Neighbour building extension - tolerance level?
Discussion
Our neighbours (we rent) informed us the other day that they were about to start building an extension on the side of their house. On Friday they had two diggers in started digging the foundations at 8.00am and worked until it got dark, they did the same yesterday (Saturday) and started again at 9.00 this morning (Sunday and New Years Eve).
Now, I'm trying to work out how unreasonable I'm being about this!
As far as we know he's mainly building this thing on his own and I'm now getting concerend that this is going to be the pattern for the next six months or more and I'm going to be really upset if he's working evenings once it's light and then all weekends.
The houses are 1930's semi's so they're pretty solid but they're working from the back garden so there is quite a lot of noise.
So am I being unreasonable by getting narked about it - after all the bloke is only trying to save himself a few bob by doing the work himself - the flipside is I get bog all time at home as it is and don't really want building work going on the whole time that I'm at home.
Opinions please!
Now, I'm trying to work out how unreasonable I'm being about this!
As far as we know he's mainly building this thing on his own and I'm now getting concerend that this is going to be the pattern for the next six months or more and I'm going to be really upset if he's working evenings once it's light and then all weekends.
The houses are 1930's semi's so they're pretty solid but they're working from the back garden so there is quite a lot of noise.
So am I being unreasonable by getting narked about it - after all the bloke is only trying to save himself a few bob by doing the work himself - the flipside is I get bog all time at home as it is and don't really want building work going on the whole time that I'm at home.
Opinions please!
If the work is within 6m of any part of your building then the neighbour may have needed to address the Party Wall Act 1996.
Take a look at www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1996/96040--b.htm#6 for advice - and get difficult if you think you need to.
Take a look at www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1996/96040--b.htm#6 for advice - and get difficult if you think you need to.
It does't really matter what you think its his house and he can do DIY all weekend provided its not making a noise very early or very late say 730am weekdays, 8am weekends till say dusk or 730pm when its light enough. Anything after 11pm is unacceptable and you can complain. I have just had my roof done this summer and the contractor worked all weekend many times. The neighbours complained and were told to fook off by the contractor and then me and Mr next door. As you rent also you are technically not in charge of the premises so its basically nothing to do with you either. Sorry, but thats how it is, maybe you should buy somewhere in the middle of nowhere? Hope that helps.
nonegreen said:
It does't really matter what you think its his house and he can do DIY all weekend provided its not making a noise very early or very late say 730am weekdays, 8am weekends till say dusk or 730pm when its light enough. Anything after 11pm is unacceptable and you can complain. I have just had my roof done this summer and the contractor worked all weekend many times. The neighbours complained and were told to fook off by the contractor and then me and Mr next door. As you rent also you are technically not in charge of the premises so its basically nothing to do with you either. Sorry, but thats how it is, maybe you should buy somewhere in the middle of nowhere? Hope that helps.
I agree - his house he can do as he pleases (within reason) , you rent - not your place....rent somewhere else if it becomes too much..
nonegreen said:
As you rent also you are technically not in charge of the premises so its basically nothing to do with you either.
I'm not sure how you work that out? In law we are in occupation and that would give us all the rights that we need in law. The only relevance of renting is that we didn't know that they had planning consent for an extension, which we would have known if we'd have bought the house.
I have to say I'm glad I don't live next to some of you guys......
Thanks to dirkgently - that's the kind of info I'd be interested in. We're hoping to have a little "chat" shortly as we get on OK with them they are perfectly resonable perople and it may well be that this is the bulk of the noise that they are likely to make. That's why I'm intersted in what others think is reasonable.
I have to say I think a number of you would be commenting differently if they'd revved up their diggers under your bedroom window at 9am this morning (for the third morning running!).
Lastly we don't want to move at the mo - we're waiting for the prices to receed a bit more, need to flog another property and then we'll buy and I don't fancy another round of agents fees and removal costs again.
I have a neighbor, who rents the property next door to myself. The properties are joined, so there is a party wall.
I decided two years back to sort out a number of major problems with the failing brickwork terracing in my very sloping garden. Basically the stuff had been there for a long time, and the frost had broken it to bits. As a consequence the garden was beginning to slide and in places it wasn't really safe to walk around.
He moved in around November, essentially during the winter. I had stopped work on the garden in my spare time because it was too cold over the winter period. From the moment the tennant moved in next door it was clear he was going to be a noisy sod. Not only do they shout at each other and listen to their stereo so loudly that I can't hear my television at a low level of volume, he has a playstation or something, and I have to suffer the relentless thudding of virtual doors closing and shotguns being fired.
I figure there's more aggro to be had than it's worth, so I don't complain and hope that he just plain moves on.
