Your Christmas decorations could get you on the naughty list, leaving you thousands of pounds worse off.
With the festive season fast approaching, many Brits will be decorating their homes ready for Christmas.
However, those who like to go big on turning their house into a festive extravaganza could be breaking the law without knowing.
New research by Northerner has revealed that there are a number of common habits that not only annoy your neighbours, but could also land you with a hefty fine.
While stringing up lights and adorning your garden with inflatable reindeer may seem like harmless fun, it could be breaking the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
This is due to the possibility of your decorating being interpreted as a “statutory nuisance”. If your lights interfere with your neighbours’ enjoyment of their home, you could be served with a legal notice and fined up to £5,000. Interfering with your neighbour could include things like blocking access rights with decorations, or lights shining directly into their windows.
A survey carried out by Northerner also revealed that the number one pet peeve when it comes to our neighbours, besides overbearing Christmas decorations, is leaving dogs to bark, with over half of Brits agreeing that this gets on their nerves all year round.
The UK’s top ten neighbour nuisances are:
- Leaving dogs to bark (53%)
- Playing loud music (49%)
- Cars taking up road space (40%)
- Unkempt property (37%)
- Hearing someone having sex (35%)
- Overgrown trees (33%)
- Smoking in the garden (25%)
- Making suggestion to change your property (19%)
- Having lots of visitors (17%)
- Being asked to join community events (17%)
Contrary to what some may assume about the British, very few said they found chatting with neighbours to be annoying. Just 10% of Brits said they don’t like chatty neighbours or making small talk with their neighbours. Additionally 96% of Brits said they like bumping into their neighbours while they’re out and about.
Markus Lindblad from Northerner, said: “It’s fairly common for us to get irritated by our neighbours’ habits and behaviours, but community is really important! It is really heartwarming to see that neighbours do still enjoy chatting and interacting with each other.”
