Neighbour asking to store stuff in our garage - am I being unreasonable?

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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 567
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    catboy71 wrote: »
    I had a problem with my neighbour , who asked if they could put a cat box in my back garden, as they didnt have room. I reluctantly agreed , but next thing I knew , a kennel sized contraption was in my back yard , and my garden was full of their cats (they had 8 cats at the time) , and they had somehow even converted my compost bin into a place for one of their cats to sleep. Next , they started dumping their rubbish in my back garden , promising to get it taken to the dump but never getting around to doing so . Problems got so bad and my back garden was so smelly with cats and rubbish , I went to the council and environmental health .When questioned by them , my neighbour pled ignorance saying all the rubbish was mine and all the cats were mine , despite me not having any. Eventually they owned up , and the council found cat boxes hiden on my property that I didn't know about (under bushes and stuff) . My neighbour hot a warning. Six months later they tried it again with me , and I told her to swivel. I've learnt my lesson.


    What a strange experience for you. You have more patience than me. Rather than phoning the council, I would have lobbed all of that stuff back over the fence.
  • YosemiteYosemite Posts: 6,192
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    Yosemite wrote: »
    Is it? Most people? Do you have a source?
    bart4858 wrote: »
    Do you have a source that says that most people with a garage and a car, generally keep the car in the garage?

    Whoa there! I don't need to provide a source because I didn't make a claim in the first place.

    You made an assertion, I requested a source, you've now provided one - that's how it works.
    Yosemite wrote: »
    But here's a link if you want one. It says: "They quoted figures from the RAC Foundation, which found that while 53 per cent of households had access to a garage, only 24 per cent used them."

    So 29 out of 53 households with garages don't use them. Most in other words. I'd have the thought the figure would be higher ...

    Thank you.

    It is higher (much higher) if you read the statistics correctly.

    If only 24% of those who have a garage use them for their originally intended purpose, then it follows that 76% don't (the 53% of households without a garage are irrelevant).

    I'm in no position to challenge the RAC findings but I do find this astonishing, and I note that the MPs on the Transport Select Committee mentioned in the report are too.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 435
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    I wonder why you're so surprised Yosemite. Most garages (at least, on housing estates since the 1960's) are too small to comfortably fit in a small car and allow the driver to get out, let alone a medium car or larger. Anecdotally, like the other posters, the overwhelming majority of people I see while going about my life use their garage to store anything but their car.

    As for the original post, well done OP. It's way too easy to be a 'nice guy' in situations like this and be taken for a ride. Much better lasy down the ground rules at the start.
  • YosemiteYosemite Posts: 6,192
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    SnrDev wrote: »
    ... two have converted the garage to be an office for their businesses, most are used for storage.

    Well, these are no longer garages ...
    SnrDev wrote: »
    All are too small to keep a car in, and cars are designed to exist out of doors.

    And garages are (by definition) designed to house cars (and implicitly, to protect them from theft, accidental damage and extreme weather).
    SnrDev wrote: »
    What benefit is there in putting it inside for a few hours? Ice you say? Kettle of warmwater over all the glass; 2 minutes from tap to driving away, whilst others are still busy scraping away.

    Obviating the need for warm water is the obvious answer.

    In very cold weather, car windows sometimes ice up on the inside too, or at the very least are prone to misting until the interior warms up.
  • bart4858bart4858 Posts: 11,413
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    Yosemite wrote: »
    It is higher (much higher) if you read the statistics correctly.

    If only 24% of those who have a garage use them for their originally intended purpose, then it follows that 76% don't (the 53% of households without a garage are irrelevant).

    No, that 24% figure is almost certainly of all households, not 24% of the 53%, because of the way it was phrased. If it was the latter, it would have been made clear, by including words such as 'of which'.

    Anyway even if you were correct, it reinforces my point not yours!
  • SnrDevSnrDev Posts: 6,094
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    Yosemite wrote: »
    1) Well, these are no longer garages ...

    2) And garages are (by definition) designed to house cars (and implicitly, to protect them from theft, accidental damage and extreme weather).

    3) Obviating the need for warm water is the obvious answer.

    In very cold weather, car windows sometimes ice up on the inside too, or at the very least are prone to misting until the interior warms up.
    You really are clutching at straws now mate.

    1) Both are garage-shaped buildings separate from the main dwelling with up & over doors. One is half-office half-storage, the other mainly office. It still looks like a garage from the outside. In both cases a Saturday morning would be enough to revert them to their original purpose.

    2) Risk perception is all. Risk of theft is v low, as is damage, and we're in the Midlands. Extreme weather is most unlikely. The last major one was the hail storm around Hinckley a couple of years ago that damaged a few hundred cars, but that was daytime when cars were out & about in use or parked outside offices & supermarkets. Shame.

