A Practical Guide to Neighbour Disputes and the Law (Paperback)

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Thu, 28 May 2020 | Review by: Phillip T.

A SUPERB GUIDE ON WHAT TO DO WITH THE NEIGHBOUR FROM HELL… EXPLAINED BY ALEXANDER WALSH An appreciation by Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”, and Mediator It is generally known to practitioners and advisers that “neighbour disputes” remain as one of those substantial problems which no one in authority really wants to deal with because so many people suffer from them. The sad fact of life is that the police and the local authorities would prefer to run a mile away rather than tackle them. They make such comments as “this is a civil matter, so we cannot help you”, or “you should take it to a civil court yourself”, and so on. That, therefore, remains the lot of practitioners in the law of tort where the overlap with criminal law is so often abstruse and wholly unsatisfactory in the modern world. Sufferers of neighbourhood abuse are therefore lucky to have this short work by an experienced solicitor, Alexander Walsh, which is available as a first port of call when matters become contentious, and it is an inexpensive practical book from Law Brief Publishing. Alas, it is always a matter of degree concerning the harm caused… and the proportionate cost of dealing with an appalling neighbour which is well-explained here. Walsh sums up the position today with these words: “Unfortunately, despite widespread judicial criticism, neighbour disputes remain extremely common”. He continues, writing that such disputes “have also been known to even grab headlines due to the seemingly trivial nature of the dispute and the willingness of the parties to incur a significant amount of legal costs in fighting it”. As most practitioners know, cost remains the deterrent as always when “going to law”. Walsh’s excellent short book takes a detailed look at the different ways in which neighbour disputes can arise. He covers the types of remedies available to litigants, and he provides us with practical guidance to assist practitioners on how best to deal with such disputes, which can often prove to be extremely difficult to resolve. This is very much a book with the litigant in person in mind and will be especially useful for advisers at Citizens Advice and law centres. The final word comes from Walsh’s introduction where he cites the second commandment that “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”. Walsh comments that, “whilst this is of course a metaphorical reference to the way in which people should treat each other, its literal sense is also highly appropriate”. As the author says, some people just want “their day in court”. The issue remains that when the day arrives, litigants do often find (as with the police and councils) that they “meet with an unsympathetic judge, a large costs bill and an unsalable property” (thanks to conveyancing rules). And the losing party still lives next door to the neighbour from hell. Our parting comment is that parties should try to settle as soon as possible- this book helps immensely, but most problems often remain intractable and it’s estimated at least a quarter of the population have a major neighbour problem which is never resolved- you have been warned! The author has endeavoured to state the law as it is at 20th December 2019. The publication date of this paperback edition is cited as at 19th February 2020.

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