neighbour using house for business

WeAreGhosts

teddysmum wrote: »

I've just spoken to my husband who says they didn't give a specific reason , but quoted the the Town and Country Planning Act.

thank your husband for me. planning looks to be the way to go then.

jeez, he just got back and immediately started up with the sawing and drilling. i could quite cheerfully ram the drill bit up his youknowwhat

Poppycat

If he is running a business from home ie doing cars to sell surely he also needs business insurance and or pay business rates. If you feel strong about it report him to the council

Yorkie1

In addition to the advice above re. planning, start a diary of all the anti-social hours / work he does so that you have a contemporaneous record to demonstrate a pattern of behaviour.

rum1

Hope he is paying the inland revenue and has bussiness insurance

snowscreamer

Just had to read this thread after seeing the title... at my old flat last August we complained to the management company about our new next-door neighbours where there was a lot of visitors and we thought they must be running a business. Running a business was forbidden in the lease.

Turned out they were running a business... a brothel! :shocked:

attila_

I don't get this. How many people do free lancing or work on a laptop from home? Do they have to get planning permission or pay business rates?

I do feel that it's skilled professions who get caught by this.

If you feel that annoyed by it, then complain to council.

GwylimT

If you aren't already keep a log, such as when he is doing what, if possible record registration, colour, model and make of the cars he has. You could attempt photos, but be careful.

This isn't his landlords or estate agents responsibility, it is that of both the local council and EH, many residential areas do not permit using property for business so hopefully it will be sorted for you soon.

phill99

attila_ wrote: »

I don't get this. How many people do free lancing or work on a laptop from home? Do they have to get planning permission or pay business rates?

I do feel that it's skilled professions who get caught by this.

If you feel that annoyed by it, then complain to council.

There is a massive difference between somebody using a spare bedroom as an occasional office where they are doing nothing more than using a pc and making a phone call and a bloke knocking cars about all day long and parking cars all over the street.

It is now accepted by local authorities that working from home and free lancing is very common. But those kind of activities don't make a noise, block the road or have the potential to cause danger to local residents. There could be a dozen web designers working from home in your street but you would never know about it. But someone taking an engine out at 10.00 at night on a regular basis, storing cars and breaking vehicles is a completely different ball game.

CKhalvashi

teddysmum wrote: »

My husband used to have a car which was his hobby but used occasionally for wedding hire. It was garaged elsewhere, but he brought it home a couple of times to clean .


A neighbour, who had a grudge against us, reported that he was running a business from home, which he was not, but we got a stroppy letter from the council, saying that a business should not be run from home, without their permission, and that, if asked for, it would be refused.


This was a single car, mainly a hobby and being on our drive inconvenienced no one, so the OP should have a case, as they experience nuisance.

I've got a Mini-based three wheeler and a GAZ-M20 (its the first common Soviet car, from the 1950s for anyone interested) which is currently half way through restoration (but is legal to be driven on the roads).

Neither are rented out, but I do try to be considerate of neighbours when doing work on them at home; I think only once have I been doing anything with them after about 9pm.

teddysmum wrote: »

Usual refusals for taxis (which this could have been, but wasn't) are on the grounds that extra traffic and movement at unsociable hours cause nuisance for neighbours and our council reprimanded a man who was reported for doing metalwork in his shed at unreasonable times (the story reaching the local paper, as he thought it unreasonable, because he was on his own premises).

I'm an ex-driver, used to go out at about 4am, and get home at 3-4pm before doing other things.

It's generally accepted that one taxi is fine (my non-plated vehicle often leaves home at about 4.30am, so I avoid the London rush-hour), but if a fleet is being run from domestic premises, then there is definitely more of an issue, in exactly the same way that I often have company vehicles at home, but they're not moved around in such a way to annoy anyone.

The council will not be pleased, if your neighbour is running a business without their permission and not paying business rates, even though they don't get the revenue.

Business rates are paid to the council, and to the best of my knowledge used in exactly the same way as council tax for local services. Mine are paid quarterly to Brent.

phill99 wrote: »

There is a massive difference between somebody using a spare bedroom as an occasional office where they are doing nothing more than using a pc and making a phone call and a bloke knocking cars about all day long and parking cars all over the street.

It is now accepted by local authorities that working from home and free lancing is very common. But those kind of activities don't make a noise, block the road or have the potential to cause danger to local residents. There could be a dozen web designers working from home in your street but you would never know about it. But someone taking an engine out at 10.00 at night on a regular basis, storing cars and breaking vehicles is a completely different ball game.

I do a lot of work from home, especially as I'm heavily involved in assisting with several local startups to where I live.

A few calls to contacts aren't an issue, but a breakers yard would be.

I have the occasional visitor to home for work purposes, but 99% of the time I visit the premises of the people I'm assisting.

Katykat

My neighbour used to do exactly the same. We once had 13 vans parked around our house. We complained to him ( ignored it) Police ( not interested unless we could prove he was breaking any laws and the local Council. They told us that there was no law prohibiting selling vehicles from your home. We had a very frustrating few years with engines revving up at all times and vans blocking our access. Eventually I snapped and had a blazing row with him. He gradually reduced his business and now just has his own car there. The end result was that none of the family speak to us now, which does us no harm. Councils may differ in their regulations, but ours was no use to us at all.