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Owning a home is a big step in anyone’s life. It’s an expensive decision, and one that needs to be really considered – not just in terms of affordability, but the condition of the house, it’s running costs, and any restrictions that apply to it. You need to be well informed when you make this kind of big life decision, because once you’ve signed that contract, there’s no going back.

When the family in this story bought the land and built their house, they were content with the neighbourhood – including the HOA and some of its strict rules. The house that they built was a place full of love and calm – that was, until their next door neighbours made a significant change to their own property. Now, things are chaotic and the dog is going bananas, and all the while the logical way to solve things has been long outlawed by the HOA.

Read on to find out how they navigated this problem.

We loved our house, until our neighbours put in a pool

We built our house, and have lived in it for over ten years – and have loved it here.

We live in a nice neighbourhood and have always had nice neighbours. Our HOA does not allow any fences, but this has never been a problem.

Our next door neighbours, who are nice people but we aren’t friends, put in an inground pool this year.

Now I feel like I can’t enjoy my own backyard.

Let’s see why this pool is a problem.

We have a large dog and an invisible fence, but our dog can’t handle all the people in their yard all the time and just barks.

I used to love sitting on my back patio to relax, and now all I hear is loud music and screaming kids. It’s driving me absolutely crazy.

I feel ridiculous for wanting to move – but it’s also not a possibility right now.

We are not confrontational people and don’t want any drama, so we’ll never say anything, but this just has me so down.

Read on to find out more about how she’s feeling about this.

I wish our HOA would’ve even considered an anonymous survey of neighbours if they were going to allow pools but not allow privacy fences.

Our neighbours installed the hard cover so there is no safety issue. They’ve been very responsible with that.

I’m just not sure what to do.

I guess I hope they get bored with it after the newness wears off.

This situation really sucks – especially since they’ve been so happy in their home for so long.

Honestly, if the HOA doesn’t allow fences, then they shouldn’t allow pools either.

The best bet might be to grow a big bushy hedge, if hedges are even allowed.

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Let’s see what the Reddit community made of this.

This person agreed that plants were the way forward.

While others suggested they request the change with the HOA.

Meanwhile, this Redditor thought she could play the long game.

The fact that fences are not allowed seems absolutely ridiculous. Folk should be entitled to privacy and security in their own backyards, they shouldn’t be made to share that space with their neighbours indefinitely – especially if the neighbours are permitted to install something as disruptive as a pool! Sure, over time the novelty might wear off, meaning that the pool is less used over time and things are less noisy, but these homeowners shouldn’t have to wait years to be able to peacefully use their garden – and the fact that the HOA seemingly expect them to just be okay with this disruption is crazy.

For folks in other countries, the idea of HOAs is absolutely insane. When you’re a homeowner, you should be allowed to do whatever you want with your home, within local laws and restrictions of course – because, after all, it is your home. If you neighbour installs a pool, there should be no reason why you shouldn’t be allowed to install fences, or anything of your choosing. These rules serve very little purpose, they’re just oppressive and making folk miserable. Something needs to change.

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Author

Kyra Piperides

Kyra Piperides, PhD | Contributing Science Writer

Dr. Kyra Piperides is a contributing writer for TwistedSifter, specializing in Science & Discovery. Holding a PhD in English with a dedicated focus on the intersections of science, politics, and literature, she brings over 12 years of professional writing and editorial expertise to her reporting.

Kyra possesses a highly authoritative background in academic publishing, having served as the editor of an academic journal for three years. She is also the published author of two books and numerous research-driven articles. At TwistedSifter, she leverages her rigorous academic background to translate complex scientific concepts, global tech innovations, and environmental breakthroughs into highly engaging, accessible narratives for a mainstream audience.

Based in the UK, Kyra is an avid backpacker who spends her free time immersing herself in different cultures across distant shores—a passion that brings a rich, global perspective to her writing about Earth and nature.

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