EXCLUSIVE: A lawyer shared the best way to approach “unreasonable interferences” with your neighbours – with using other people’s bin often at the centre of complaints
A lawyer has revealed what rights people have if a neighbour repeatedly puts rubbish in their bin. A previous Churchill Home Insurance survey, reported by Aviva, found that 5.8 million Brits (11%) had argued with their neighbours over rubbish over a 12-month period.
Lawyer Joanne Ellis, partner and specialist in dispute resolution at Stephensons Solicitors, said a one-off incident is unlikely to justify legal action, but repeated behaviour could potentially be classed as an unreasonable interference.
She explained: “Most people would not be happy to discover a neighbour is regularly using their bin without permission, particularly if it leaves them struggling for space themselves.
“While an isolated incident is unlikely to justify legal action, repeated behaviour can understandably cause disputes and may raise issues around trespass, nuisance or anti-social behaviour depending on the circumstances,” she added.
Joanne said that the best approach is to address the issue directly with your neighbour at an early stage, if you feel comfortable doing so. If you would prefer to avoid a face-to-face confrontation, this could be done by writing a letter, with the hope of improving the situation “before frustration builds and relationships deteriorate further.”
She suggested the same approach should be taken if a neighbour’s bin is causing a bad smell.
“Persistent bad smells can quickly become a source of tension between neighbours, particularly during the warmer weather,” she said.
“Ongoing smells from rubbish, waste or poor property maintenance may amount to a legal nuisance if they unreasonably interfere with someone’s use or enjoyment of their home.
“Where a neighbour is not taking reasonable steps to address the problem, the local authority may be able to investigate and, in appropriate cases, take enforcement action,” she added.
“The question is whether the issue goes beyond everyday inconvenience and becomes an unreasonable interference with someone else’s use and enjoyment of their property,” she explained.
What qualifies as an unreasonable interference?
Joanne explained: “Generally, this means that a person’s actions go beyond what neighbours can reasonably be expected to tolerate. These are things that substantially affect another person’s ability to use their home or land normally.”
She added: “So for instance, if your neighbour was consistently deciding to play loud music at 1am in the morning or had set up a new business operating loud machinery at all hours of the day. The difficultly sometimes is that this is an objective not subjective test and is always a balancing exercise for the court.”
Official guidance recommends speaking to your neighbour first if you have a bin dispute, before involving the council. If the problem continues, keeping photographs and a record of when the issue occurs could help support any investigation.
Commenting on the findings from the Aviva survey, Martin Scott, head of Churchill home insurance said: “Living next to a poorly maintained property or a pile of rubbish can not only have an impact on you both emotionally and financially, but could also affect the long-term value of your home if you were to sell in the future.
“Council enforcement of environmental regulations is crucial to ensure the actions of antisocial neighbours don’t blight the lives of others. If a direct and reasonable conversation isn’t able to resolve the situation, it could be worth contacting your local council to either arrange mediation or put in place an enforcement order so your neighbours clean up their act.”
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