New neighbour driving me nuts!!!!

Ellie007

Hi all,

Pointless rant alert...:o

Our neighbour died last year and her bungalow was up for sale for some time. It has been bought by a family - he is a builder by trade, and they have basically ripped the guts out of it, new loft extension, all new internal partitions, bathroom, kitchen etc. Building works have been going on for about 5 months now. They are not living there.

He never seems to actually go to work as his company flat bed truck is always parked outside our window in front of our house (lovely view for us!). Getting in and out of our drive is a pain as we can't see past the truck down the road if anything is coming. His front garden is full of rubble, old banisters etc. and every day there are random people rummaging through seeing what they want to take. People seem to make special trips to do this.

Building works are incessant - until late at night, and very early starts even at the weekend.

The back garden is full of the most amazing amount of cr*p, old clothes, cans, old bikes, broken glass, rubble etc. I won't even let the cat out at the moment as I can see him getting impaled on something. There is no joy sitting out on our decking as we feel we are overlooking the council dump.

I don't feel as though we have any privacy as there are always him and his builder friends standing outside the house, or out the back.

Oh, and he has erected scaffold on our side of the fence for his loft extension - this appeared one day while we were at work.

Overall, it is fair to say that he is driving me absolutely nuts. :mad: But perhaps I am just intolerant? I know he is carrying out a vast amount of works, but surely a little bit more consideration is usual, particularly in the area you intend to live? This seems to have gone on for so long!

Anyone who bothered to read this, thank you! I don't want to get annoyed at home over it as it winds my husband up even more (I have to be the calm one!)

Horseunderwater

For a start he has to have your permission to erect anything on your land - I assume you own not rent. As he is causing a nuisance with later night working and has made your life unsafe, call your council environmental department and ask for some help as they can I think impose wrok hours restrictions on when he can and cannot work. As to the cr*p and stuff that is a health hazard so another reason to call them IMO.

little_miss_kitty

Poor you, certainly sympathise re the mess, that would drive me NUTS.

Surely he cannot erect scaffolding on your property without your consent?

ILW

Have you spoken to him?

mrsmchapman

Well one point is it can't go on forever! Also I'd be happy they were improving the house, surely if ever you sold it would add more value than an house left to ruin!

On the scaffold point they should have ask for your permission, I'm assuming he told the company he had. I would point this out to him that he works come into your home and garden, next time you would like to be informed. I've know many people refuse scaffold!

Ellie007

Thanks guys, your sympathy means a lot!

Yes - we own. We are detached and he has erected the scaffold on our side of the boundary, next to our wall. So not only has he done it without consent, people have been on our land without us knowing.

My husband has spoken to him a couple of times re: the van, but he carries on doing it (very apologetic, says all the right things, then just does it again). I think they also had words over the scaffold, but it is still there.

It's hard, as obviously we are stuck with the bloke as a neighbour, and really don't want hostility, but it is pretty unacceptable. It's a shame because we live up a lovely road, mostly older people and everyone is considerate, which is why we like our house so much. But lately, it is a nightmare (and if we do get a nice summer :cool:, don't want to feel like I don't want to use our garden because of the neighbour!)

girleight@

Most councils set hours for when building noise is allowed e.g.
http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/environment/pollution/noisepollution/noise_building/
You could check this for your area and then negotiate with your neighbour.

pmlindyloo

Since it is likely that you are going to have to live with your neighbour if/when he moves in then it is best if you can sort this out in a friendly way.

You need to speak to him and point out all your concerns and try to come to some sort of agreement. It is possible that
he works during the day and the evenings and weekends are the only times he can do the work.

You need to discuss:

Appropriate times for working
Clearing the rubbish
Parking the van
Scaffolding

If you cannot come to some sort of agreement then you could escalate this and speak to the council but this should be the last resort as 1) they may do nothing 2) it will put his back up and 3) you may have to declare it if you sold.

If you think the rubbish may be an environmental issue then you could contact the Environmental officer at the council. Or you could contact the planning offcier and ask about permission for erecting the scaffolding on your side of the fence (definitley a 'no no'.)

What about the other neighbours? Would they join you in speaking to him, particularly about the rubbish aspect? Always good to have numbers on your side.

Good luck with it all. You have my sympathy especially now the nice weather seems to be coming and we can look forward to sitting outside.

Kynthia

You have my sympathy as that sounds terrible. Hopefully it won't go on forever as the work will be done at some point. Regarding the scaffolding, could you talk to the company that erected it and tell them they have no permission to use your land?

DaftyDuck

Sympathy extended form me as well. Building work - particularly slow and inconsiderate building work - can be the pants.

Any indication he's doing it up to sell on? Firstly, that would mean you can be a bit more blunt, as he 'll not be a long-term neighbour. Secondly, you could write to him giving him 7 days to remove all the scaffold from your side, or you will contact the scaffold company and insist they remove it forthwith.

*Robin*

Am in a similar position as my neighbour intends to build a [large, unpopular] extension right up to his boundary. He has already been told how much it will cost him per month for permission to erect scaffolding on my land.
Suggest you do the same, OP - politely of course; give your new neighbour a financial incentive to hurry up and complete his works.

Good luck.