    3) Warm water is readily available round here; it's on tap, and using it to clear ice also allows a degree of residual heat into the glass so when I climb in to drive away the insides don't mist up as readily. I haven't had ice inside the window since I got rid of my last Series II Land Rover. :)


    The issue of most cars not fitting into modern garages is quite relevant. I'll buy cars based on economy, cost, suitability etc, not whether they're tiny enough to fit in a garage already full of bikes, tools, garden stuff & camping equipment. Thanks.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 567
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    Yosemite wrote: »
    Well, these are no longer garages ...



    And garages are (by definition) designed to house cars (and implicitly, to protect them from theft, accidental damage and extreme weather).



    Obviating the need for warm water is the obvious answer.

    In very cold weather, car windows sometimes ice up on the inside too, or at the very least are prone to misting until the interior warms up.


    The meaning of that word has changed. Cars have got bigger, garages (certainly on new build developments) have got smaller. No one where I live has ever seriously contemplated putting their cars into the garage. I don't believe when people buy a modern house these days they think 'oh good, it has a garage for my car'. They are more likely to think 'great, a storage room for the junk'.

    Perhaps we should start calling them storage rooms.
  • roger_50roger_50 Posts: 6,894
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    Yeah, I don't know anyone who keeps cars in garages. It's just an old-fashioned word for what these days is an extra general utility/store space within a property.
  • YosemiteYosemite Posts: 6,192
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    The meaning of that word has changed.

    You should tell these people:

    http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/garage

    http://www.chambers.co.uk/search.php?query=garage&title=21st&sourceid=Mozilla-search

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garage

    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/garage
    Perhaps we should start calling them storage rooms.

    Why does a storage room need a (virtually) full-width and height door?
  • YosemiteYosemite Posts: 6,192
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    bart4858 wrote: »
    No, that 24% figure is almost certainly of all households, not 24% of the 53%, because of the way it was phrased.

    That's absurd, I'm afraid.

    How would a household which doesn't have access to a garage reply to a supplementary question which asks whether they park their car in it?

    Obviously, they couldn't give a meaningful answer, so it would make no sense at all to include them in the (second) statistical results.
    bart4858 wrote: »
    If it was the latter, it would have been made clear, by including words such as 'of which'.

    It was perfectly clear to begin with - your suggestion is simply another way of saying the same thing.
    bart4858 wrote: »
    Anyway even if you were correct, it reinforces my point not yours!

    Yes, it does reinforce your original point, assuming that the RAC statistics are correct, and I acknowledged as much in post #103 after you had posted your link in response to my question.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 567
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    Yosemite wrote: »

    It doesn't. Although it is easier to get very large items in and out. I suppose these rooms conform to the visual appearance of a traditional garage. But surely you agree that people nowadays know that the typical garage found on a new build development is not for storing cars? I would have thought that the majority of these garage owners instinctively know that.
  • RAINBOWGIRL22RAINBOWGIRL22 Posts: 24,459
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    They sound awful and I'd suggest you've had a lucky escape by saying no. Had you said yes, just imagine the fallout if they couldn't get access at whatever time they wanted, or if the garage was flooded, or they 'found' some damage that wasn't there before - world war three!

    This pretty much sums up my opinion on the matter.

    As horrible as it must be to have these people decide to blank you [for no real reason] I suspect you've actually had a lucky escape.

    If they have the brass neck to ask a new neighbour to store their stuff, imagine what they'll be asking for when they are a bit more "familiar" with you!
  • lemonbunlemonbun Posts: 5,371
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    SnrDev wrote: »
    You really are clutching at straws now mate.

    1) Both are garage-shaped buildings separate from the main dwelling with up & over doors. One is half-office half-storage, the other mainly office. It still looks like a garage from the outside. In both cases a Saturday morning would be enough to revert them to their original purpose.

    2) Risk perception is all. Risk of theft is v low, as is damage, and we're in the Midlands. Extreme weather is most unlikely. The last major one was the hail storm around Hinckley a couple of years ago that damaged a few hundred cars, but that was daytime when cars were out & about in use or parked outside offices & supermarkets. Shame.

    3) Warm water is readily available round here; it's on tap, and using it to clear ice also allows a degree of residual heat into the glass so when I climb in to drive away the insides don't mist up as readily. I haven't had ice inside the window since I got rid of my last Series II Land Rover. :)


    The issue of most cars not fitting into modern garages is quite relevant. I'll buy cars based on economy, cost, suitability etc, not whether they're tiny enough to fit in a garage already full of bikes, tools, garden stuff & camping equipment. Thanks.

    Totally agree with your post.

    Our huge garage is not used as a garage - it's for the full-size pool table and for storing the garden furniture over the winter (the pub table needs the garage doors to open to get it). It is still a garage if necessary - it even has a pit if you need to repair your car.

    I've never used a garage for storing a car - I just don't see the point if you can park it safely in the open air on your drive. There are better uses of the space.
  • JohnbeeJohnbee Posts: 4,019
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    The man did offer to pay. So why not knock on his door and say you have had a think and changed your mind. You do have a little room. Now about his offer to pay, decide on how large an 'article' is and say you will charge so much per article. I would say £10 per week is about right, for a cardboard box 2 feet by 2 feet by one foot. You can't be at beck and call of course, so he can only put things in or take out on Saturday mornings, say 9-11 am. Money to be paid a month (4 weeks) in advance.

