassed by my neighbours and you are facilitating this harassment.
etc
I think it's because I'm renting in quite a nice area and everyone else is a homeowner. Snobbery.
I'll check my contract.
Should a landlord/agent get involved with neighbour disputes?
Realistically tenants and neighbours should resolve disputes. As a landlord I don't want to play mum and have to get involved in these things unless it's something regarding safety or very serious.
On one hand the landlord want to keep good tenants but also maintain a good relationship with neighbours. Some couldn't care less about neighbours. Did your landlord use to live there or is it an investment property?
I think they are complaining because they have someone to complain to. In fact another point to put in your letter is 'I have received no complaints from any neighbours (unless you have?)'
It's an investment property. I think the landlord has multiple properties.
Well, I went over the first few times it happened and they said it wasn't them and they had no issues with me. This makes it impossible to resolve anything. The complaints are now so specific that it could only be them.
I would speak to the landlord first. He doesn't care about the neighbours.
Happy to help draft an email if you need
Sure, I would appreciate help with what to say.
Dear xyz,
We have not met or spoken before - I am Making_Sense your tenant at 27 Making Sense Road, MS1 111. I'm a 30 year old Risk Manager at General company.
Since residing at 27 making sense road I have paid my rent on time and in full for two years, paid all bills on time and taken good care of the property. I like it here and wish to continue.
I just wanted to highlight that over the last two years neighbours at 26 Making Sense Road have been regularly contacting the estate agent to complain about things such as the grass in the garden looking unkept or other things. I have spoken to them many times and they never once have mentioned any kind of problem or shown any even the slightest attempt to speak to me about anything. All complaints go straight to the EA but having seen some of the photos provided it can only have come from their property.
As a result the EA visits the house very often (sometimes every couple of months) as a result of these complaints and i'll soon ask them to cease this and go back to contractual visits as I need to take time off work for each visit - in the last 12 months i've had to take 5 days off work - days I would rather have spent at a beach!
While the complaints are all frivolous, a friend who is an estate agent did say that it was worth contacting you directly to introduce myself. They also said this was beneficial because, without context, the EA looking after the property may suggest to you that I be evicted as i've had a number of (frivolous!) complaints and i'm aware they may push for this as they make more money from finding new tenants, referencing, checking, contracting and creating reports (checkin/out).
I'm available to talk at any time on 0777534xxxx or makesense at gmail. I also welcome a house visit from you if you wish or feel it is needed.
Kind regards makes sense
Thanks! What kind of response should I expect?
Maybe none. Maybe hello nice to meet you thanks for letting me know.
At least she/he has your details and knows if the estate agent tried to dress you up as some bad tenant they knows it's 80% bullshit.
It's a good shout. I think I need to get ahead of this.
Only the agency know who this is, so you need to impress upon them in no uncertain terms that they are facilitating disruption to you regarding baseless accusations and 'inspections' should be no more often than every 6 months without this becoming unreasonable and at a time of your choosing. Copy in your LL on all correspondence as they will want to know about the performance of the agency. If your neighbour claims it's not them, keep courteous but keep them at arms length for now regarding your interactions.
Would you approach the neighbour again? This latest time I 100% know it is them because I overheard them talking about it.
Not directly. If your garden is generally presentable, you might remark to the neighbour how badly the grass grows, making it patchy but you've run out of ideas - and leave it there. I wouldn't mention the multiple agency visits either, that's not their business and I wouldn't accuse the neighbour of complaining either, despite what you think the evidence you've seen suggests. This is between you and the agency and they need to start listening to your side, but document everything in a timeline ready for any complaints you may need to make.
I think the thing that's getting my back up is that the agency emails keep accusing me of doing this or that without asking for my side. It feels like they are ganging up on me with the neighbours.
Exactly, which is why you need to address it with the agency and have your LL party to that if necessary, rather than get mad at your neighbour. Also keep in mind their may be a link between your neighbour and the agency that you haven't yet discovered.
True, it's possible they know each other.
How would they know?
Know what, sorry?
Can’t comment on what a LLs POV might be but you feel harassed it might be worth speaking to the police for them to pay a visit.
Depending on the context this can fall into the realms of breach privacy laws, and if they are keeping records then there’s a question over how data protection laws apply.
Similarly, if you do feel harassed there a chance a criminal offence has taken place and may need investigating. In any case, it’s worth speaking to the police to see if they can assist at all.
