Tree Killer – Seeking Advice on Dealing with Toxic Neighbours

[mitchiner]

I mean if its going on for a long time I would think just having a talk to them over coffee would help.seems like they are freehold owners if they've been living there for a long time so i would advise not reporting them to the police since you will be stuck with them for a long time to come

 

[HeadNun]

If you read the thread properly, you’ll see there is no reasoning with people like this. They are not interested in conflict resolution.

 

[FellbriggSam]

19 hours ago, mitchiner said:

I mean if its going on for a long time I would think just having a talk to them over coffee would help.seems like they are freehold owners if they've been living there for a long time so i would advise not reporting them to the police since you will be stuck with them for a long time to come

 

He did mention it's share of freehold, I’d be very cautious with that. It can turn into a nightmare if relationships with neighbours break down.

My brother had a share of freehold in a flat in West Hampstead, and when he needed to sell, the neighbour refused to sign the transfer of the freehold. What followed was over two years of legal battles, spiralling costs and constant stress. He lost several potential buyers, and the whole sale fell through just as he got a job offer in another city. It was a complete disaster.

The neighbour was stubborn and uncooperative, doing everything they could to delay the process. It ended in legal deadlock, and there was very little anyone could do without their cooperation. At that point, the TA6 form becomes the least of your worries; it’s the TR1 form that matters. Without the other freeholder’s signature on that, you’re stuck.

After seeing what my brother went through, I’d never touch a share of freehold again. When things go wrong, they can go really wrong. If you have a share of freehold, you need a respectful and reasonable relationship with the others involved; otherwise, it can be costly, stressful and exhausting.

Sounds like these neighbours can’t be reasoned with. There’s really no coming back from something like this unless they genuinely apologise and replace the trees and plants they ruined. One small consolation is that people who behave like this are usually miserable behind closed doors. If they were truly happy, they’d just get on with their lives instead of trying to make other people’s lives difficult. And the irony is, they’re being incredibly short-sighted. This kind of behaviour almost always backfires.

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