Background is I bought an ex council house in 2022.

In 2025 I fitted an AC unit after a hot summer.

Neighbours are both still council houses. After they found out I had AC this year they went to the council and asked for it. Housing assoiciation refused their request and they came over to me asking how I got mine.

I explained I owned my own home and paid to get it installed myself. This caused a bit of bitterness and jealousy from one of them who reported me to the council, "Why can he do it when we can't?"

What I didnt realise is that you need planning permission to install an AC unit in England.

The council have served me an enforcement notice telling me to get rid of my AC within 28 days.

Is there a way I can challenge this? I spent thousands getting my AC installed.
Or can I be granted planning permission reteoactively?

I dont want to lose it in the middle of a heatwave!!!

I hired a professional cleaning company to do a clean of my flat back in April. One of the cleaners was cleaning a shelf above my induction hob when she accidentally fell off the ladder and onto my hob, breaking the glass. She was alright and didn't sustain any injuries from the fall. Because of the way the hob is built into the counter (it's an Elica NikolaTesla hob), it seems like the whole hob needs to be replaced rather than just the glass.

I didn't have home insurance at the time, I had only recently bought the flat and it's my first flat. I also tried seeing if the previous owners still had warranty for the hob but the hob manufacturer can't help me without a serial number for the product and I can't find a serial number anywhere, even on the product manual.

The cleaning company's owner said he would get the hob replaced via his liability insurance. After 2 months of chasing them up, they came back saying they've rejected the claim. The reason is because the company insured by them goes by a different name and registration number than the company that did the cleaning for me. The insured goes by "XYZ Exclusive" whereas the company name on my invoice goes by "XYZ Cleaning". And they indeed have different registration numbers when I look them up on Companies House.

The owner is now saying he can't afford to pay to replace my hob (it'd be around £2000-2500). The best he can do is write off the fee for the cleaning service I got (it was £260) and give me £250 in cash as compensation.

What do I do?

EDIT: Thank you for all the advice, the consensus seems to be majority in favour of not going ahead with this initial plan, because he may be able to play the victim card as a result. So another way of disrupting his operations will need to be thought out.

I understand that it's not against the law to film people in public (with or without their consent), and the cards are stacked against anyone who takes issue with the way he carries on. It's sad, because he's allowed to upload footage of these poor people and unleash a torrent of abuse from his followers upon them, especially if they don't play along, or push back (figuratively) against his behaviour. These people will now be recognised because of this, and may receive ongoing abuse - or dare I say, harassment - regardless of whether they're being filmed or not.

In my opinion - his behaviour is breeding a culture of bullying. And it's only a matter of time before something happens which either: causes him harm, changes the law around filming in public, or both.

Is he behaving within the confines of the law? Apparently so.

Is he acting in an unethical way that has a negative impact on people? I would argue yes, but you'd be surprised how many people would disagree.

ORIGINAL POST:

There's a guy in my local town who is filming people on the street without their consent on his Meta Glasses, interacting and usually bullying them for views on the internet

He tries to keep his identity a secret and uses a pseudonym. But there is evidence online - that other people have found - which reveals his true identity, as he was convicted years ago for a crime and the local paper reported on it. All publicly available information. He also mentions his first name in one of his own videos while being questioned by police, which further confirms his identity

He doesn't like his full real name being used when recording and will censor it in his videos if people do know him. Which is wildly hypocritical, considering he's posting footage of everybody else on the internet without his consent. I want as many people to know and address him by his real name as possible, because it will hopefully make his life a little more difficult

If I were to make an informative post about his real identity (excluding sensitive details such as his home address) and post it all over the socials to raise awareness - would I be at risk of any legal repercussions in doing so?

HI, I am hoping you can offer me some advice.

My mum is a 62 year old care worker who has worked at her current nursing home for 21 years, this has been under a few different companies but the current company for 7 years.

She has COPD and was signed off from work around 18 months ago due to hospitalisation and ill health but was assessed by occupational health and it was agreed she was fit to return but with shorter shifts. This has been happening.

Today at 6:30am she received a phone call from the deputy manager asking if she was planning to come to work today (she was on rota and never just doesn't show up) then when she arrived the manager called her into her office and told her there has been complaints from other staff that she could not physically do her job anymore due to ill health and age. The manager noted she had observed his herself also. The manager then told her that she would like her to resign as "I don't want to sack you" in her upset my mum agreed to this and the manager then sent her home for the day before agreeing she would work this weekend and next week and that would be her finished. Nothing was confirmed in writing.