Would the police take it seriously?
First step is to ask whoever is harassing you to stop. In this case it's the Estate Agent.
I'm worried they will just serve my notice because I'm 'difficult'. Or would the landlord be less likely to do this? It's all coming from the agent, but I don’t know how much power they have.
Agents deal with a lot of crap, but 'his garden is overgrowing' is pretty low on the list.
At the same time agents get money for finding tenants, making contracts, check in reports etc. They often advise this because they make money and they don't care if the landlord loses a month or two rent.
Do you have the landlord's contact details? They love a tenant that pays on time, is relatively low maintenance. I'd maybe give the landlord a heads up first so he's not getting a negative view from the EA.
I don’t have the details. I've never had contact with them. Would the estate agent have to give them to me?
...but check your tenancy agreement first.
Brilliant. We’ve already identified 2 crimes the agent has committed. Harassment and not providing landlords details.
Get them sacked and name and shame. Next time they trespass, treat them as the criminals they are and defend yourself with force.
It's not harassment yet. They don't have to provide the landlords details unless you ask.
They wont be sacked. They've done nothing wrong - so far it looks like they're pretty good. They deal with things in and out of the house.
OP - Ignore the usual reddit posts about going nuclear, contacting solicitors - these people either don't live in the real world or don't have the empathy to understand this is not how you advise people.
Almost certainly the neighbour is annoyed at the landlord having the gall to rent a home in his lovely street. Why not talk to the landlord direct. As a landlord I have had very occasional complaints about tenants from neighbours. Some justified. Some complete no nonsense from trouble makers. It depends on the facts but it’s not your problem.
Yes, it's quite a posh area, which doesn’t help. In this situation would you be likely to get rid of the tenant or try to resolve it? I'm worried I would just be marked a troublemaker, although the landlord has kept me in the house so far beyond my fixed term.
I’d speak to the landlord. If my two tenants are keeping both places clean and tidy and paying the rent and up for a market increase (all my costs have gone up massively so I’m not making more profit) I would always do my best to keep a good tenant.
How often are these visits?
Every 2 months or so, but it's more just whenever a complaint from the neighbours comes in, so I can't predict it.
That's way overboard. Should be every 6 months tops. They are harassing you.
Put in a formal complaint to the agent with reference to the tenancy agreement, the ombudsman won't touch a case until it's gone through the complaints procedure anyway.
Side question - have they been good on things such as Gas Safety checks?
Yes, those have all been done. Deposit is in DPS and they have been good about repairs when I've asked.
As a landlord I’d want to know about this and I’d be sacking the agent.
As a tenant I’d be reporting the agent to the ombudsman for harassment.
Wanker neighbours can then be ignored.
Thanks! I didn't know about the ombudsman. I'll look into it.
The agent seems pretty decent.
I think you just need to
Done
Make a log, contact the police for harrassment charges
You sound like a decent person. Don’t be so polite. Tell them the constant phone calls are harassment, how you always pay on time are a decent tenant and basically to get lost. Tell them To boot, If they want to communicate with you to do it via written communication.
I'm just worried being too rude will get me my notice handed to me as I am on a rolling contract.
🤣🤣 waiting on our LL doing the exact same thing. Someone moved next door a few weeks ago and suddenly the 'inspection' has been brought forward to Wednesday.
House is fine, garden is shitty but was shitty when I moved in AND there's no fence with council land across so everything blows in, it's barely spring yet si they can Eff right off if they think I'm doing gardening
The thing that annoys me most is that they won't be honest about why they are coming. Oh, privacy of the neighbours is being protected by not saying they complained? What about our privacy to not have curtain twitchers watching our every move?
100% agrede
what about fixing the oven that you've had since September (my LL not urs) to do so than worrying about weeds in the garden
It will be the noise, they don’t care about the garden
The neighbours are much worse in terms of creating noise: slamming doors and a screaming toddler at 6am most mornings. I don't think they have a leg to stand on really. Regardless, I know noise can carry so I keep as quiet as I can these days. It's something else in my view.
Maybe they’re just bellends
I thought this was the landlord sub?
Just land a big fist into the agents teeth and they’ll shut the fuck up.
Tempting, but I'm equally pissed with the neighbours. Woke me at 6am with their kid running around this morning and slamming doors, but apparently I'm the problem.