To be fed up of renovations on a nearby house

Lots of people buy smaller houses than they want because they need/want to be in that location for work/schools/family, and if they can't get the house they want they convert what they can get.

When our neighbours were trying to move in this area they were looking for a four bedroom house. They are from this area, their families are here. Their children's schools are here. Their jobs are here. They ended up buying a three bedroom house and extending it because lots of the four bedroom houses round here (including ours and at least three others in our street) are inhabited by one or two older people who have stayed in their family home instead of downsizing. So there is a shortage of larger homes for people with children.

It might be worth having a look at the planning application registered with your local council Vintagejazz. I would also be tempted to report the damaged pavement, that could be an accident waiting to happen.

There was a large house opposite mine whch was already an HMO with several single men. Every resident had a car and this was causing parking problems. There were also problems with late night noise. When the owner wanted to extend it several households nearby (including me) worked together to co-ordinate our objections. I did some research as to what the LA considered "planning" grounds for refusal and we submitted more or less the same objections. Permission was refused.

The owner tried again a year later with the same result. The house has now sold to a family who are having to rip out all the single rom partitions to turn it back into a family house.

This is a diverse area and many of the parents do not want a lot of random single men with no connection to the community potentially socialising with their daughters.

I think you are being unreasonable.

Obviously, the house was not in perfect condition when the present owner bought it, or if it was, does not serve the owner's needs.

It is their house, and subject to planning permission they can do as they please with it.

These days, we all buy a house we can afford and alter it to suit our needs, as we cannot either find one that ticks all the boxes on our wishing list at the price we can afford, or in the place we chose to live in.

You say you expected the renovations to take six months- where did you get this time-frame from? Have you asked your new neighbours how long they expect the work to take, and whether there have been delays?

You can feel inconvenienced if the work is being down outwith ordinary working-hours. If it is not, you have no grounds for complaint.

Perhaps you should discuss parking with your local police and the cracked pavement with the municipal council's dept. of works. Neither of these factors are the reponsibility of the new neighbours.

What about other people's right to peaceful enjoyment of their home? Have you ever lived on a road where one house after another is going through lengthy and major renovations?

And it is the heavy machinery being used that has cracked the pavement. My understanding is that the couple are obliged to pay for this.

Feel sorry for you Vintagejazz Fingers crossed it all get finished quickly and all the adverse things get sorted. Good luck.

Where I've just moved from, there was a lovely bungalow on the corner, I was friendly with the guy there as he looked after my little Westie a few times when I went away, he had a little Westie too, so good thing. He retired and moved to Portsmouth to live with his sister there, unfortunately died soon after, found in the woods with his little dog by he's side, heart attack!

Anyway, when he moved the property was put up for sale after having a new kitchen & bathroom fitted & all made good as new. When it was sold, it was knocked down to the ground and a massive five bed house put in it's place, such a shame as it was a lovely bungalow. From my garden I could see a single bloke knocking down the walls with a sledge hummer!!

There really should be much stricter limits to this kind of thing. It shouldn't be all about one person's right to have the perfect home over the rights of the people living on the Road who may have had to put up with major renovation after renovation.

Also I believe it's very difficult for older or disabled people to find bungalows to move into because so many people have converted them into 2 storey houses, again people wanting the dream home in the dream location.

I think all those property programmes on TV have a lot to answer for. When Kirsty is merrily telling a couple how all they have to do is build on here, and extend out there I'm thinking 'poor neighbours '.

I sold my listed building in March 2020, and now the new owner has put his planning permission on line, know my semi-detached neighbours are going to experience at least a year of very noisy disruption. As one of them works from home it is going to be very difficult.

You've reminded me to tell all my neighbours of my work dates, I am having to have all of the floors here replaced in August. The loud just off the station radio drove me mad when I was having the roof replaced, at least it will be playing inside the house.

There's one locally that has had the builders in for 3 years and they a still going. They actually only have one neighbor but you do wonder why?

I met our new neighbour yesterday at a local event. They haven’t moved in yet. They have built a new drive that runs quite close to our hedge, about 20yards from our bedroom window.
The machinery used would have been suitable to build the M25 and they started at 7am.
Now this won’t be a problem when it’s finished but don’t you think they would have just knocked on our door to apologise for the inconvenience? Then we could have said ‘thank you for letting us know’ and all would be nice and friendly. Being polite and considerate costs nothing.
Now I hate them already!?

