A couple whose nightmare neighbour’s house is piled high with rubbish say they have finally had enough after 25 years.
Ian and Dunca, a retired couple from Sydney’s west, said the last straw was when rats crossed the divide and came into their garden.
But their efforts to have the hoarder, named as Robert, clear up his mess next door have fallen on deaf ears at the council.
Old bikes, cars, tins, and piles of rubbish have stacked up next door to Ian and Dunca’s home
Ian and Dunca say they have been writing to their council for nearly 25 years but have had no reply
The couple claim they have been ignored since 1993 about the house from hell.
The house next door is riddled with old cars, junk, cans, cat food and even a kitchen sink as Ian and Dunca fear the loose wiring on the property might even be a fire hazard.
But despite repeated requests for the last quarter of a century, the retired couple told A Current Affair they are at the end of their tether.
They have been forced to stay after failing to get the house on the market.
The western Sydney property has been left to accumulate rubbish for decades, the couple claim
Real estate agents estimate their property has been devalued by between $50,000 and $80,000.
‘We’ve already been told that by estate agents, more than one,’ Ian said. ‘People would come out and look at our house, take one look next door and walk away.’
The couple have pages and pages of letters sent to Cumberland Council with no replies and are now laying rat poison regularly to trap the vermin.
Dunca said they had tried confronting their neighbour ‘years ago’ but said they were told: ”Oh yeah, I’ll do it, I’ll do it.’ and that’s it.’
‘You just look at it and go ‘oh God’,’ she added.
The council has now promised to seek a solution by using its resources ‘and potentially the resources of a third party’, said Brendon Govers, the Cumberland Council’s head of environment.
The retired couple say the house next door has devalued their own property by more than $50,000