Love Thy Neighbour
Whether
you are a home owner, renting or living in a block of apartments most of us
have neighbours and if you have them here’s my top tips to being a good
neighbour in Sheffield.
Introduction
Neighbours
can be a source of useful information when you are settling into your new home.
So it’s well worth a friendly hello when you meet them for the first time. They
can after all fill you in on the everyday stuff like where’s the nearest shop,
bin collections and the do and don’t of street parking, if you don’t have
sufficient driveway to house you and any visitors.
You
don’t have to become best of friends, but neighbours on your side can be a
valuable asset, they can look out for your property when you are away from it,
offer you use of some extra parking if you have a party, be understanding if
you are having some property maintenance carried out. So it’s worth keeping
them in the loop and returning the favour when they are in need of a little
help from you!
Be Considerate
With
Bonfire night round the corner, you might want to pre-warn neighbours if you
are planning a fire, so they are sure not to have washing out or windows open.
If they have small children with a set bedtime, you could agree a time when the
fireworks will be done or ask them round to join in with the fun, then you’ll be sure to
have them on-side, or at least you’ve given them the opportunity and pre warned them of the event.
If
you are planning a special occasion with a D J or band in the garden, it’s
worth being clear about your intentions giving neighbours the date and time
when there will be noise disruption and keep to the timescale, if you’ve said
quiet by 10-30pm, everyone knows where they stand and there’s less chance of
you getting reported to the local council/ police.
Also
if you’re coming and going unsocial hours for your work or just coming in late
from a night out show them consideration and keep the noise down. No-one likes
to be woken in the night by car doors slamming and shouting, it’s sure to be
annoying for them to hear.
Disputes
We
are all different people with varying standards and without realising it
disputes can come around and that’s just life. If you need to approach a
neighbour
with an issue, try and keep your cool, explain what the cause of the problem is
and listen respectfully to what they have to say . There could be a reason you
were unaware of, sure as there garden being untidy due to illness, or
bereavement in the family. Give them a chance to respond to you, try and
understand from their perspective and hopefully you can work towards a suitable
solution for all, even if it means you rolling up your sleeves and offering to
lend a hand. Before you go down the path of reporting them to the authorities,
it’s worth giving them a chance to redress the issue.
If
someone comes to you with a concern, even if you think it’s petty, for them to
seek you out, it is something that they are finding an issue. Be respectful and
give then a timescale of when you look to have the problem dealt with, if it’s
down to lack of money be honest and tell them to bear with you until you have the funds to
resolve this.
Peaceful Times Ahead
If you follow my top tips I am sure in the
majority of cases you will be able to hold your head up high on seeing your
neighbours, give them a friendly greeting and get on with your day. They
may be of help to you one day, taking in
a parcel while you are out or pushing through some important post delivered to
them in error.
After
all “ Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours” and “
That’s when good neighbours become good friends”
www.spencersestateagents.co.uk
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