Noise

christine96777 Environmental Health 'team'? I reluctantly contacted ours, when at my wit's end with building noise (on a Bank Holiday) - only to be told 'We can't attend today.
There's only two of us on duty' for a whole London borough.

I was told that they'd have to park their van outside and record the noise levels for a few hours, before deciding whether to take any action. Then I was asked 'Is it really that bad?' Yes, it was, they were drilling out concrete floors for underfloor heating. (The owners had moved away for the duration, of course.) The noise levels and clouds of dust kept all the neighbours indoors that weekend.

I was told building noise could only go on for a couple of years?

You may have restrictions on running a business from home but the issue could be, do the new householders. I have a childminder next door and in the summer the noise is awful. Right up at my patio so I spent £££s in 2020 to have a summerhouse and patio at the bottom. It is a bit better but should we need to do such things. The childminding authority does not give approval is restrictions on businesses apply in Deeds. Mine and next door are the same, no business but the authority just take the applicant's word, that is up until this year when they started physically checking the documents. If you know the Conditions of the new householder's property then you could point these out. If they ignore you then a court case would be needed to establish that they are contravening the conditions. You and as many others who are affected would need to show (keep records) of how the noise is affecting your quality of life, use of your garden, stress etc. Your local authority may be able to help out with info on what to do and may even intervened if necessary. I know this is rather long but noise can be so harmful to health. I highlighted to my neighbour the clause in the registration of childminders and was she worried! Noise a lot less this year. Yes her public liability insurance would be invalid.

You could contact your local council Planning Department. They will have an Enforcement section who are responsible for checking if there has been any breach of planning conditions and also check if the neighbour is running a business from home. You will have to give the council your contact details or they won't investigate but they will not tell the neighbour who made the complaint. You should be able fill in a form on the Council website to get things started

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Just checked on our local council website and they have sample letters to send. I’ll try and attach them. They also offer a mediation service so it may be possible to improve matters.

Constant noise can be nerve shattering. Our last neighbour had a really noisy grinding machine that he operated whenever he wasn’t working shifts.

I would definitely go and see them, but in peace and a welcome gift, mention the noise, they might not realise or it might be short term. It’s best to talk about things before going further, I think that’s to be avoided at all costs.

Before you do anything you need to find out exactly what is making the grinding noises. Pop round, without confrontation and ask.

If they are non compliant or aggressive then you know you have a fight on your hands. Sadly.

Most people are reasonable but you do get the ones who won’t give a toss how much they annoy their neighbors.

Different scenario but a back neighbor has a security light that shines into numerous houses. It comes on and off constantly all night long like a lighthouse with Morse code! Is visible through blinds AND curtains. Neighbor asked politely if they could re direct it, point it downwards, alter the sensitivity etc. ALL she got was a lot of verbal abuse! They got nowhere complaining to council- only told to invest in eye masks!! Maybe same here? They will tell you to invest in ear plugs!

Good luck.

I contacted our local council when people behind me had an extension built, and their builders were working all weekend, so a lot of noise and shouting etc., which was going on for weeks or months. The council wanted to know the address, which I found by looking on Google Streetview, and when the noise took place. The Council must have either written to the owners of the property, or visited the premises, as I never heard any more noise on a Saturday afternoon or a Sunday after that. Bliss!

Barmeyoldbat

Is there any law about running a business from home

Yes, you may need to get permission from your mortgage lender, planning officer.

If he is running a business making or repairing something, he will need planning permission. Speak to your local councillor and enquire whether planning permission is needed to run an engineering business from home - then look at the planning applications for your area for the last two years. The planning site is available online and the search facilties are user friendly.

DD had doubts about a neighbour's plan to convert a detached garage, into 'visitors' accommodation, with bathroom and small kitchen. The road has real parking problems and she thought they might be wanting to use it as an AirBnB. Then she was looking out of her bedroom window one day and realised that there was a massage couch in the front room of the house, so when she filed her objection she mentioned that she thought they might be running a massage business and that the converted garage might be intended for the business.

The Council picked this up and followed it through and sure enough, she was right, so no planning permission and they had to apply to use the house to run a business and were turned down for that as well.

The other thing to do, if the noise stops you enjoying your garden is apply to the council about niose nuisance.

Thank you for all your comments. It's really helped

If the new owners had applied to the LA for a change of use, to allow them to use part of the home for business, I would have thought the other residents would have been notified of the application, as with planning permission, to allow them to lodge any objections. I would have a quiet word and make sure your neighbour understands that the noise is causing a nuisance - not just to you, but to other residents. If he’s reasonable this might put an end to the problem. If not, at least you’ve attempted to sort it out amicably before taking it to the appropriate authorities.

If the noise is loud and you have a smartphone it's possible to download a decibel measuring app - there are laws on noise pollution and it could give you backup evidence of you need it.
You have my sympathy, it's quite distressing to have to listen to constant noise and feel unable to do anything about it.
Hope you get it sorted soon.

christine96777

Speak to the environmental health team at the council, ask them to come out for a visit. They might set up recording equipment to assess the problem.

I would suggest that too.