Almost one million move after rows with neighbours

ALMOST one million people have been forced to move home following a dispute with their neighbours, according to research published yesterday.

Escalating tensions have led one in 20 people to sell up or move out as a result of next door's "bad neighbour etiquette", the study by life assistance company CPP found.

The research estimates that in the last year alone, a total of 100 million was paid out by people trying to rectify disputes with neighbours.

Home and garden maintenance issues top the list of disputes between neighbours, with more than a quarter, 27 per cent, of feuds due to people leaving their homes, gardens and streets in a state of disrepair.

Other common causes of disputes include excessive noise, 15 per cent; arguments over boundaries and parking spaces, both seven per cent, and trespassing children, six per cent.

In December last year, Perthshire electrician George McGourty was sentenced to 260 hours community service and fined 1,000 when he flooded his neighbour's home as a result of a dispute over building work.McGourty secretly drilled a hole in his neighbour's wall and pushed a hosepipe through before turning on the tap for hours at a time.

The new poll of more than 2,000 adults found that in most cases bad relationships between neighbours are the result of a communication breakdown.

The research reveals that 27 per cent rarely speak to their neighbours, while one in seven do not even know the names of the people living in their immediate vicinity.

Consequently, people are finding it increasingly difficult to settle disputes amicably, and according to the research, 16 per cent have had a verbal argument with a neighbour in the past, and a small number of disputes, two per cent, have ended in violence. The survey found that 18 per cent of feuding neighbours have reported their neighbour to the police or the council.

Bryan Healy, strategic adviser on community safety for Glasgow Housing Association's Neighbour Relations Unit, said: "In the end most people want to live in peace and quiet. When you can get them sitting down and talking, that's when things can be moved forward.

"Talking is the key but it has to be established early on, because the longer the problem goes on, the harder it becomes to tackle."

Alasdair MacSporran, of CPP, said: "It's always worth speaking to your neighbours about any concerns you have before issues escalate and get out of hand.

"Knowing your legal rights and responsibilities, and being on the right side of the law, is always useful, however, as it could influence - and temper - what you say at the beginning."