South Lake residents kept inside by rancid smell wafting from home backyard being used as a rubbish tip

A neighbourhood dispute has erupted over a backyard that has been turned into a stinking rubbish tip.

WA’s Housing Minister has ordered an investigation into what fed-up locals in South Lake, Perth, say is becoming a major problem.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: The suburban backyard that’s become a tip.

Rotting food is among the trash that has piled high at the government housing property, and the rancid smell wafts over the fence.

“It’s building and building and it’s more and more,” local Bart van Bruinessen told 7NEWS.

“So when is it going to stop?”

Van Bruinessen’s property backs up against the state-owned home and he was shocked by the discovery.

He said the garbage smell, which he described as “like the bottom of your bin on a hot day”, is so bad he has ruled out any idea of using his backyard.

Litter blows over the fence and the flies, birds and rodents have become a problem too.

“I get a lot of mice and rats. You can see them run along the fence line at night,” van Bruinessen said.

Residents of the home did not answer the door to 7NEWS on Tuesday, but complaints have been made to the Department of Housing.

The department did not respond directly to the case but conceded that it is responsible for monitoring how tenants maintain the property.

It is not the first time the property has needed a clean-up, with a department team sent in four years ago.

Locals say it has just been building back up ever since.

“I understand the concerns of neighbours and how that could impact local amenities, so I’ll be asking the agency to follow up as soon as possible,” Housing Minister John Carey told 7NEWS.

Van Bruinessen does not want the tenant kicked out of the property, just for the rubbish to be cleaned up before it can sweat in the summer heat.

“We do fund support programs that intervene,” Carey said.

“That does include where we send out someone (with) mini skips to clean up front or backyards.”