Spring comes, and I'm out there with my shovel (there's really no way that I gan get a digger in there) using my weekends to finish the job off. The only aid I have is an electric cement mixer, and as mixers go it's pretty quiet.
So the second day that I'm out there for the year, six o'clock arrives and I've got a mix of concrete for some footings half done. He sticks his head around te fence and proceeds to tell me that if I don't stop now, he is going to be beside himself because I'm upsetting his kids.
I tell him that I can't very well stop the mixer now, because the concrete isn't fully mixed, and I won't be able to do anything with it. He disappears. Three minutes later he's there with his kid bawling saying "look what you've done". Unfortunately I just see the funny side and start laughing. If he's so concerned about his kid, why does he further subject it to the thing that causes it woe? I explain to him that I still have one more mix to do before I can complete the current run of the footings, and pack up for the night.
The following day I go out to use the car, and find that all of my tyres have been knifed through.
Anyway, his lairyness continues, and occasionally I am caused to use my electric mixer to mix concrete, where the intensity of his disturbance increases.
Within a week of completeing the works in my garden, I got a notification from the local council that I had violated planning constraints, and they wanted to talk to me. As time progressed it seems that he had told the landlord of my activities, and the landlord had taken it up with the council.
The whole thing went to a public meeting, before christmas. I'm told by the planning officers that everything is O.K. but nothing formal yet. It turns out that the landlord next door had solicitors on the case at god knows how much expense. They were really fighting.
At the end of the day, the work that I did, was withing the constraints of what you are allowed to do without planning permission. As it was, I'm told that I was one casting vote away from having to dig out two summers work with a shovel, because my neighbor had a grudge about my electric mixer.
I still havn't complained about the noise that they make, but as a result of defending the planning application I've discovered that according to the land registry, their shed is built half on my garden.
I havn't complained about this, but it's usefull to have up my sleeve.
In short, there really are some trivial moaning hypocrites in this world. Their sole aim seems to be to make hell for everyone else, and maximise their own gain. I hope they rot myself.
I decided two years back to sort out a number of major problems with the failing brickwork terracing in my very sloping garden. Basically the stuff had been there for a long time, and the frost had broken it to bits. As a consequence the garden was beginning to slide and in places it wasn't really safe to walk around.
He moved in around November, essentially during the winter. I had stopped work on the garden in my spare time because it was too cold over the winter period. From the moment the tennant moved in next door it was clear he was going to be a noisy sod. Not only do they shout at each other and listen to their stereo so loudly that I can't hear my television at a low level of volume, he has a playstation or something, and I have to suffer the relentless thudding of virtual doors closing and shotguns being fired.
I figure there's more aggro to be had than it's worth, so I don't complain and hope that he just plain moves on.
Spring comes, and I'm out there with my shovel (there's really no way that I gan get a digger in there) using my weekends to finish the job off. The only aid I have is an electric cement mixer, and as mixers go it's pretty quiet.
So the second day that I'm out there for the year, six o'clock arrives and I've got a mix of concrete for some footings half done. He sticks his head around te fence and proceeds to tell me that if I don't stop now, he is going to be beside himself because I'm upsetting his kids.
I tell him that I can't very well stop the mixer now, because the concrete isn't fully mixed, and I won't be able to do anything with it. He disappears. Three minutes later he's there with his kid bawling saying "look what you've done". Unfortunately I just see the funny side and start laughing. If he's so concerned about his kid, why does he further subject it to the thing that causes it woe? I explain to him that I still have one more mix to do before I can complete the current run of the footings, and pack up for the night.
The following day I go out to use the car, and find that all of my tyres have been knifed through.
Anyway, his lairyness continues, and occasionally I am caused to use my electric mixer to mix concrete, where the intensity of his disturbance increases.
Within a week of completeing the works in my garden, I got a notification from the local council that I had violated planning constraints, and they wanted to talk to me. As time progressed it seems that he had told the landlord of my activities, and the landlord had taken it up with the council.
The whole thing went to a public meeting, before christmas. I'm told by the planning officers that everything is O.K. but nothing formal yet. It turns out that the landlord next door had solicitors on the case at god knows how much expense. They were really fighting.
At the end of the day, the work that I did, was withing the constraints of what you are allowed to do without planning permission. As it was, I'm told that I was one casting vote away from having to dig out two summers work with a shovel, because my neighbor had a grudge about my electric mixer.
I still havn't complained about the noise that they make, but as a result of defending the planning application I've discovered that according to the land registry, their shed is built half on my garden.
I havn't complained about this, but it's usefull to have up my sleeve.