    Make it reasonable, so he gets a real chance, but too much for him to actually pay, and get a firm agreement about what happens if he does not pay (the stuff gets removed and taken to the dump at 11am Saturday). etc. etc. If he agrees, it will almost certainly be on the grounds that he can easily just dump you with stuff and not pay, so make sure all is in a written agreement. If he looks well off, make it £60 per week.

    Don't worry a bit about being 'blanked'. The people are just takers and you are better off having little to do with them. But say good morning and so on. Nothing has happened except he asked and you said yes, but he said the price is too high. Besides which, the blanking will instantly stop when they want something else.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3
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    Ou are totally within your right so say no and quite frankly I don't blame you! Cheek of it! I wouldn't dream of asking a neighbour to store so
    Much stuff on an indefinite time scale. Ignore them. They are obviously a little weird... Good
    Luck!
  • technology_lovetechnology_love Posts: 3,172
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    Humans are selfish. Good on you for standing your ground.
    If it were me, I would have come to you asked politely if I could store some stuff at yours and INSIST on some sort of payment. Would not be angry if you said no.

    Surely this is just basic manners?
    Or perhaps I'm just too old school or weak?

    Well done OP - to hell with them.
    (Appreciate it makes neighbourly relations unpleasant)
  • AddisonianAddisonian Posts: 16,377
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    Just a quick update for anyone who cares - they still haven't broke breath to us since this incident, except for the odd "Good morning" if we see them out on the driveway. The wife just completely blanks us every time though, childish mare :D In fact, we hardly see them at all.
    Although I did see him in one of our other neighbours garage a few weeks ago chatting away to him - it might just have been an innocent chat or perhaps he was trying his luck with someone else. Who knows. And I don't care, not my problem anymore, thankfully.

    Thank you to everyone for their advice in this thread.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 12,190
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    I wouldn't have the nuts to ask one of my neighbours if I could store my stuff in their garage... My reaction would have been exactly as per the OP's

    Also, I keep one of my cars in my garage and one on my drive cos sadly I only have a single garage.
  • Poppy99_PoppyPoppy99_Poppy Posts: 2,255
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    As long as your dealings with them are casual, a result I would say. A family of chancers!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 6,924
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    Result! The huge bonus is they won't be popping around for coffee anytime soon. I caught my neighbour peeping through our letter box yesterday after she had knocked on the door. We are doing renovation work and she obviously wanted a wee peak. I shut the door behind me and stood out on the doorstep so she couldn't see. :D
  • pugamopugamo Posts: 18,039
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    God I cannot believe the cheek of your neighbours. My neighbours won't talk to their neighbours next door because they parked outside their house once. However, the same ones who ignore them thought it was ok to repeatedly park outside my house despite having their own parking space :confused: and won't speak to me now either because I asked if they would mind not. (This isn't a public road it's a small development with designated parking spaces).

    The petty squabbles some people start for no reason at all are incredible.
  • Andy2Andy2 Posts: 11,942
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    Strewth, I've read this thread with mounting gob-smackedness! :oThe bl**dy brass-necked cheek of your neighbours takes some beating. Like most others here, I would have politely turned him away and suggested a shed, a proper storage company or to get rid of some stuff.
    And anyway (as suggested by others) who knows what is in the boxes - stolen goods, drugs, what? They sound like a thoroughly unpleasant pair, and although I dislike falling out with neighbours I wouldn't give them a second thought.
  • haphashhaphash Posts: 21,448
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    Addisonian wrote: »
    Just a quick update for anyone who cares - they still haven't broke breath to us since this incident, except for the odd "Good morning" if we see them out on the driveway. The wife just completely blanks us every time though, childish mare :D In fact, we hardly see them at all.
    Although I did see him in one of our other neighbours garage a few weeks ago chatting away to him - it might just have been an innocent chat or perhaps he was trying his luck with someone else. Who knows. And I don't care, not my problem anymore, thankfully.

    Thank you to everyone for their advice in this thread.

    Being blanked by them sounds like the best possible outcome!
  • Rachael.Rachael. Posts: 2,331
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    avasgranny wrote: »
    Result! The huge bonus is they won't be popping around for coffee anytime soon. I caught my neighbour peeping through our letter box yesterday after she had knocked on the door. We are doing renovation work and she obviously wanted a wee peak. I shut the door behind me and stood out on the doorstep so she couldn't see. :D

    :o How rude! That would seriously bug me I can't stand nosey people lol

    Do you live next door to Isa from Still Game :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,559
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    No, you're not being unreasonable! Cheeky buggers. If you did store their stuff, imagine the difficulty getting rid of it, sounds like they'd be difficult!!
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