The temperature is rising and with the heat comes fraying tempers, further tested if you have a gripe with your next-door neighbours.

In the summer months, my inbox fills up quickly with emails from people who are frustrated, upset and often want to wage all-out war on the people who live just over the fence.

The advice I always give when it comes to disputes – or potential disputes with neighbours – is to try to do your very best to resolve it amicably and always make going to court your absolute last resort.

Here is my advice on how to stop a dispute in its tracks and seven of the most recent questions I've received.

My four routes of redress

If you can explain in person how something your neighbour is doing is affecting you, this will often be all that is needed to resolve an issue. 

And you may even discover that your neighbour had no idea how they were making you feel.

However, if a sensible discussion does not solve your problem, there are usually laws that you can use to help fight your corner. 

Here are four of the most common routes of redress which you may find of use.

Explaining in person how something your neighbour is doing affects you will often be all that is needed to resolve an issue

The first is reporting the matter to your neighbour's landlord if they rent the property. It may be that the issue you are complaining about is prohibited under your neighbour's tenancy agreement, which will give the landlord power to stop it.

The second is reporting the matter to the local authority because it will have the power to investigate under various laws. 

This includes whether your neighbour's actions amount to a 'statutory nuisance' under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. 

To amount to a statutory nuisance the issue must unreasonably and substantially interfere with the use or enjoyment of a home or other premises and injure health or be likely to injure health.

Thirdly, you can report your problem to your local environmental health department, which deals with issues including property maintenance and pest control and can investigate if the condition of your neighbour's house is affecting your enjoyment of your own property or poses a health risk.

You can suggest mediation to your neighbour – where an independent third party tries to facilitate an amicable solution to the problem. 

Contact the Civil Mediation Council in England and Wales or the Scottish Mediation network in Scotland for professional mediators in your area. Expect to pay from £100 an hour for their support.

Lastly, you can take legal action via the courts. This is the nuclear option and should not be taken lightly because it can be costly. 

Arm yourself with as much evidence as possible, including, where possible, photographs, video evidence, third-party reports and witness statements from others.

Smoking marijuana and other drugs is never allowed on private property (unless its has been prescribed for medical reasons)

We have an EV charger on our street and there's one resident who hogs it – much to the fury of the neighbourhood WhatsApp group. Can we do anything?

A.L., via email

Dean Dunham replies: There is always strength in numbers when it comes to complaints, so my first piece of advice is don't be a lone ranger with this.

Get all concerned on side and provide a joint statement to the resident in question so that they know how everyone feels. 

This will be far more impactful than if the offending resident thought it was only you that had an issue with them.

If this does not convince them to change their ways, there is no legal solution to the problem because there are no legal regulations surrounding EV charging stations and therefore no legal standards for how long an EV can park at a charger.

It will therefore be a case of trying to establish some informal written rules between you or to contact the EV charger owner and ask if a smart charging system can be put in place.

This is a system that allows you to control which vehicles can charge at what times, based on their licence plate numbers or other identifying information.

Our neighbour casually mentioned that she's going to lop down the most beautiful tree that hangs over our fence and gives us much needed shade in the summer. Can we stop her?

V.K., via email

Dean Dunham replies: While there can be a right to light, under English law, there is no specific 'right of shade'. 

Also, you generally cannot stop someone cutting down a tree that is located on their own land, but there can be exceptions to this.

Some trees are protected by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO), which means they cannot be cut down without permission from the local council.

You should therefore check with your local council to see if this particular tree is protected. If it is protected, your neighbour will have a legal obligation to made an application to the local authority before felling the tree. 

After this application, there will be a consultation period during which you will have the right to submit objections.

If the tree is not subject of a TPO, you could ask the council to put an emergency TPO on it. This prevents the tree from being chopped down or tampered with while the council considers your request.

To be successful, you will need to be able to highlight the tree's importance, such as its size, form, rarity, cultural or historical value, and contribution to the landscape or local biodiversity.

I can smell marijuana wafting over the fence from our neighbour's garden at weekends. I have a young family and am hesitant about confronting the neighbour because I fear it might cause trouble – but nor do I wish to go to the police. What are my rights?

C.G., via email

Dean Dunham replies: Let me start by dispelling the myth that you are allowed to smoke marijuana and take other similar drugs as long as it is on private property. 

This is simply not true unless you have been prescribed the drug for medical reasons.

The truth of the matter is that marijuana is a class B drug and it is illegal to sell, grow, possess or consume anywhere in the UK. 

So if an initial discussion with your neighbour does not work, you could report your neighbours to the police because they are committing a criminal offence.