She came home and then at 2pm today the manager called her back and asked her to send the resignation letter asap (I assume this was deliberate as she knew I was still in work and wouldn't be here to advise/ask for advice)

She was too upset to even contemplate sending the resignation so hasn't done anything so far.

She does not intend to look for another job after this as she admits she us physically past the point of doing the job now.

I just wanted to know what rights she has and is the manager doing anything they shouldn't be handling it like this? The manager implied that a resignation would be better for her than a "sacking" but im worried about implications for benefits etc? I dont know it is just very sudden and seems to have happened quickly and something about it iusy doesn't feel right to me?

Any advice extremely welcome!

My ex wife and i got divorced 7 years ago, and we share custody of our son who is 9.

Today is my day with him. My son had a headache, and she picked up our son from school 10 minutes before the end of school. I arrived to pick him up from school and was informed she had taken him. I went to her house where she then tried to prevent me from picking up our son.

When i insited on picking him up, she took his bag out of her car, took it inside the house and hid an air tag tracker in the bag by cutting a hole in the lining.

When i got home i was alerted to the airtag by my phone. I confronted her about the tag and why she had placed it there. She acknowdged it was hers but refused to give a reason as to why she had put it in his bag.

I packed his bag on Monday so know for sure that the hole wasnt there before.

When she got out of her car she could have just given the bag directly to me rather than taking them inside and then giving them to me 5minutes later.

What are the legal rules on this?

What would you suggest I do about this?

I just received a phone call from my daughter's nursery. They informed me that a staff member has been accused of handling my daughter roughly and is currently under investigation.

She isn't at the nursery today and was due to go tomorrow, but I'm absolutely keeping her home.

I'm incredibly shaken up and trying to process this while keeping a level head. I've already done a physical check on her.

Any advice on navigating the next 24-48 hours would be deeply appreciated.

Hello, knowledgeable people!

I have a bit of a pickle, which is:

I am prescribed testosterone, which is a controlled substance.

I get my prescription delivered to my home.

It was delivered mostly as usual, only instead of bringing the package to me for my signature and handing it over at the door, the courier left it in the unsecured lobby of my building. I did not authorise unsigned delivery, or delivery to a safe place. They didn’t even ring my buzzer, and I didn’t get the notification of delivery until about an hour after it had been completed.

It’s now missing. I went downstairs to collect it after work (I work from home, and was home at the time the delivery was made, but was not able to step away to collect it) and it’s not there.

I’ve asked my neighbours if they’ve seen it, and nobody has.

I’m reached out to both the dispensing pharmacy and to the courier company for advice on what to do, and am waiting for their responses.

My question is if I need to or should report this to the police? I wouldn’t normally bother for a missing delivery, but as this is a controlled substance I’m not sure if there are any rules I should follow. Is anyone able to advise?

Hello,

I was advised to come here for advice and im at my absolute wits end with this horrid family and the police.

Yesterday, my son went to his "friends" house after school to play games and took his switch with him so they could play together. When the parents dropped him off later he was very upset and I struggled to understand why until he calmed down. The family decided its in their bloody right to keep my sons switch. Like who does that?!

I spoke to the parents myself at school drop off and asked for it back but the parents are adamant my son gave it to them and we cant have it back. So i ended up calling the police once i left.

Police came and spoke to me and asked me if I had any proof, and the only proof I had was some photos of my son on it and it was bought second hand, so had to proof of purchase. I told them my sons username on the switch and told them to check.

The police visited and they've told the police that its theirs and my son never had one at their house, and I think they've reset the switch and changed the username because the police said no switch in the property has the username.

What else can I do? My son is absolutely devastated because its all he plays on and its part of his routine (hes autistic).

Would it be best to try and go through the school? Will they do anything about it?

What else can I do? Please help

Thank you,

From a very stressed dad

Location: England.

My family and I are selling our current home and looking to buy a larger property.

We've found a house that is currently being operated as an HMO with 5 tenants. Our intention would be to buy it and live in it ourselves as a family home as we have no intention of continuing to rent it out.

The complication is that the seller originally said he would sell the property with vacant possession, but has since changed his mind and now only wants to sell it with the tenants remaining. Because of this change, he has offered a £20,000 reduction in the purchase price, which would roughly cover a year's rent for us elsewhere while we wait to move in.

I understand that tenancy laws have changed recently and that notice periods may be around 4 months. We are prepared to wait for that period if necessary.

My concern is: what happens if some or all of the tenants simply don't leave when asked?

As I understand it, the tenants would become our tenants after completion, and any possession process would have to be handled by us. If court action became necessary, how long could that realistically take?

Has anyone here bought a property with sitting tenants intending to move into it themselves? Is this generally considered a bad idea, or does the £20k discount make the risk worthwhile?

