The privacy of the home is under threat through the widespread powers of entry at the disposal of the state, but what efforts are being made to protect our private domain?
The Right to Privacy in the Home
Recent years have seen a heightened government interest in monitoring the behaviour of its citizens with the aid of CCTV and all manner of personal data collection facilities. Surveillance can potentially benefit the populace by helping preserve public safety and security, but it comes at the expense of civil liberties.
The debate about whether it is worth the compromise rages on but something most would agree on is that citizens expect to be free of state intrusion once behind their own front door. Unfortunately, recent research suggests that even the privacy of the home is at threat.
Undue Rights of the State
Unbeknownst to most citizens, there are believed to be over 1200 different reasons why a council official may be permitted to enter a householder’s home without their permission or a warrant. It is also estimated that between 15,000 to 20,000 council officials are able to exercise this power.
Considering the police need a warrant to enter someone’s home and private landlord needs to give written warning if they want to enter one of their own leased properties, it is difficult to comprehend why the council are exempt from such formalities.
Householders can take measures to protect their homes from criminals but there a little they can do to safeguard their privacy from state officials.
Powers of Entry
Granted by Acts of Parliament ‘Powers of entry’ permit officials to enter private properties for all manner of reasons from investigating suspected smuggled goods and unlicensed gambling to checking the height of hedges and for the existence of unregulated hypnotists. The non-payment of a parking ticket is treated as a civil debt and could result a bailiff entering a property to enforce it.
Just as with the surveillance question, many might argue that if they have nothing to hide they have nothing to fear. But as in the case of the un-paid parking ticket, errors are not uncommon and the potential for abuse is not unknown. The minimal authorisation required could also encourage action on insecure assertions.
It may still be an unlikely scenario for any upstanding citizen but the potential threat is there and as such can still generate considerable unease.
What’s more, whether any powers of entry are ever acted upon or not, many householders would just strongly object to the mere idea that a state official would be legally allowed to gain access to their property without warning.
This is seen as an invasion of privacy and an erosion of rights and liberties that householders have been unable to protect themselves from.
Restoring the Sanctity of Home
It is left to politicians to restore the sanctity of a citizen’s home. Efforts are underway to ensure that the private domain can only be breached with the householder’s permission, or at least with some proper legal authority.
One Conservative peer called for a code of practice to enforce strict limits on entry powers for all cases apart from those involving suspected serious crime or terrorism – essentially cases that are punishable by imprisonment or on the grounds of public safety.
The limits would mean that entry would only be allowed if authorised by a judge or magistrate and if the householder agreed. It has also been proposed that entry is only allowed between the hours of 8am and 6pm midweek and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays. By making a warrant necessary for all entries into domestic premises then it would make officials think twice before making an application.
I have lived in a Council property for over 11 years. There has been numerous of complaints phoned, into the council by various neighbours, but one in particular . I am married and my husband has a different surname from his mother, which gave them ammunition against us, as they thought that I was, a single mother living, with the man who, was not my child’s father. I have not been a saint either, but it is not as if I can phone up their bank and tell them about their clients conduct. I have found out that this neighbour (on her mother’s side) got information which was supposed to be confidential regarding a meeting at stoical services, (who I phoned for help, as I suffered after having my second child, with post natal depression). She made a complaint though not leaving her name, saying that she can hear my husband and I argue and that is how I speak to my children as I was brought up this way. The information that she provided was something that I had spoken to her in confidence about. That was how I knew that it was her, I didn’t tell anybody else about my up bringing. So I got records released and confronted her but she denies to the high heavens that it wasn’t her and two weeks later I received a letter from her solicitor. The first time we spoke to our neighbours is by phone, they phoned as all the light were put out and told us to shut our dog up or else our dog was let out the back to do his business before bed and she got spoked by a cat we were standing at the back porch, so we knew she was barking but only for a few seconds less, ( now the area we live and town was still going through the troubles elven years ago), so you can only imagine what was going through our heads with a baby at the time. On and off through the years things have been side as they are never settled in their own home and take it out on us instead. It has gotten a very uncomfortable place to live. As they are wanting to move, but can’t get their home sold as they are asking far to much for their house and has been on the market for 19 months. So once this information came to light about social services I stopped speaking to them but they would always speak to me. As I am a fully practising Christian I cannot speak to people who have hurt me or my family as I can’t lie.
Have 15 year old girl that was raped at 9 and again at 13. The nabiour a 45 year old woman clls her fat says she’s pregnant and abuses her. She likes to ride her bike and this woman gets the kids to chase and harass her. It’s sickening to see she has no cofedence as it is. The old boy up stairs from her is bullied and council only offer to move him or us never them.
I shared a house with my friends, we are 6 in total and we moved 4 months ago, but since the first month, our neighbour has always come asking stupid questions, how many people live in the house, what we do for living , where we are from, and it is very annoying, honestly I’ve living in London for 7 years and this is the first time we have an experience like this, we really don’t care what our neighbours do, or where they are from, we respect them, we don’t put loud music or do not have bad behaviour but this woman always come with an excuse, asking about our lives and she gets frustrated because my friends do not speak English, today for example the fence in the garden fell down and she came asking why we damage it and how many people is living in the house, we didn’t damage the fence it just fell down, we don’t use the garden because it is full of grass, she said that she sees many people coming in and out, is that really her problem? I mean neighbours really should care how many people come in and out from the other houses?? we have friends and family that come over occasionally and we are not doing anything wrong when she said that she see people coming in and out makes me think she is checking on us, that’s very annoying because we feel harassed , I really would like to know if there i any place where we can complaint.