You generally cannot stop someone cutting down a tree that is located on their own land... but there can be exceptions to this

If the police decide to follow up your report, this is likely to lead either to an informal discussion with your neighbour or a warning and/or fine. In either scenario, the aim would be to get them to stop.

However, in the most serious circumstances it could lead to a criminal prosecution, and reporting your neighbour to the police will almost certainly take you off their Christmas card list.

If you want to take a lighter route, you could report the matter to your neighbour's landlord (if they rent the property) or report it as a statutory nuisance to the local authority.

Smoke coming on to your property from your neighbour's property is a fairly common issue that is accepted as amounting to a statutory nuisance. 

In this respect, you should stress the potential impact this is having on your young children's health.

I asked my neighbour to water our garden while we were on holiday – but he left the gate open and someone got in and stole my bike. Can I ask him to pay towards a replacement?

T.W., via email

Dean Dunham replies: course you can ask the question but if the answer is no, you would have to pursue the matter through the county court if you really did not want to let it go.

Rarely will this be worth it – and it will not be straightforward. To get the court on your side you would have to establish and prove four things.

Firstly, that your neighbour owed you a duty of care. This means they had a responsibility to act in a way that would prevent harm to you.

Secondly, that your neighbour breached this duty by leaving the gate open.

Thirdly, that the breach of duty (leaving the gate open) was the direct cause of the theft, and finally that the theft was a foreseeable consequence of leaving the gate open.

If you could prove all these points you would potentially be awarded damages by the court, to cover the costs associated with the theft.

However, in my view a claim on your insurance policy would be a better route, although if the gate was left open, it may reject the claim as it was your own fault.

The man next door is a hoarder, and you can see junk piled up in his living room from the street. I want to sell my house but it's going to affect the price. Is there anything I can do?

S.L., via email

Dean Dunham replies: A polite offer to help him tidy up is the obvious and most friendly option and is certainly where you should start. If this does not work your options are limited.

DEAN DUNHAM's advice when it comes to disputes with neighbours is to try your very best to resolve it amicably - and always make going to court your absolute last resort

If the issue was a messy garden the position would potentially be very different and easier to deal with as you can point out that it is affecting your house price. 

But as the issue is inside your neighbour's home, ie inside private property, he could therefore claim you should not be looking through his windows.

This leaves you with three potential routes to take. If he rents the property contact the landlord and see if he will intervene.

Secondly, report the matter to your local environmental health department or thirdly look to see if there is anything in the title deeds to your neighbour's property that requires him to keep the property in a certain state of repair and cleanliness and if there is, pursue a court action on the basis that this has been breached.

The woman next door leaves food out for the birds and it's attracted rats which have now got into my property. Can I give her the bill for pest control?

L.E., via email

Dean Dunham replies: Firstly, ask the pest control company to put in writing that it is indeed your neighbour's actions that have caused the rat problem. 

Then present this, in a friendly manner, to your neighbour with a request that she stops feeding the birds and pays your bill.

If this falls on deaf ears, your next step will be to check if you have any local regulations in place that will assist, as some areas have rules about feeding birds, especially if it leads to a nuisance. 

Your local council can provide information on these regulations and if such regulations do exist you can report your neighbour for breaching them.

Alternatively, you could ask your local authority to investigate the rat infestation and the cause, as it has an obligation to do so under a law called the Public Health Act 1936. This could lead to your neighbour being issued with a notice to cease feeding the birds.

My neighbour parked their old caravan outside their house last summer and it hasn't budged since. I'm fed up with such an eyesore which ruins our view. What are our rights?

J.J., via email

Dean Dunham replies: Before you do anything it's worth finding out if any of your other neighbours feel the same way as you. If they do, recruit them to help with the complaint.

Your first step to take is to review your property's title deeds to see if there is a covenant that will be relevant to this issue.

A covenant is a rule or restriction written into the title deeds that dictates what a property owner can and cannot do with their property and it is not uncommon to see covenant restricting or prohibiting the parking/storage of the likes of caravans on your land.

If your deeds have such a covenant it most likely that your neighbours will have the same covenant. If this is the case, you can put this to them and if they still ignore you, then take them to court for breach of covenant and to obtain an order that they cease to store the caravan at home.

You could also contact your local authority to see if there are any specific regulations or planning permission required for parking caravans in residential areas. If there are, you should highlight these to your neighbour and then report them to the local authority if they continue to ignore the regulations.

Do you have a neighbour dispute? Email Dean.Dunham@dailymail.co.uk.