Neighbour issues

eddddy

It's not ideal to send a letter in the first instance. That could be considered to be a complaint/dispute, which you would have to declare when you sell your property.

It would be better to have a 'discussion' with the garage owner initially.


But if things don't get resolved, there are probably steps you can take to enforce the terms of the lease. Do you own the freehold of the building, and the garage is leased from you? Or are you both leaseholders?

xylophone

If he is putting together flat pack furniture I don't see that he is contravening the terms of the lease.

As far as I can see, the terms of the lease restrict the use of the garage to parking/storage - the lessee may make minor repairs to his car therein but only if this can be done without noise or disturbance.

Time of day is irrelevant to the issue.


If the lessee is doing anything other than parking his car/storing his belongings or very quietly making a minor repair, he is contravening the terms of the lease - assembling flat pack furniture is neither parking a car, quietly effecting a minor repair or storing belongings.

moneyistooshorttomention

I'm guessing OP's concern is that the garage is being used as a workshop (and not for quiet things either).

I've had a garage near me at my last house used as a car workshop on a succession of cars. I've got two near me now being used as workshops.

Hence I can understand why a lease would have that term in it restricting what the garage could be used for - as there are obviously quite a few people around that use garages for these purposes and some of them are selfish enough to continue doing so - even when it's obvious they will be disturbing other peoples "peace and quiet" by doing so.

Hence why I'm suggesting keeping a "diary of events" and then it's possible to check out just how often this is happening. I've turned a "blind ear" to the antisocials near me using their garages for purposes other than what garages are meant for - as it's not been that often. But, if it was regular, then I would start keeping a diary and figuring out what to do about it.

My sympathies are with OP. He needs it as quiet as the lease says it will be from the pov of sleeping. Other people might need it that quiet for reading, meditating, who knows? There are quite a few reasons why people might need to have their "peace and quiet" undisturbed.

bouicca21

Sending a letter may seem the easy way out but it is going to be interpreted as an aggressive move and put the offender's back up. Go round in person and be sweetly reasonable.

I used to live more or less next to a garage that was being used to run a car repair business and it really wasn't noisy at all, except for the guard dog, but that's another issue entirely.

AdrianC

"Hammering and drilling" does not sound like working on cars to me. It sounds more like woodworking.

If I were the OP, I'd be sticking my head around the door when the noise is going on, and having a friendly chat - probably starting with "I'm about to put the kettle on - fancy one?"...

Mickygg

I'm with Adrian pop your head round when it's noisy and have a chat starting with how are they doing etc all pleasant, then just casually but importantly politely mention you work lates and the works are a tad noisy.

moneyistooshorttomention

Certainly start with pleasantly enquiring/maybe offering cup of coffee - in order to see what the situation is (ie whether it's temporary/unavoidable/etc/etc).

I wouldnt be mentioning the Noise Diary unless "being pleasant and hoping they are reasonable" hadn't worked.

By now I've realised that there is a good chance "being reasonable/pleasant" won't work - but it's always worth a punt to start with and hope it does.

warby68

Please don't send a letter with a USB stick as your opening gambit

You really need to 'have a word' first.

If these are new houses, it might be nest building of some sort that will come to an end soon anyway.

Saturday afternoon is a reasonable time to make noise if you have to - how will he know that you are trying to sleep? I know he's rule breaking so the sleep is something of a side issue. However people do expect to get away with ignoring some rules but that doesn't necessarily mean they're not open to being reasonable neighbours.

See what he's like and what's going on first before deciding what to do.

If he is unreasonable or it won't be ending soon then you can take it further, probably via the lessor (not sure how the garages are leased)

As with a lot of 'rule breaking', an amicable resolution or compromise even if not perfect or to the letter of the rules will be much cheaper an easier than attempting any formal process.

You never know, he might be the neighbour you want in your corner if he's 'Mr Fixit' and he might be hammering away in blissful ignorance at the moment (not an excuse but many people don't read the rules and DIY in your garage wouldn't immediately seem a wrong thing to do)

robatwork

Obviously a friendly person to person approach is the correct path, especially as first contact. He may not even be aware of the terms of the lease.

However aren't coach houses normally quite tall and thin? Assuming that he won't stop tinkering during the day, can you move your bedroom to the top floor which would then be separated by 2 or 3 floors?

bouicca21

By now I've realised that there is a good chance "being reasonable/pleasant" won't work - but it's always worth a punt to start with and hope it does.

Really?! In my experience being reasonable almost always works. It even works on my obnoxious neighbours. OK, there are a few arrogant tw@ts out there who make a profession out of being difficult, but most people like maintaining friendly relationships.