The pungent smell of cannabis can be repulsive whether you are having a quiet afternoon or showing your house to any would-be buyers.
It is incredibly selfish of your neighbours to smoke weed. We do not understand why it is become an increasingly accepted practice within our society.
It is illegal to smoke cannabis. You might be going about your business as normal as you inhale a big whiff of your neighbour’s spliff. If it is happening right next door to you, then what can you do about it?
We will show you how you can sell your property discreetly without your neighbour finding out if you have had enough of passively smelling cannabis.
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My neighbours smoke and my house smells, what can I do about it?
Whether you live next door to a heavy cigarette smoker, a shisha smoker or a cannabis smoker, the weed smell will affect your daily life. It can cling on to walls, curtains and clothes.
It might be a good idea to speak to your neighbours and explain how it affects you. A good conversation may help solve the odour problem.
However, in our experience, people who smoke cannabis feel it is their right to do so. It is part of their lifestyle, and they go to grow their own cannabis factory!
Some cannabis smokers say that it is part of their religious belief to smoke it, and therefore, you can’t deny them their basic right in a free society. Others use it to help them with pain relief or as an alternative form of therapy. There are hundreds of products that use cannabis extracts, and these products are called CBD-derived.
If you live next door to a council tenant smoking weed, they are unlikely to be interested.
The council recognises that whilst neighbours smoking cannabis in their homes is not necessarily an anti-social act, the odour from smoking cannabis can be very strong and unpleasant for neighbours. Despite this, the council is unable to act against people using or possessing cannabis. Unlike the Police, we have no powers to act on the illegal use or possession of cannabis.
Smells from a domestic residence would not normally be deemed a statutory nuisance. Complaints of odour from cigarette smoke, tobacco smoke, pipe smoke, cannabis smoke, etc., going from one property to another is not a matter that can be investigated under the Statutory Nuisance regime.
A statutory nuisance can not be created if the issue is caused by “reasonable use”. It is considered reasonable for someone to smoke within their own home and in their garden. This, however, can be pursued as a civil matter, which the council would not get involved with.
Complaints about Odour from Cannabis, as cannabis is an illegal substance, should be reported to the Police. This would not be investigated as a Statutory Nuisance.
Source: Great Yarmouth Borough Council
Can you report a Neighbour for smoking?
If you can’t stomach the stench of cannabis anymore, you could report it to your local Police. It is likely that your neighbour might come up with a ‘medical reason’ for using the drug – and with a reduction in the Police force, they probably are too busy issuing speeding fines than citizens breaking the drug law.
You could confront your neighbour, especially if they are suspected of supplying it to the wider public – if they have regular comings and goings. This is likely to lead to a confrontation and potentially aggressive behaviours towards you or your family members.
Will the police do anything about my neighbours smoking weed?
If your neighbours are heavy smokers of weed, the smell can easily seep into your property and cause an asthmatic attack. There is also an increased risk of fire as your neighbour gets high. He/she may become forgetful of their surroundings. A dropped spliff could result in fire damage to your property.
Police may act against your neighbour, but only if they find a large quantity of cannabis. There is also the possibility that your neighbours might be ‘growing their own crop’ by planting a few trees in the loft or one of their bedrooms – and that’s why you can’t get rid of the smell.
Make sure you have installed a fire barrier between your and your neighbour’s home in case there’s a fire as a result of converting a home into a cannabis factory. Although a fire barrier won’t guarantee 100% protection, it may help minimise the risk of fire spreading.
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Council or private tenants smoking cannabis?
If your next-door neighbours are council tenants smoking weed, you could report them to the council. They might demand ‘evidence’.
It is difficult for you to ‘bottle the smell’ for the council worker sitting in their comfortable chair. It is your word against theirs, and they may start using words like ‘you are making an allegation against our tenant’.
You may have to wait for several months before the council will start investigating. If you are very lucky, the tenants might get evicted several months later – only to be replaced with identical weed smokers, and the whole cycle starts again. You might consider selling your ex-council house instead.
If your neighbours are private tenants, you can complain to their landlord or letting agent – if you know who they are. You might be able to Google the property’s address, and it might show you who was advertising the property to let. Or you can pay the Land Registry to find out who the owner is and contact them.
Landlords do not publish their home addresses, so you will have to track him/her down. If their tenant’s drug use is causing a nuisance and you live in a block of flats, they could be in breach of their lease. It will be a long road as the freeholder will have to take the landlord to court for breach of lease. However, as the freeholder will have to fund the legal costs upfront, they are highly likely not to take this route.
The easier route is to sell your home and move on.
How to get rid off cannabis smell in a house?
If you want your home to be more attractive to potential buyers, it’s important to eliminate any weed smells. You can achieve this by using air purifiers, scented candles, or baking soda to neutralise the odour. Consider hiring professional cleaning services to help eliminate any lingering smells.
If I sell, do I have to declare my weed smoking neighbours?
Nobody will want to buy your house unless they enjoy the occasional cannabis spliff themselves. If they are heavy smokers, the odour will come into your garden, seep in through the walls, or if you open a window, you will get a strong whiff.
The smell of cannabis from neighbours can be a real menace.
To the weed smoker, it is just a ‘waft’, but it can give you a real headache when it comes to selling your home. If you have small children, you won’t want to explain to them what’s that smell.
By law, you must declare a material fact that could influence a buyer’s decision to buy your property. Hiding the smell by opening windows, using strong incense smells, and using an air purifier to cover up the smell won’t help your cause.
If your buyer finds out that you failed to disclose this information, he/she could sue you.
You can declare this to us: we are genuine cash buyers who will guarantee to buy any house.
With a quick cash offer, we can complete the purchase within 2-3 weeks, allowing you to make a fresh start. We will also pay £1,500 towards your legal fees – and there are no estate agents or delays!
Why not talk to us by requesting a call back to see how we can help?
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