In short, there really are some trivial moaning hypocrites in this world. Their sole aim seems to be to make hell for everyone else, and maximise their own gain. I hope they rot myself.
hammerwerfer said:
The following day I go out to use the car, and find that all of my tyres have been knifed through.
Coincidence?
Maybe. Never before or since though. The police found it a bit unusual. Apparently if you live in a cul-de-sac the kids don't like damaging cars. There's too much chance that they'll get hemmed in.
Edited to add;
I explained my suspicions to the police, so they just called in on my neighbor for a chat. It's quite useful that they shout at each other really. The conversation that I overheard whilst digging my holes went along the lines of;
"How dare he call the pigs on me..... I've gotta have a life, havn't I".
I suspect that means he's been in prison.
>> Edited by dilbert on Sunday 1st January 16:59
dtmpower said:
It does't really matter what you think its his house and he can do DIY all weekend provided its not making a noise very early or very late say 730am weekdays, 8am weekends till say dusk or 730pm when its light enough. Anything after 11pm is unacceptable and you can complain. I have just had my roof done this summer and the contractor worked all weekend many times. The neighbours complained and were told to fook off by the contractor and then me and Mr next door. As you rent also you are technically not in charge of the premises so its basically nothing to do with you either. Sorry, but thats how it is, maybe you should buy somewhere in the middle of nowhere? Hope that helps.
I agree - his house he can do as he pleases (within reason) , you rent - not your place....rent somewhere else if it becomes too much..
Cant believe what I am reading here!
The whole of our society and law is based on being 'reasonable'.
Most neigbourly disputes tend to emanate from lack of communications and people being unreasonable. He has a right to build (presumably) and you have a right to some peace and quiet (whether tenant or owner makes no b***dy difference IMHO). Both can be achieved with a bit of compromise and a bit of dialogue.
If he is not prepared to be reasonable check his planning permission. Allowable times of work are usually specified as part of the conditions. He may be contravening these if not adhering to them.
Oh, and for reference I am a contractor and build houses for a living.
I reiterate if all are reasonable, then there will be no problems.
Good luck, Boshly
nonegreen said:
... the contractor worked all weekend many times. The neighbours complained and were told to fook off by the contractor and then me ...Hope that helps.
I am sure that whole episode was extremely helpful, and nice to see some tolerance being shown.
If any of my contractors or staff spoke to a clients neighbour like that they would be sacked immediately. My aim in work is to make my life (and those around me) easier, not more problematic.
Working 8am till 5pm 5 and a half days a week is reasonable.
Being a rude and obnoxious person is not.
All IMHO of course.
Boshly
....
dirkgently said:
He’s probably got to go down two metres for the footings, once they are in it should quieten down somewhat.
That sound about right
My new neighbour decide to sand and varnish his wooden lounge floor. The electric sander made a hell of a noise but I new it wansnt going to be forever like a neighbour who likes to play loud music so it was easier to cope with as it was only going to be for a short time
To reiterate what Boshly said, unless its a very small extension which falls within permitted development rights there must be a planning application and therefore approval for this. This will state the permitted hours of work.
Either way, regardless of whether he's doing it himself or not, you can't call building an extension a bit of DIY. 8-5.30 monday to friday is ok, you can't really complain at that, but anything outside of those hours you are well within your rights to point out that its not a nice time to be making so much noise. If they persist despite you asking them to stop there is such a thing as an enforcement notice which can be served by the council permitting ANY work at all. I would say the first thing to do is go to your local council and have a look at the planning application.
Put yourself if the other guys shoes, how would you like your neighbour making such a racket at all hours, i'm sure you wouldn't like it either.
Either way, regardless of whether he's doing it himself or not, you can't call building an extension a bit of DIY. 8-5.30 monday to friday is ok, you can't really complain at that, but anything outside of those hours you are well within your rights to point out that its not a nice time to be making so much noise. If they persist despite you asking them to stop there is such a thing as an enforcement notice which can be served by the council permitting ANY work at all. I would say the first thing to do is go to your local council and have a look at the planning application.
Put yourself if the other guys shoes, how would you like your neighbour making such a racket at all hours, i'm sure you wouldn't like it either.
nonegreen said:
It does't really matter what you think its his house and he can do DIY all weekend provided its not making a noise very early or very late say 730am weekdays, 8am weekends till say dusk or 730pm when its light enough. Anything after 11pm is unacceptable and you can complain. I have just had my roof done this summer and the contractor worked all weekend many times. The neighbours complained and were told to fook off by the contractor and then me and Mr next door. As you rent also you are technically not in charge of the premises so its basically nothing to do with you either. Sorry, but thats how it is, maybe you should buy somewhere in the middle of nowhere? Hope that helps.
I'm pleased to say we agree on this one, Nonegreen.
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