One of my mother's carers is planning to do this. She'd love to buy a four bedroomed house with plenty of space but in this area she can't afford it. She can buy an older 3 bedroomed property and extend it so she has a fourth bedroom for her family for less than she can buy a ready made solution. Does she want to do this? Nope but she has little choice.
Both our neighbours have renovated and it has been a little noisy but you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. I am not entirely appreciative of being woken up early in the mornings but I don't resent my neighbours because of it.

That's not rebuilding the house though and it's not going to mean a year of disruption.

I have so much sympathy here, continual noise is distressing. We’ve had the “men” in recently and tried to get away from the noise (all inside) and couldn’t find a quiet spot in the house- it drove us crazy. Luckily the house is properly built with solid brick walls so didn’t disturb the neighbours.

The chap next door recently died - the house it totally original from the 1950s and is in a state. It looks like a car park in the garden as he never got rid of the derelict vehicles. I have been told the inside is horrendous. So we have lots of noise to come from the works to follow. I think it will go to a developer, no one could really live in it in that state, plus trades are so difficult to get round here that I doubt someone would take it on as a DIY job.

The up side is that someone will make it into a habitable and more attractive home.

I’m going to look into noise cancelling headphones.

I really hope the building work doesn’t go on for too much longer for you.

(A couple of builders have told me the demand is slowing as people start to worry about the cost of living increase.)

I live in a very modest 4-bedroom terrace house on a quiet(ish) residential road. 3 identical houses to mine haves been converted into 6 bedsits (I’d love to see how the rooms are divided), but there isn’t enough room for 6 cars to park at each one. The road is now turning into a car park. Apparently you can convert houses into multi-occupancy provided they have no more than 6 bedrooms. It’s been hell whilst the work is being done, and still continues with random parking.

I used to live in a lovely row of old early Victorian cottages in a leafy pedestrianised area of the town. Some were lived in by older people who had lived there many years. When they passed on or went to live somewhere easier to maintain, they were sold, very often to those who knocked them about, converted them, built huge garages at the bottom of the very large back gardens (some now have been changed into dwellings-planning permission received!) etc etc. The area changed considerably and the continued ‘renovations’ became annoyingly intrusive. We did a few things over the years, a small rear extension to improve the tiny kitchen and LOTS of maintenance work to keep it from falling down! (built without proper damp course etc). We moved due to the change in the area which robbed it completely of its original character and charm which is just why people bought there in the first place I presume! I pass the road sometimes and wish I still lived there as it used to be. I know that times move on and that some of these older properties do needs upgrading to the demands of modern life, but how far and at what cost? Such a shame!

I had this for 18 months. Waking up to the sound of nail guns. Grrrrrrrr finished now but still not forgotten.

Vintagejazz I can see you and raise you on that one. House in our road has been worked on for three years. Admittedly, year one was the worst, and Covid put a halt to proceedings, but I had never imagined that it would drag on and on. There are still lorries arriving with cement and wood, dirt and dust being washed away from them and onto surrounding cars and windows. It's being done on the cheap so it starts and stops, depending on when the money is there. At least there's no music being blasted out. Something to be grateful for, I suppose.

We endured 9 months of building work next door. Loud music, swearing (one of the workers said f* in every sentence), rubbish blowing around, etc. The outcome is a lovely holiday let and the weekly neighbours are much quieter than the previous owner. Other side are about to start converting a big out building into a holiday let, so more noise to come. Our local council rarely stops weekend or out of hours working.

I live on a 1950s estate with mostly 4 bedroom houses. Every time one changes hands it is always extended and modernised. Fact of modern life and low interest rates I suspect. Yes it can be noisy and disruptive but stops eventually.
A neighbour has put in for planning permission to demolish his house and replace with 5 new 4 bedroom houses. No regard for parking problems or environment, just grab the money and run. That does annoy me!

My DS & Family have just bought 3 bed house in a very quiet road. They were up against a developer with plenty of money & the idea to make more converting the house & large garden. The people selling accepted my DS & Family’s offer though the Developer tried to outbid as they wanted the house to go to a Family as it had been their home growing up. Less money for them & a shame more people are not money grabbing when they inherit an old family home. All that needs doing is mainly cosmetic & a new bathroom & kitchen which will not be a lot of disruption for their neighbours. All very happy now!

Vintagejazz

That's not rebuilding the house though and it's not going to mean a year of disruption.

I suspect it will because walls will be moved around to make a more open plan living which is the modern way. I've just had 150 houses built behind me and that has taken well over a year. Do I like the noise of the pile driving, the lorries, the men shouting, etc? No, but people have to live somewhere so you just learn to live with it.

There will be local restrictions on when noisy building work can be carried out. Loss of daylight or sunlight or privacy are all grounds to object. Get your local councillor to help too.