Press Releases: 28.5.2006
NFHiB: Press Releases: For Public Use
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28th May 2006
Noise is top of neighbour from hell survey
A recent survey undertaken by the Neighbours From Hell In Britain (NFHiB) organisation, shows noisy neighbours as being the main source of Neighbour From Hell abuse in the UK. According to NFHiB, noise assault is clearly a serious problem in today's society, yet in comparison with other serious 'crimes', it appears less action is taken by authorities to actually tackle the problem.
A spokesperson for NFHiB said: "Noise problems account for 21.82% of our survey. There are a lot of people who ignore their neighbours rights to enjoy a peaceful, quiet life. There are clearly some Neighbours From Hell (NFH) who deliberately target neighbours with noise in order to harass or intimidate them".
NFHiB asked over 1000 (1,077) people to give their views, ideas, information and facts concerning personal experiences with 'neighbours from hell' and almost 74% of people surveyed were experiencing current neighbour from hell problems. Surprisingly, 35% of survey participants did not know where they could get help to effectively tackle a nuisance neighbour.
When NFHiB asked if people felt things were generally better in their community now that ASBOs (Anti-Social Behaviour Orders) are in force and are being more commonly used, nearly 50% gave a thumbs down and felt the ASBO made no difference at all.
"It's hard for some people to believe this, but, here at NFHIB, we have plenty of evidence gathered from over 10,000 forum community members that this is what happens in many cases." When asked, most people turned to the Police or their Local Authority for help with a nuisance neighbour, closely followed by relying on friends/family for support. Over 40% of survey participants had used Neighbours From Hell in Britain as a source for help, advice and support.
Overwhelmingly, people want faster, more effective, practical action and response by the Police, the Courts and Local Authorities; they want these bodies to have better co-ordination, more communication and more powers/resources available to them. Those individuals living with a nuisance neighbour hugely agree that the whole process to deal with a neighbour from hell takes far too long, is incredibly frustrating and does not support the 'victim' positively, appropriately or successfully.
People feel powerless and vulnerable when on the receiving end of a neighbour from hell and more legal powers for those unwilling recipients of un-neighbourly behaviour should be available.
Causes of problems for neighbours were identified as being:
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Noise (21.82%)
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Anti-Social Behaviour (14.30%)
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Harassment (9.75%)
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Animal Disturbance (2.97%)
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Boundary Problems (4.27%)
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Car Parking Issues (or other vehicle problems) (4.27%)
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Children/Young People Problems (4.09%)
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Bullying (3.81%)
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'Other' problems (2.88%)
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Rights of Way Issue (or shared access problem) (2.41%)
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General Garden related issue (0.84%)
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High Hedge Problem (Leylandii, etc) (0.84%)
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Rubbish/Litter (0.84%)
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Racism or other Hate Crime (0.46%)
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General Crime (0.19%)
The NFHiB spokesperson added: "Some NFH use a variety of deliberate methods to harass their neighbours. There have been cases of people playing loud music in the middle of the night, banging on walls, using power tools in the early hours of the morning, purposely blocking access to neighbouring properties, and so forth. Sadly, with some NFH there's no limit to what they will do, even sometimes to the extent of damaging property or using violence."
Some victims of NFH call in the police to help them deal with the illegal behaviour of their neighbours, often with very mixed results.
When asked "Thinking about the neighbour from hell problem you've experienced, did you find the Police helpful?", results were:
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Yes, they were very helpful and sympathetic (9.56%)
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They were somewhat helpful (17.27%)
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The Police didn't believe me/didn't want to know (10.86%)
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The Police told me it was a 'civil matter' and wouldn't help (17.27%)
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They made it worse (4.46%)
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I didn't use the Police at all (39.09%)
"We, at NFHiB find it worrying that the majority of police officers appear to be unable, or of concern, unwilling to help victims of abusive and illegal behaviour from neighbours. Or that they even possibly inflamed a situation in some cases, instead of helping to solve the problem."
"The way police look at so-called 'neighbour disputes' is 20 to 30 years behind how they now perceive domestic violence, as a serious problem. NFHiB believe it is often a serious error of judgment to label the anti-social and abusive behaviour of Neighbours From Hell as a 'neighbourhood dispute.' The deliberate targeting of a neighbour for abusive behaviour and illegal harassment is not what a reasonable person would call a 'neighbourhood dispute'. Some police forces do realise how serious the problem is, but unfortunately, others lag years behind their more enlightened counterparts."
There was a higher than average opinion gained through the NFHiB survey, that communities and areas should have dedicated 'nuisance neighbour units' in place. It was felt that such specialist units would need to be overseen by 'dedicated and official bodies' who could adjudicate and enforce instructions or action as needed.
Neighbourhood Watch Schemes appear to be on the decline, according to survey respondents - only 23% of those surveyed reported that they had a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme in their area and 22% were unsure of whether a scheme even existed.
The location of Neighbours From Hell might give pause for thought. The survey showed that the majority of Neighbours From Hell activity took place in private housing:
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Owner Occupied (75.77%)
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Council Property (9.66%)
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Housing Association (8.08%)
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Private Landlord (5.66%)
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Living with Family/Friends/Shared Housing (0.84%)
"There are a number of possible explanations as to why such a large majority of NFH problems occur in owner-occupied housing. We do not feel able to speculate, but point out this means many local authorities might be forced to radically re-think how they deal with the problems of NFH in their patch."
Tony Blair's Respect Agenda was seen as not being very helpful. Indeed, almost 40% of respondents didn't believe it would make any difference (39.18%).
And 94.43% of people reported having had their 'stress levels' increased by the actions of their NFH. "This just shows what a serious problem Neighbours from Hell are in today's society," commented the spokesperson. "It is a problem that needs to be seriously addressed by those in authority."
More about NFHiB: Neighbours From Hell in Britain (NFHiB) was created in 2002, due to the site creator's personal experiences with repeatedly anti-social, noisy, inconsiderate and rude neighbours. A 'NFH' (Neighbour From Hell) can come from any walk of life and any part of society and the large amount of collective experience and information contained within NFHiB can help you address neighbour issues in any situation. It is a voluntary not for profit organisation which receives no external funding, but has a massive amount of site visits every month.
For further information please visit www.nfh.org.uk or email contact@nfh.org.uk
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