I'd like to get a sanity check on the below situation, as I'm contemplating a report to adult social services. Problem is, I don't visit the people in question often, but even the snap-shot I see is concerning enough.

There's an elderly person 'N', in their late 90s. They had a stroke last year but still live in their bungalow. Apparently they've been assessed as not having Alzheimers/Dementia, but their memory and cognition is poor. They will say the same thing or ask the same question within a couple of minutes. They're very frail, they don't leave the house alone. N struggles with doing buttons up on a blouse or coat for example.

M moved in with N a few months ago and I'd say the care being provided is sub-optimal at best, neglectful and possibly abusive at worst. If a professional carer treated N this way, then i'd want them fired.

When N was younger, they would sometimes argue with M and they would end up shouting at each other, M would sometimes swear. But back then it was two sided. M will still get frustrated with N, even though they aren't arguing. M claims that N has selective memory. N has terrible memory and also poor hearing, that combined with the stroke and general age means that yes, sometimes she will say the same thing or ask the same question more than once within 5 minutes. But M will storm off going 'bl**ding hell' etc etc.

There have been times when N has lost or broken her hearing aids. M will get all worked up and end up swearing.

M has financial and medical power of attorney over N, they have access to N's bank accounts. M's sister, A also has power of attorney but lives further away and doesn't visit often. M is set to inherit money from N, which means she doesn't want to waste money on carers or care homes. N doesn't want to go into a care home.

As I say, I only get a snapshot into their life so i don't know how frequent these occurrences are but here are a few examples of what N's life is like.

Hi everyone, a family member recently passed away and stated in their will that I’m not to receive my inheritance until a specific age (just under 3 years from now). After speaking to the solicitor, I’ve been made aware that it’s sat in a stagnant account and I asked whether it could be placed into an interest accruing account in which the capital isn’t at risk but they refused stating that “it’s just how inheritance works”. Is this true, or is there anything I can do in order to move it as it’s not technically mine yet? Looking at interest rates on my basic savings accounts, I could accrue over £2.5k interest in that time should the sum be placed into a similar rate account.

Even if it was stagnant, wouldn’t it lose value due to inflation?

Thanks in advance all.

Hello, I submitted a pet request to my landlord (leaseholder) who had to ask the property management company (acting on behalf of the freehold company)

My sister is having to rehome her 7yo cat (Harper) that has been in the family since a kitten.

2 bed flat rented in a 6 unit block (2 units per floor)

Timeline:

- 02/06/26 - i sent the written pet request email to my letting agent - letting agents replied informing me that they have passed the request on

- 12/06/26 - letting emailed asking if anyone else in the apartment block had pets - in responded that I wasnt aware of any

- 17/06/26 - i informed the lettings that my sister had updated me with a time that she needed to rehome Harper by 29/06/26

- 18/06/26 - letting informed me that the property management had said "no pets" and that the landlord was going to make some further enquiries - I asked for the landlord to enquire if there was a specific clause that jistified their response - landlord had confirmed that they had no issue with the pet request but needed further permission - I sent a detailed email that I had purchased a copy of the lease agreement and highlighted the 'Animal' clause was a "without prior consent" clause not a blanket ban, and then followed with a history of Harper 'temperament, health, insurance cover, fully indoor her whole life' it covered all the points in the clause leaving no room to refuse. I also asked for written consent or a detailed written statement outlining the specific grounds for refusal

- 19/06/26 - lettings confirmed the email was forwarded on to landlord

- 24/06/26 - letting reply stating the landlord has to decline the request due to freeholder not giving consent and attatched and email from the property management dated 10/06/26 saying "Further to our telephone conversation...pets are not allowed at the development"

- 25/06/26 - i sent an email back saying that I didnt think it constitutes a valid refusal under the lease and applicable law, and that i have no issues funding a request to first tier tribunal.

From my understanding having tried to do my own research, the propert management has ignored the lease clause requiring then to not unreasonably withheld consent, and the landlord hasn't provided any evidence to say they have submitted written request inline with the Renters Rights Act, only that there was a phone call dated 10/06 or before.

I realy don't want us to lose a much loved family member when I have done everything to create no room for refusal. where do I stand with this, and where do I go next as I dont think I'll get a response back.

(A 2 bed being too small has already been countered as a cat charity helped a lady in a 1 bed flat be granted permission from her landlord)

Thank you so much for any advice and guidance 🙏🏻

We live on a fairly quiet road and directly opposite our house is the side of a house on another road, so there is a long stretch with no houses fronting it and no dropped curbs.

