roxy1968

  Can anyone give us advice on how to deal with a very difficult French neighbour ?   Now that the grass cutting season is with us, this man uses his "sit on" mower without a grass box and he waits until we go out shopping before he cuts the grass in the field next to our garden.    When we come home all the grass cuttings have been showered into our garden and if our washing is on the line drying, this and the garden has a good coating of dust and grass cuttings.       We want to install a waterfall and small pond shortly, but if this continues we are not going to be able to do this. We have asked him to put a grass box on his machine (we know he has one) when cutting near to our fence but he has refused and we seem to be at an impasse.    Are there any laws or "unwritten rules" about causing a nuisance to neighbours (with grass cuttings or any other instance) that we can bring into play to stop this unnecessary annoyance ?    Any help will be most appreciated.

We bought a "4 walls and a Roof ruin" 5 years ago in Cher and hope to completely renovate the property, finishing in about 2 years time.   To date we have spent all our holidays hard at work but recently we retired and now spend about 5 months a year working on the project.   We expect the property to be worth about E.150,000/180,000 when completed. Could someone advise us as to whether or not we have to draw up a French will, or not, as we still have our UK address as our permanent residence.   We have not had any children, (this is our first marriage for both of us)_my husband's parents are deceased and he does not know of any relatives since his parents divorced when he was very young and not very communicative.    I have many cousins, nieces and nephews. We look forward to hearing your comments.     

Hi, from our point of view, it all depends on what you want out of life and where you plan to buy a place. We are in Cher (18) and in a small sleepy village. We bought 5 years ago and spent 4 of those years coming out here and renovating a ruin. We did not make many friends during that time and spent most of our time working on the house, but a few French people came and made friends and that helped a lot. We have a French/English association in the village and this has helped to create a great atmosphere amongst those who "want" to mix. We researched other areas before buying here and some were not happy with the English moving in, so check around before you take the step to buy. Basic French is essential, the more fluent you are, the more you will be welcomed. Spend A LOT of time researching the paperwork to your property, if necessary visiting the Marie and the Cadastre and any locals who want to talk - it will save headaches when you have turned the key for the first time. Its definitely not an easy step, and if married, make sure the other half is as keen to take the step as you are - bon voyage !

We thought we were the only English with unhelpful neighbours- its good to know we are not alone..... It has taken us two years to stand firm against threats and for the time being peace reigns on a wire fence we erected as a result of our neighbour continually walking around our back garden and telling us most of the land was his (his land was previously part of our property before we bought the house). Now he has decided it is amusing to use a "sit-on" grass mower and shower the adjoining side of our property with all his lawn mowings, which are extensive. When we arrive back here after a few months away we have a depth of 2-3" to have to clear away. Is there any law which prevents him from doing this - we would love to write to him (we have not spoken for 2 years now) and inform him of our rights ! Also, our house looks out onto the village road and we have 2.5 metres of grass between our house and the road. When it rains puddles form between the grass and the road and when a vehicle comes along our windows, door and building generally get a coating of mud. As we wish to re-crepi the house next year we want to rectify the situation. Can anyone tell us if we can put in drainage and/or replace the grass with a patio type blocks. We have to be very careful with anything we do because of the difficult Frenchman as detailed above. He goes to the Marie with the slightest thing happening in our village. Any info. would be greatly appreciated. Lorna & Tony Hanlon