‘What’s the best petty revenge you have had on an annoying neighbour?’ – 23 super satisfying tales of neighbourhood payback

Everybody needs good neighbours, as the theme tune of the much-lamented Australian soap went. And it’s true, because you want the people you’re sharing a wall with to be pleasant and, crucially, quiet. But do we actually get them?

Well, based on this post from No_Usual_572 on the AskUK subreddit, it seems like they’re hard to come by…

‘What’s the best petty revenge you have had on an annoying neighbour?

‘Recently had some very obnoxious neighbours move in around November time that can’t talk in a volume lower than shouting and have parties on a Friday / Saturday until the early hours.

‘They recently tried to dump their fridge on an adjacent street at 11pm. Thought I’d give it a whirl with reporting to the local council. To my surprise, it has worked and I’ve overheard an argument about the £600 fine they have received today.

‘Very satisfying, I must say.’

Chef’s kiss to that one. And lots of other people chipped in with the ways in which they enjoyably got their own back on the incredibly annoying people next door…

1.

‘My sister was putting up a shed that was totally compliant with all the local rules, no planning permission needed etc.

‘Her neighbour reported her (without speaking to her first or anything), council sent someone out who confirmed that the shed was totally fine, but on the visit noticed that the neighbour had a “shed” that violated the rules, as well as an odd boundary line – neighbour had to rectify their shed and my sister gained a few extra inches of garden after looking into it and finding out that the neighbour had put the fence too far over!

Not sure it even counts as revenge as my sister didn’t initiate it, and only had to look into the boundary issue after the council person mentioned it.’
–Tiny_ghosts_

2.

‘Neighbour used to kick off all the time about parking outside his house (on street parking). Heard him going off at my missus one day so I run out there and he legged it in his house and started shouting out the window at me.

‘So I went and bought a proper pile of shit car for £300, taxed and insured it and left it there for the six months until I moved. Cost me about a £60 quid a month but honestly it was worth it. Was in part the missus’s idea, my plan was less petty.’
–Chemical-Lettuce2497

3.

‘Neighbour has neurotic aggressive dog that barks non-stop. So I was delighted when my daughter took up the trumpet.’
–sunheadeddeity

4.

‘End of cul-de-sac parking nonsense. No allocated spaces it was a free for all fine by me. Next door neighbour threatening anytime someone is in ‘his’ space. I parked there and he ranted at me that he needed it for his disability.

‘The space he was actually in was the very next parking bay so absolutely no further distance from his house. I suggested he go to the council to get a disabled bay put in.

I could have also done the same but I knew I was going to be moving house and couldn’t be arsed waiting for council to sort it out. So I let him go through faff and expense. Several months later council puts in a disabled bay and I continued to park there but with my disabled badge on display and he could do nothing about it. He fumed every single day till I finally moved out two months later.’
–Friendly_Bad_8882

5.

‘Old neighbour would make an absolute racket all hours of the night. I had about three hours sleep one night. When I left for work that morning, I put my speakers on full blast next to the wall blasting Heavy Metal music. And went to the office for eight hours.’
–Zig07

6.

‘I did something less extreme. A guy bought a rental property across the road from me, and while he renovated it, windows wide open, he would play very loud drum and base music. Not ideal for someone WFH. So I opened my window wide, put on some Slipknot, cranked the volume up and left the room for ten minutes. He got the hint.’
–LiliWenFach

7.

‘I used to find the same track and play it twice as loud slightly out of sync.’
–skilledbiscuit1

8.

‘Did the same to a neighbour blasting shitty music in his garden last summer. My flat overlooks their garden so it wasn’t obvious where the dual sound was coming from. The look of pure confusion was worth every moment. Especially when he tried turning the volume down to figure out what was happening, I’d turn it down seconds later too.’
–aimee94

9.

‘I had a neighbour who was a bit of a knob. His garden was his pride and joy. When it rained, I used to put all the snails over his side of the fence.’
–DeirdreBarstool

10.

‘Someone just reported my annoying neighbours. A few days there were 7+ cars taking up all the small road. He was selling them from his house. No one else could park. This week there is a grand total of one!’
–BabyAlibi

11.

‘Used to live in a street with a family who just let their dog out all day and it would shit everywhere. Plenty of complaints made but they used to blame every other dog in the street and the council got nowhere.

‘Anyway, one day the mum is walking both kids back from school. First kid slips in dog shit. Second kid trips over first kids, falls into more dog shit. Mum tries to pick them up, sadly does not slip but ends up with dog shit all over her hands. It was biblical.’
–Party-Werewolf-4888

12.

‘Neighbour moved in with their uncontrolled little yappy dog and left their back door open so was literally every 10-15 minutes of high pitched yapping.

Recorded the yapping and played back at full volume on the Sonos aimed at their door – no more yappy dog at all times.’
–TedBurns-3