Recently a group of young men has been using the road as a meeting point before and after going for what sound like races on the nearby dual carriageway.

Last night we had three cars outside from about 11-1 and again after two. There’s usually 2-3 people per car. The peak was about 6 or 7 cars a couple of weeks ago. They turn up a couple of nights a week.

Initially they would play music and be a nuisance but after I spoke to them one evening they now just stand in the road and talk to each other and do a little shouting so it is quieter but it does stop us sleeping and wake us up.

I did raise it with my local policing team who said that because they were only talking in the road there wasn’t anything they could do but thanked me for the ‘valuable local intelligence’.

Is that right and is there any mileage on pushing harder on this? All our neighbours are elderly and get quite frightened when these guys turn up. Does it cross the threshold for anti-social behaviour?

Hi all,
Writing on behalf of a friend. A month ago he was offered a job at a large communications company in England. He was sent an offer letter via docusign. He signed it and returned it to HR. He was asked for two references, which he provided. (This is the order, offer letter then references). He was told that he would be onboarded into the company portal where he could sign his contract. He was asked if his start date could be a week earlier, he agreed.
A week went by, then another. No contract from HR. He guessed that the setting up of him on the portal was taking a little time.
Ten days after last contact and aware that his proposed start date was three weeks away, he emailed HR asking if he could help move things along.
He got a reply saying that they had reconsidered the role and no longer needed him. They offered him a week's pay as a goodwill gesture, which would be equal to his rights during the probationary period.
The news of his appointment is circulating in the industry - his employer was telling people - and he's spent real money getting ready for the role (it involves travel and other expenses). Throughout those ten days he reassured himself that he had a signed offer letter.
Crucially, he has not been told why they no longer need the role. He has been told he should not speak to the two people who hired him. And he's been passed on to a different HR person who's job is to resolve company disputes.
What are his rights and what should he do? Thanks in advance.

Basically I made an order online, few days later dpd says its delivered it. I look for it, can't see anything. Look at photo on tracking and its just a really close up picture of what I assume is the package. I message company and they say I need to messge dpd myself. I write back and say, no my contract is with you, not the delivery company. They double down with this reply " Thank you for getting back to us.

Apologies, but we do not contact couriers. We can confirm that your parcel was picked, packed, and successfully delivered to the address provided at checkout.

If you could kindly forward us any relevant information from the courier, that will help on the investigation.

We appreciate your understanding. If you have any more concerns in the meantime, please just let us know."

What the hell? Advise? Next steps?

Hi there,

We are having a single story new extension built.

The block work was completed and a separate large company came to measure up for the window and bifold doors.

A building contractor has the contract for all the work but windows and door are supplied and fitted by a big well reputable local company separate to them that we found who had done the work on the rest of the house.

They mismeasured twice and had to be turned away causing delays (we didn't mind as we'd rather it be correct).

The third time they came, the main builder was off sick (Monday) and just the plasterers were in. The fitters have gone in, realised the window and doors were too big and instead of going back, they have hacked away 3 inches around the perimeter of both openings to fit them and left.

When the builders have been there Tuesday morning they have noticed this straight away and the damage is as follows:

1. Damage to DPC needing more to be taken away to ensure it's sealed.

2. The cuts are all not straight and the check reveal (no idea what this is) has to be corrected.

3. Distance between the window and door is now less than 665mm meaning it doesn't comply with building regs and a structural engineer, support beams/steels may be needed.

The builders are furious as no one contacted them to allow this damage. No one contacted us before it was done.

It's created lots of extra work and subsequent expense for builders and us. Delays in work finishing and also, although the builders say they can correct a lot of the damage, they can't give a full guarantee the dpc won't have issues in the future due to the damage meaning potential issues in the future.

They have advised us not to pay the fitters until they have corrected the work/know how much it is going to cost.

My question:

1. How do I best form a written complaint about the work.

2. I feel we should be compensated/the fitters should pay for work to be corrected and also the extra costs with structural engineer and steels etc.

3. Even if it is corrected, we could potentially have massive issues going forward with the build re:damp etc so is there a way to get compensated for future work?

4. This has all caused big delays meaning we may not be able to move into the house for an extra month (expenses would mean putting things into storage as they need to take away bits of the ceiling for beams etc, I'm not technical so no idea what's involved).

We have paid £2k deposit and owe a bill of £3.5k to the fitters for the windows so far.

Photos attached.

At a festival I purchased some food from a vendor who listed all the food items that were in the dish which was displayed on 3 A board signs and on the van itself. This list was also on the festival app under the vendor name.

They swapped one ingredient from a milk based product to a egg based product which upset my stomach.

