Rats

I live between two rented properties. Gardens of both were complete wrecks, until new neighbours moved in the other month and did up the garden very nicely. However, to my left is a house with some blokes who've let the garden turn into a jungle, and left rubbish everywhere. This has obviously attracted a certain pest, which we're now running alive with.

We posted a letter through their door, knocked on their door last night saying get rid of all the rubbish asap - rubbish collection was this morning and it's all still there, and Rats are zig zagging from our garden to theirs.

They said they have the matter in hand - frankly heard that one too many times, is there any way that their garden can be dealt with? It can't simply be a case of leaving them to deal with it as nothing will get done.

 

Arent rats a notifiable pest? Dont wait for the lads, get onto your local environmental health and make a ruckus. They should treat them for free.

That's really unacceptable.

 

I think Melinda is right. We had a similar problem with the disgusting buy-to-let next door (let us hope that the current economic climate has finally put paid to the whole 'borrow-to-get-rich-quick-and-to-hell-with-the-neighbours' culture for a while). Find out who is in charge of environmental health, as Melinda suggests. Generally they will come around and do an inspection - rats ought to be enough to ensure that things get done.

Is the house next to you let through an agent? If so, get in touch with them too and explain that the situation is becoming impossible. In my experience, households which do not dispose of their rubbish properly seldom improve without some sort of intervention. Goodness knows why it is so difficult for them - you'd have thought that putting out a few bin bags was pretty straightforward even for the dimmest citizen - but the first sign that you have a skank house next door is nearly always the build up of rubbish.

These days it is very easy to find out who actually owns the property - you can order deeds online. Sometimes contacting the landlord works - depending on what sort you've got.

If talking things through doesn't immediately produce results, persistence probably will. I'm a bit of a veteran of this type of problem, having lived next door to a rental slum for some time. I could tell you stories which would make your hair curl ...

 

The first thing I thought reading the description of the garden conditions and of the occupants, was cannabis farm. As has aliready been said, call in the enviromental health people, and see how it goes from there.:gnthb: