neighbour using house for business

dave030445

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

hi, looking for advice on what to do about this.
my neighbour is working on vehicles from his garage 24/7, he is also selling vehicles from the street
the street is a 40mph and quite dangerous and we are having trouble getting out of our drive cos we cannot see round his vehicles, it is also noisy, sometimes he works until 11pm

is he allowed to do this?
his place is rented, if it makes any difference

p.s didnt know where to put this thread, pls have a bg move it if it is inappropriate here

have you tried talking to him about it? It could turn out worse for you if he finds out it was you who shopped him.

mr-angry

Firstly, if he is selling vehicles as a trader he will require to be Licensed by the Local Authority. If he is Licensed as a trader they (Licensing Committee) normally take complaints very seriously and deal with them swiftly. If he is not Licensed, which I suspect he may not be then they will take action to either make him apply or cease trading.

WeAreGhosts

Yep, tried talking to him, he keeps saying sorry for the noise etc. he will try and keep it down, but it does not make any difference.
last week i got hit by the jet spray from his pressure washer. i was not impressed, to put it mildly


spoke to planning officer and they have told me it could be 6 MONTHS before things change!! they are short staffed, overworked, have lots of cases on the go etc etc ....

mr-angry wrote: »

Firstly, if he is selling vehicles as a trader he will require to be Licensed by the Local Authority. If he is Licensed as a trader they (Licensing Committee) normally take complaints very seriously and deal with them swiftly. If he is not Licensed, which I suspect he may not be then they will take action to either make him apply or cease trading.

he only has one for sale at any one time, but works on others,. which is, i assume, how he gets around licensing

penguingirl

I found this useful pdf from Fenland Council (in cambridgeshire) about what working from home you need planning for http://www.fenland.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=4618&p=0

They definitely make a distinction between someone using their property for noisy work that involves noise and increased traffic compared to someone who just has a home office without any noticable change.

mr-angry

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

he only has one for sale at any one time, but works on others,. which is, i assume, how he gets around licensing

The quantity of vehicles he sells at any given time is immaterial, the fact he is operating for profit means he requires a second hand dealers license (I think its called).

the_matrix

Don't give him any hints that you have a problem else he'll be knocking your door when council letter comes.

WeAreGhosts

mr-angry wrote: »

The quantity of vehicles he sells at any given time is immaterial, the fact he is operating for profit means he requires a second hand dealers license (I think its called).

Not according to what i can find on the web. All that comes up is links to Oz and NZ sites for that phrase. other links for UK say it is minimum of 2 vehicles ....

the_matrix wrote: »

Don't give him any hints that you have a problem else he'll be knocking your door when council letter comes.

He can come round. he might be a lot bigger than me but i am not scared of him. council ask you to try and sort it out before approaching them anyway and that is what i have done

mr-angry

Sorry my responses on this are only applicable in Scotland. It seems the rest of the UK does not have this licensing requirement.

planning_officer

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

spoke to planning officer and they have told me it could be 6 MONTHS before things change!! they are short staffed, overworked, have lots of cases on the go etc etc ....

That's appalling! I would contact your local Councillor and stress the impact it is having on your life at home. Ask him/her to chase up your complaint with the planning enforcement team. If a Councillor takes this up with the planning dept, it's amazing how quickly your case gets to the top of the list... (it shouldn't work like that, but it does).

WeAreGhosts

planning_officer wrote: »

That's appalling! I would contact your local Councillor and stress the impact it is having on your life at home. Ask him/her to chase up your complaint with the planning enforcement team. If a Councillor takes this up with the planning dept, it's amazing how quickly your case gets to the top of the list... (it shouldn't work like that, but it does).

i will do that, thanks. though they are not usually interested unless there is a photo opportunity in it, or it is near election time - having had previous experience of asking for help with something else ...:(