Love thy neighbour: holidays at home will lead to more disputes

What are the neighbours up to now? Photo: Depositphotos.com
What are the neighbours up to now? Photo: Depositphotos.com

Summer is traditionally a period in which neighbours complain about each other and the situation will be worse this year because many will not be leaving for a holiday elsewhere, crime prevention organisation CCV warns in its annual benchmark report.

The survey, which involved many of the Netherlands housing corporations, found 60% are expecting more trouble this summer and over half said the number of nuisance reports rose when the coronavirus lockdown started.

‘If you are holidaying in your garden, your neighbours might not enjoy it quite so much as you are. They may still be working and that can raise hackles,’ CCV mediator Frannie Herder said.

The coronavirus crisis has also given rise to ‘new complaints’, the CCV said. Apart from screaming children and barking dogs, other corona-related reports have been coming in about illegal house parties, too many visitors to a house and groups of youngster congregating in doorways.

The best advice to neighbours when tempers flare is to solve the problem together, and if that is not possible to ask for the help of a mediator, Herder said.

Timely intervention prevents money and time spent on disputes by police, local councils and housing corporations, and will also help vulnerable tenants, the organisation said.

Many local authorities already offer a free mediation service.

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