Secondhand smoke from neighbour

[Jules-and-Boo]

My friend is suffering from his neighbour smoking. It's strong in the shared hallway and he can smell it when he is in his flat. He's on medication and this is making him feel sick. We've looked around his flat to see if there are any gaps it could eb coming in, but can't find any.

We've spoken to the tenant, who denies smoking and has since been behaving aggressively - things are getting stolen (post, mainly and his doormat!!!).

Personally, I don't know what he can do, but if anyone has any views please let me know.

[rendelharris]

Given you're not going to get any joy out of the neighbour by the sound of it (though if s/he's being aggressive and stealing a word with the landlord/police could be in order), a HEPA air purifier might help - around ?50 up.

Alternatively I have heard, though not tried, that soaking a piece of bread in white wine vinegar and leaving it in a dish in the area in question absorbs smoke smells well.

[IlonaM]

I had terrible second hand smoke problems with my former upstairs neighbours developing a chronic cough as well as coping with the unpleasant smell etc.- http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,1919971,1920108#msg-1920108 - I ended up buying hepa air purifiers for the two rooms afffected and they helped a lot.

There is a lot of advice online as it seems to be a common problem and lots of discussion forums discuss options. However, it does seem to be a really tough problem to remedy - smoke often passes through electrical sockets and around pipework and not only through gaps.

[loveED86]

I had a similar problem with neighbour downstairs, smell of smoke and not just cigarette would fill our home to the point where my clothes would stink of it, he too would steal my parcels then after police turned up (as i reported) my parcel would miraculously appear!

My neighbour eventually left but I think landlord were going to evict anyway.

[KidKruger]

Disgusting thing to have to endure.

It pains me even in the street, why is it even allowed in public ?!

[cella]

It's a tricky situation. Can really emphasise as I had a similiar problem. In our case it was three young women in the flat below - all of them and their friends smoking inside with a lot of smoke and smells in our flat above them. We had a big shared garden but they couldn't be bothered to go outside. In the end what worked was that, after talking with them etc, I kept contacting my neighbour who was renting his flat to them until he came round to investigate. He was horrified by the smell, colour of walls etc, also it was in our joint lease that smoking wasn't allowed, and gave them notice. It was really wearing and stressful but worked in the end.

[Jules-and-Boo]

Thanks all, I will get a filter for him - there are some pretty cheap-ish ones on amazon.

The tenant is friends with the landlord, and the landlord has been round but of course there was no smoking on that day so nothing for him to be concerned about. He's said he will come any time but needs 24 hours notice at least, which of course isn't ever going to allow him to experience it first hand.

As to the stealing, they denied it, I put up cameras, their landlord had builders in who cut the wires, which they denied.

It's tiresome and it's not healthy. I hope the filter will help and I will get the police to visit, visibly.

[JohnL]

I was sure at one point letters not put fully through were being pulled back - complained to Royal Mail and they didn't seem to respond but it stopped happening.

[Sue]

If the smell is strong in the shared hallway, is it possible that other people have access to the hallway and are smoking there?

[Jules-and-Boo]

no, it's just the two flats that share it.

[P.O.U.S.theWonderCat]

Is it against his lease to smoke? I can't stand the smell of stale smoke either, but it is legal and not unreasonable for someone to smoke in their own home unless restricted by the lease. And smells travelling into halls is par for the course with shared common areas - I have to deal with smells from neighbours all the time, including unsavoury smells of nappy changing which are apparently coming through sockets and under the floorboards.

Adding to the above remedies, you can get strong reed diffusers that a very good at masking smells. But obviously you have to like a strong perfume smell too.

[ianr]

I did some checks once, in a local converted house, with a lit joss stick. I put it in the cupboard area under the stairs in the ground floor flat, and the smell was soon detectable on the staircase of the upper flat. In that case there was both crumbly porous plaster work under the actual staircase, and a small gap or two above the skirting board in the area.

If it's only coming from the front door, is it because it's obviously not well sealed? Or is perfect sealing not easy in any case? I remember from visiting my father, the smell of his cigarettes and scented 'air-freshener' was always apparent as soon as I walked into the building's common entrance area, and that was despite its being a fairly modern purpose-built small block. But one simple addition, at least to try, if they're not already there, might be keyhole covers for the front doors, as in https://www.amazon.co.uk/Polished-Brass-Keyhole-Covered-Escutcheon/dp/B0073EL0WS. They can go on the inside or outside. Dulwich DIY sell decent cheap ones.

[Jules-and-Boo]

the joss stick is interesting - I'll check that out. It could well be plaster as the flat is old. We've checked for obvious gaps and can't find any.

[Sue]

Jules-and-Boo Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> no, it's just the two flats that share it.

I was wondering whether visitors to the other flat might be smoking in the hallway, but I guess that's unlikely if the smell of smoke is frequent.

[IlonaM]

Jules, did your friend get any relief?

[lavender27]

There's a no smoking notice up just in our hall, affixed there by the LFB

[Jules-and-Boo]

No, it reached an impasse - their landlord refused to confirm if it was in their lease, so we assume there wasn't a clause. There is the allegation that my friend is a troublemaker and paranoid.

Their landlord wants to visit his flat to see for himself but wants 24hours notice. My friend doesn't want him to as he feels intimidated and knows that any notice period will give the other tenants opportunity to avoid smoking and then it will look like a fuss about nothing.

He has had post stolen and items stolen, cameras broken and the lock to his gate smashed, so they just go into his garden.

None of which is provable though, so they claim he is just making it all up.

It's difficult - I'd advised him to call the fire brigade when it's smoky and also to contact the police about the other things.

I can't force him to do anything, but it would seem like the correct steps.

I've spoken to his landlords about all of it and he is very dismissive. He claims his tenants have similar complaints.

[Sue]

Might it be useful to look into mediation?

[IlonaM]

I'm sorry to hear that it is ongoing. Has he thoughht of getting advice from Southwark's Tenancy Relations Service:

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/finding-a-new-home/advice-for-people-renting-privately

I have found them (or rather the Lambeth version of them, as I was over there at the time!) quite handy and useful in the past.

Mediation is a good idea if you can get both parties onboard. Southwark Mediation Service handle neighbour disputes.

[ianr]

Is the landlord the owner of both flats and of the house?

[Jules-and-Boo]

I am the owner of the flat my friend lives in.

The owner of the neighbouring flat owns a share of the freehold.

We normally get along and do still.

[Jacqui5254]

Can I offer a tiny piece of advice for dealing with stale smells...?

https://www.aesop.com/dk/en/p/home/home/post-poo-drops/

Best thing ever invented, 4 drops needed, lasts for years.

Great for the obvious, but.... lingering smells, curry, beer, sweaty guests, doggy aromas, you name it.

And if I have cooked something that I don't want to smell when I awake the next morning, a few drops in a small bowl of water and..hey presto!

[bsand]

As unpleasant as it obviously is and I hope you find a remedy - calling the fire brigade is a waste of resources and they would no doubt be very aggrieved to be called to a civic matter rather than a real emergency.

[Jules-and-Boo]

Yes maybe, but not necessarily. If anything else it would be proof of the fact and the damage it's causing. I'm not suggesting an emergency but they do safety checks for residents.