Firstly try writing her a note – explain your living arrangements and politely suggest that you hope this satisfies her and she will no longer feel the need to continue asking questions. If you have a landlord, you could also try mentioning it to him/her. If you feel this is worthy of further action, you could try a solicitor or the local police.
I need advice really, I’m having trouble with a neighbour who first staryed calls me a F—— C— Every time he passes me, he stands across the road staring it into my house when my husband is away then I get up the other morning to find my car vandalised, I’m not the only one this person has done this to it’s most of the woman in this village I’m now very worried to think what else he will do. The police don’t want to know because I have no evidence, most of the people here don’t speak to this person because he is drunk and abusive, be pees in the garden and there are children next door to him. He rents the property from a brewery who I have contacted and told them what’s going on but they don’t want to know. He has caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to me car and another neighbours and nothing is being done about it. Please someone tell me where to go next as I’m at my wits end.
i was hoping to find out if there was anything i can do to stop the owner of the property next door to us as she is pure evil. When we first moved into this house 4 years ago she firstly started a street argument with several of the streets residences, about a ball game. Anyway when she didn’t actually get away with intimidating me, she then contacted our Landlord with several false accusations and as our Landlord wasn’t willing to evict us there and then as she requested, plus the fact it was quite obvious she had been lying about the situation, she then phone the local police, saying we had been threatening her tenants, which again was a lie and obviously false, she then phoned the police saying that my dogs had been fouling in her garden so we put 8ft fencing up, she then moved onto contacting social services, saying we were arguing and swearing all the time and that worst thing she said there was evidence of drug use which i was so upset about last week we then had the RSPCA out saying that the dogs were mistreated. So to cut it short this woman has gone to every last professional agency she can go to making up utter lies and i want to know what I can do do stop this as it is making my life miserable my family miserable and the house we live extremely uncomfortable to live in. i want to know who i contact about having this stopped its harassment and nothing less and i know i cant go on much longer like this there has got to be some sort of law or agency i can contact that can stop this because we havent done anything that she has said and she is causing a great deal of stress in my families lives and allowed to get away with it please help me if you know who i can contact
We have lived in our house for 48 years,we have 3 neighbors who,s gardens back onto ours,they constantly have irritated us over the years making it difficult to relax and enjoy our own garden in the few summer days that we have,if it is not one then it is the other,loud voices and especially one who has kids that constantly thud a ball,one who has a big dog with a very loud bark.I installed a pest deterrent alarm to scare dogs away because dogs were fouling my garden,it is not very loud,more like birds chirping but louder.One neighbor who has lived there the longest and has constantly irritated us was the first to complain and it was his dog that was doing the fouling,I think that he started all the others off to complain because no one before him did.My immediate neighbors are no problem but the ones that back onto our garden especially the ball thudding neighbors football mad kids and their father who is more noisy than them had the audacity to complain,their immediate next door neighbor complained,they are no problem themselves so I turned the sonic sound off my alarm and told them to speak to there next door neighbor about the noise that they make as my requests have not had any effect but the ball thudding continues.My wife is ill with cancer and I am not well we need peace and quiet,the local council have done very little to help,I am at my wits end can anything be done.We are great grandparents and we brought ours up to respect people and not to disturb them,not perfect I know but they do have respect.
My neighbours have been harassing me and my wife verbally for the past approx three years. They moan about how close my van is to their boundary when it’s on my drive. if I park it on the road they moan about how it is often a little bit on front of their house. They moan about people knocking on MY gate. They moan about grinds parking outside the house. They name call and goad me to fight them. The wife swears at me and my wife for parking on OUR drive close to the planters they have deliberately put close to their boundary so we can’t open the van doors. The list goes on.
I was rehoused some 17 years ago when our estate was regenerated the Lady opposite my House and her children have always abused me right from the start. last April her youngest daughter started shouting after me we are filming you too I took no notice as abuse was normal from that house, a few weeks later abusive mail arrived they then started to take pictures of my house on their phones. one afternoon in July Sunday it was, she and her daughter stood at the bottom of My drive and started shouting do you want to come in and look round my bathroom you nosey cow at the same time her daughter took photos on her phone saying we are photographing you now. She then started to accuse us of my adult son of photographing her daughter from the bedroom he is very ill and was devastated at this false accusation false because the girls do not sleep in the bedroom opposite they sleep in the back room facing the houses at the back. We contacted the landlord and asked them to mediate they did pointing out to everyone that this was a fabricated story my this neighbour opposite they were told to stop and we were told to call the police if they started but they only start after we go to bed or in the middle of the night. The housing association said to swap the place but if I did that then they will tell whoever we swap with that we film people it will follow us because this evil woman and her daughters are determined to ruin our lives.
I have lived in my property for about 5 yrs. Really got on with the Male next door but never spoke to his girlfriend go 4 yes earlier I started having things happening to my garden and pets then got a policeman coming asking me if I knew about next doors cat being scratched. I had not got a clue who had done it but as time went on it seems that he is accusing me of the damage. Things then started to escalate he was coming out with percy words and exposing himself to me. He punched me in the face but nothing has been done about it. I honestly do not know why they have taken offence on me. I regularly fed his dog and allowed my pets to play with his dog. Even offered to get a canvas of his dog when it had to be put asleep. This harassment has had a big impact on my health. Worst thing is living alone.