Moral dilema: neighbour wants pvc windows...I want to object

MushyPeas

Thanks BobP - I'll have a look at the lease, good idea

guppy

I assume the building must be in a conservation area for planning to be required for something so minor.

Have a look at your lease (assuming all for the block are similar) and see what it says about alterations. The neighbour may need the permission of the freeholder/management company or it may insist on identical windows being used.

Can you speak to any other neighbours to get another point of view, without sounding too snobby? I'm sure the first neighbour wouldn't want to devalue the block by making it look ugly if everyone feels the same.

How about phoning the the planners informally to find out what the chances of the application being granted are? They might say it has no chance, saving you the embarrassment of having to do anything.

Its a tricky one, but I don't think the neighbour can hold a grudge if you put your point of view across nicely. At the end of the day, you have to live there, and to put non-matching windows in does sound a bit odd in my opinion.

michaels

Iam amazed that the perfectly resonable people in our street of 1880's victorian terraces put in hideous pvcu windows of whatever colour. They look out of keeping with the properties and I would have thought diminish the value of the houses and the street. Most of the town is conservation area and it wouldn't be allowed.
I've nothing agaiinst these windows on newer buildings though, but if you are paying 320k for a tiny 2 bed Victorian terrace I would have thought you would want Victorian character and expect to fork out extra for wooden windows when they need replacing.

Running_Horse

Depends on the area. People might want original windows in Chelsea, Brighton, or a conseravtion area, but in Medway buyers expect upvc. They also tend not to mind about lack of original fireplaces as long as the central heating works.

clutton_2

wooden windows need maintenance - UPVC dont - that could be a significant figure in someones budget.

new windows need to comply with FENSA regs and i am fairly sure that FENSA registered companies normally apply for PP on your behalf when doing the paperwork for the job.

wherediditallgo

michaels wrote: »

Iam amazed that the perfectly resonable people in our street of 1880's victorian terraces put in hideous pvcu windows of whatever colour. They look out of keeping with the properties and I would have thought diminish the value of the houses and the street. Most of the town is conservation area and it wouldn't be allowed.
I've nothing agaiinst these windows on newer buildings though, but if you are paying 320k for a tiny 2 bed Victorian terrace I would have thought you would want Victorian character and expect to fork out extra for wooden windows when they need replacing.

Running_Horse wrote: »

Depends on the area. People might want original windows in Chelsea, Brighton, or a conseravtion area, but in Medway buyers expect upvc. They also tend not to mind about lack of original fireplaces as long as the central heating works.

That's the thing, though. You know it's a Victorian building & you expect to see certain features. However, many people either don't know or don't care - they want to get a certain number of rooms within their budget, a bit of garden & be able to get to work without too much hassle. They paint the window frames the colour they want, & couldn't care less what the rest of the building or road think about it. That's why you end up with:

• so many roads with complimentary buildings, & then one with gates big enough for a small castle.
• houses where they have all of about 10 feet of footpath, yet have installed monstrous gateposts & have put lions on top.
• houses with a tiny porch but Doric columns either side of it.
• flats with complimentary doors, except the one with the "wrong" sort of letterbox and a door knob where you wouldn't expect there to be one.

These people buy what they like, & decorate it the way they like, & unless there are rules/laws to stop them, I don't have a real issue with it. I speak as someone living in a row of Victorian terraces, with someone further up the road who has a menagerie of plastic animals & birds in the tiny front garden, & so many plastic bird nests hanging off fencing & from the tree, they must be making them at home.

MushyPeas

Thanks for all your thoughts guys, really helpful. I'm going to sleep on the situation and think about what to do tomorrow. Thanks again

wherediditallgo

MushyPeas wrote: »

Thanks shop-to-drop, helpful comment (unlike GD - hrmph!!)

I'm such a wuss when it comes to confontation. I was thinking I might pop down tomorrow afternoon and talk to her about it. But what if it costs her thousands? Not in the spirit of MSE

OP, I think you'll have to play this a bit careful if you're going to speak to your neighbour about it, especially as she's been nice to you so far. You've recently moved in, & you don't want to fall out with her or have her thinking you've been there five minutes & are already out to cause trouble. The other thing is, how long are you planning to stay there? In her shoes, I'd understand your concern if you're planning to live there for several years to come, but I'd be rather miffed if you stopped me doing what I wanted with my property & then moved a year or so later. Maybe there's a way of letting her know that you've not raising the issue just for the sake of it - you're planning to be there for a long time, & would like the building to look as appropriate as possible. Perhaps you could also look up the cost of having the brown for her, so she can see it's not going to cost her any more money.

MushyPeas

Hi Wherediditallgo - thanks for advice Yes, do plan to be there for a long time. I might see if I can find out cost, that's a good idea. I am really worried about upsetting people!! I walked out along the road today to look outside the flat and everyone else has the brown windows, it will look odd

pboae

I objected to a neighbour's windows once. The block all had wooden windows (that wasn't optional) but she wanted permission to paint her's bright pink. I objected because it would have looked awful and we were planning to sell up in the next year or two. It would have put me off buying our flat if her windows had already been pink, so I figured it would put new buyers off too.

We weren't on great terms with her to start with, and it certainly didn't help things, but it blew over quickly. I did go and talk to her beforehand and let her know I was going to object. She wasn't very happy about it, but I think it would have been worse if she had just heard about the objection through the council.