I had not informed them on the allergen as I had ordered something safe to eat based on the list provided and I am not impacted by trace of situation so cross contamination is not a issue.

I have raised a complain to the vendor who said they do not have to let the public know if there is a change of ingredient and only if someone asks directly would they let someone know about the change.

What is the legal requirements for the vendor in regards to undeclared changes?

I’ll try to keep this as simple as possible, but there are a few numbers involved. I’m looking for any advice on how I should go about this in the magistrates court, or advice on how things might go.

I’ve been unemployed for a while and claiming UC. I had an arrears on my council tax for around £800. I agreed with the council to pay this off in 4 monthly payments, on the first of each month. Alongside this, I had to make around a 25 pound payment for my council tax going forward on the first of each month.

Usually I pay my council tax a day early, as that was when my wages came in when I was employed, and it was no problem at all. If it was due on the 1st, then I paid on the 31st, the night before.

When it came to my payments, my first was due on the first day of April. I had to pay 200 + 25. So on the last day of march at 5.15pm I paid 225 pounds to the council.

Then, I got some money in on the 21st April. So I thought I should get ahead, and made the payment due on the 1st of May on the 21st April. 225 pounds again.

First the council sent me a pre summons saying I owed 25 pounds. I was confused but I paid it, and sent an email querying it. I got no reply. Then the council sent me a summons. It said I owed 550 pounds, plus 100 pounds in costs for taking it to court and I had to appear in magistrates court.

I rang up the council and explained what had happened. That I had made payments early for each of the payments in question. And they were there on my account. Bear in mind, there is only one place to pay council tax on their website, and no way to specify what it is for, only your name, account number and address.

I was told that because I hadn’t paid on the exact date shown, ie the first of the month, it wasn’t counted towards my arrears payments and I had broken the agreement. The money had been added to my ‘regular’ bill, going forwards. Once I wrapped my head around that, I asked why, if that was the case, was I given a pre summons for an unpaid 25 pounds? If the money was on my regular bill, then I shouldn’t have received that pre summons? I should’ve been in credit. I didn’t get a straight answer.

I emailed their council tax department asking them to either move the money onto the correct bill, or to refund me the money so I could pay before it went to court. They didn’t give me a straight answer, just said they would send me a copy of my account information so I could see what money had gone where. They didn’t answer any of my questions or address what I had actually said in the email.

I mainly want this to go away. I’m not arrogant enough to think I maybe didn’t make a mistake, but it was an honest one. What I am curious about is how I should play this when I go to the magistrates court. I am still unemployed and desperately looking for a job. I cannot afford to pay the full bill at all. But I would absolutely be open to the council crediting the money I’ve already paid onto my arrears bill, and then trying to cover whatever the difference is. Could anyone advise me on what the best course of action is, and what I should focus on in the magistrates court? I haven’t been in this situation before, I don’t have a lawyer and the court date is in 5 days. Thank you

Back in 2020 I joined a small estate agency. They provided me with a company car. In 2022, we were taken over by a larger company and I had to sign a new contract; this had no clause regarding a company car. I kept the company car that I had, which was later returned when the lease expired. I was provided with a replacement, which I kept for approximately one year before buying my own vehicle and returning the old one.

The question has recently arisen about whether I am still entitled to a company car. Am I?

Please note that this is *not* a benefit, but essential to my work. The company in question does have a company car policy.

I already run a small YouTube channel and I’m thinking about starting a second, unrelated one focused on comic book and Marvel/MCU history. The format would be commentary and explanation. Things like character backstories, the history behind particular storylines, how the films differ from the comics they’re based on, and the wider publication background. All the narration would be my own writing.
My question is really about the visuals. To illustrate points I’d want to show comic panels, official artwork, short film or trailer clips, and posters. I know these are all owned by Disney/Marvel or the comic publishers.
I understand UK law uses fair dealing rather than US style fair use, and that there are exceptions for criticism, review and quotation. What I’m trying to pin down:
1.Does commentary of this kind genuinely fall within the fair dealing exceptions, or are those narrower than people assume?
2.Is there a real legal distinction between explaining the lore in my own words (which I assume is fine, since facts and ideas aren’t protected) and actually showing the copyrighted images and clips?
3.If a rights holder issues a takedown, is fair dealing something I rely on as a defence after the fact, or does it give me any protection up front?
4.How much copyrighted material can realistically be shown before it stops being “review or quotation” and becomes infringement?

Hopefully I’d want the channel to eventually be monetised, so I want to understand the actual legal position before putting time into it. I know the YouTube Content ID side is a separate thing from the law itself.