Study Reveals Millions Of Brits Are Breaking ‘Unknown’ Home Laws, Risking Huge Fines

A new study by GetAgent has revealed the shocking number of homeowners in the UK breaking laws through actions that many aren’t even aware are illegal, such as letting your wheelie bin overflow with rubbish or carrying a plank of wood along a pavement.

The new study has helped to highlight the home-related offences that people aren’t as familiar with, as millions admit to breaking them on a regular basis.

Surveying over 1,500 homeowners, the study asked each person how often, if ever, they have committed some of the nation’s lesser-known home-related laws, and found that opening post which is addressed to someone else is the most commonly broken rule. Over half of all homeowners (52%) admit to breaking the seemingly innocuous law, however anyone caught spying or intercepting someone’s mail could risk a jail sentence of up to two years under the Investigatory Powers Act.

Other seemingly harmless rules which homeowners have been found to regularly break include playing ‘Knock Knock Ginger’ – the game in which people (often children) knock on the front doors of their victims before running away before the door can be answered. A surprising 39% of people admitted to having played the game before, and while the prank might seem exhilarating at the time, The Metropolitan Police Act 1854 states that it as an offence to “willfully and wantonly disturb any inhabitant by pulling or ringing any doorbell, or knocking at any door without lawful excuse” – meaning those who play could be getting into trouble with the authorities if caught.

Other laws homeowners could be breaking without even realising include throwing a TV or monitor in the bin, leaving furniture on a public pathway outside your property, and bizarrely, beating a carpet or rug on a London street before 8am (something which over 1 in 5 people have admitted to doing previously).