Problems with tenants next door

fullerand

Hi,

Bought a semi-detached 3bed house with my girlfriend in Rathfarnham just before Christmas. The adjoining house has since been bought and is currently rented out to a family of 6 (two parents, three kids aged 5-8 and an infant). The family happens to be Middle Eastern (seemingly Muslim) and the parents don't have much English.

We have a number of issues with these neighbours, and we're not sure how to proceed - so any advice would be most welcome:

* We can constantly hear the kids screaming at eachother, jumping around, and banging on the walls. I hope it isn't the case, but it seems like the parents often leave the kids home alone to run riot. The infant regularly bawls for hours on end.

* When in bed at night, we frequently have to listen to screaming matches between the parents, or loud television in their main bedroom.

* Immediately after moving in, they erected *three* large satellite dishes at the back of the house. One of these is over a metre across, and is right beside our back bedroom window. All look unsightly.

I'm actually laughing as I read the above because it all seems ridulous - but it's all true. I'm typing this with headphones on, to get some peace!

We haven't approached them about these problems yet - I guess we wanted to give them a chance to settle in, to see if things eased off. Unfortunately I don't have a phone number for their landlord.

So what should we do - confront the parents and ask them to control their kids? Likely to be difficult with the language barrier. Perhaps we should ask them for the phone number of their landlord, and let him sort them out?

Thanks - like I said any advice would be appreciated.

Victor

You come across as ever so slightly bigotted.

fullerand wrote:

* We can constantly hear the kids screaming at eachother, jumping around, and banging on the walls. I hope it isn't the case, but it seems like the parents often leave the kids home alone to run riot. The infant regularly bawls for hours on end.

* When in bed at night, we frequently have to listen to screaming matches between the parents, or loud television in their main bedroom.

Ask them to quiten down.

* Immediately after moving in, they erected *three* large satellite dishes at the back of the house. One of these is over a metre across, and is right beside our back bedroom window. All look unsightly.

What next complain about the guy on the other side when he puts up a garden shed?

Lex Luthor

I read on another thread that you are entitled to your light but not your view so if the dish is blocking his light, then maybe he can ask it to be moved???

Its not uncommon for Eastern parents to leave the kids at home alone...just part of their culture...

Have you even tried to talk to them yet? Chances are they speak english even if you don't hear it. Have a go

FillSpectre

I don't think you come accross as bigoted at all. There is a language and cultural issue that must be considered. Being unfamiliar with a culture is a legitimate concern and to mention it suggests cultural sensitivity rather than bigotry.

The dish issue needs to be addressed as found out recently a dish over 1 metre wide needs planning permission and I beleive more than one also requires planning. A garden shed doesn't need planning (within standards)

The noise is a bit difficult. Kids make noise no matter what so not much you can do as they probably can't get the kids much quiter.

I don't know about your neighbours culture but it may well be normal to leave children alone as it was here when I was growing up. It is however not permitted in this country now. There is no way you can say this to them without causing offense.

Considering everything you need to talk to the landlord as he has to deal with them and is paid to do so. You have legitimate concerns but as seen here you will be considered a bigit very easily. Don't mention any cultrual reference when saying something.

THe issues are

1) Dishes that are against planning regulations
2) Excessive noise
3) Fear for child safety

No need to mention culture these things aren't acceptable from anybody in this country.

Garth

Have you had someone check and see is your house built properly -- maybe there is an insulation issue? Surely you shouldn't be able to hear so much from your neighbours? I've lived in a few semi-ds and can't remember hearing anything from next door -- ever.

Besides that, you need to contact the landlord. There must be a register somewhere, is there? The landlord needs to inform his tenants that there are laws against leaving children that age alone, that they need planning permission to erect those satellite dishes and that they must show consideration for neighbours.

When it comes down to it, landlords are responsible for what happens on their property, and also if you're always hearing "banging", it's possible this family are doing damage to the landlord's property as well.

Best of luck anyway.

addie

Garth wrote:

Besides that, you need to contact the landlord. There must be a register somewhere, is there? The landlord needs to inform his tenants that there are laws against leaving children that age alone, that they need planning permission to erect those satellite dishes and that they must show consideration for neighbours.

When it comes down to it, landlords are responsible for what happens on their property, and also if you're always hearing "banging", it's possible this family are doing damage to the landlord's property as well.

Spot on. If you are having problems with neighbours who are renting, there's not much use in raising your complaints with them. You need to alert the owner of the property. Check with PRTB to see if there's a way to get contact details for the landlord of the property. If they can't disclose the contact details, maybe another neighbour on the road will know who the landlord is.

piraka

Garth wrote:

Have you had someone check and see is your house built properly -- maybe there is an insulation issue? Surely you shouldn't be able to hear so much from your neighbours? I've lived in a few semi-ds and can't remember hearing anything from next door -- ever.

Besides that, you need to contact the landlord. There must be a register somewhere, is there? The landlord needs to inform his tenants that there are laws against leaving children that age alone, that they need planning permission to erect those satellite dishes and that they must show consideration for neighbours.

When it comes down to it, landlords are responsible for what happens on their property, and also if you're always hearing "banging", it's possible this family are doing damage to the landlord's property as well.

Best of luck anyway.

There is the PRTB which governs landlords and tenants, but yours is a civil matter between you and the neighbour to try and resolve. If it was to go to court the judge may ask the landlord to attend. Have you tried to talk to the neighbour about your concerns.

http://www.prtb.ie/
http://www.environ.ie/DOEI/DOEIPol.nsf/0/b90ddfd0a73dbfdc80256f0f003bc7eb/$FILE/Residential Tenancies Act 2004 - A Quick Guide.pdf

fullerand

I hate raising old threads, but I think it's appropriate in this case.

I'm the OP above, and I just thought I'd come back to say that nearly 2.5 years after that post, we finally got a Determination Order from the PRTB today. I'm so angry that it has taken that long to go through the process - meanwhile the issues described above continued unabated the whole time. In fact they worsened to included throwing stones and spitting at us.

Let it be a warning to landlords to properly vet their tenants, and make sure you're fully versed with the Residential Tenancies Act.

Freddie59

Lex Luthor wrote: »

Its not uncommon for Eastern parents to leave the kids at home alone...just part of their culture...

In the East.

seahorse

Edited, reason being I hadnt spotted this was an old thread. Sorry to hear this bull went on as long as it did OP. Sounds like a 2.5 yr feckin nightmare.

JupiterKid

@fullerand - sounds like a complete nightmare and taking 2.5 years to sort out the problem was a disgraceful length of time. No noe has the right to disrupt their neighbours in this way.

Eastern/Arabic/Muslim or not, no-one has the right to behave like that, and cultural sensitivity should have nothing to do with basic common courtesy and decency.:mad:

A few years back, may partner and I had extremely noisy residents living in the apartment below ours. Fortunately at the time, we were renting and informed our landlord as they were throwing wild parties on week nights until 5 in the morning etc. Fortunately, our landlord was also theirs and they wre chucked out a few weeks later.