If you have a big extension to your home, AIBU to think you should consider the impact on your neighbours?

@NoisyViewer - failing to see how my owning a phone or a laptop makes my neighbours lives a misery, tbh.

My point is that too many people think they can do whatever the fuck they like and make as much noise as they like in their homes and gardens with complete disregard for their neighbours - and the constant 'innovations' and new ideas for helping them do that just keep on coming. God forbid anyone can just use their garden for anything other than quiet enjoyment.

I've lived next door to two atrocious examples of 'party all year long in the garden' families and they were both absolute, loud, selfish nightmares I couldn't wait to get away from.

To be blunt:

Building work impacting your life is part and parcel of urban living. If you don't like it, that's understandable, but if you choose to live close to shops/schools/conveniences (as we mostly do) - that's one of the prices we pay.

A lot of people can't afford a house that's big enough so have to buy smaller and extend. It's often cheaper to extend than buy a house with an additional room.

Families grow, needs change, lifestyles develop. Since Covid, and with the surge in WFH, people have given up a bedroom to become an office. If you don't have a spare bedroom, you might want to extend to have an office. Most affordable houses don't come with much downstairs other than a single living room and a kitchen. If you need more space, you have to carve it out.

I have lived next door to people building a massive fuck off extension and i have also built one. Whilst I was the 'neighbour', I pretty much sucked it up and made sure I understood their plans so that there would be no nasty surprises at the end. Whilst I was the 'builder' I made sure that my Project Manager was as considerate as possible - no noisy work on Saturdays. nothing on Sunday, constant communication with neighbours and we kept communication open with both sides.

I think you are being unreasonable and a bit NIMBY

We bought a house that’s had a big extension going from small 3 bed 2 story fisherman’s cottage to a large 5 bed 3 story house. (It’s a semi) was a bit of a renno project for us as looked like it had been used as an unofficial HMO. We’ve had builders on and off for about a year. 2 bathrooms redone, 1 bathroom taken out, woodburner install, walls knocking through etc.
our neighbours one side are brilliant (ajoining) but the other side is a nightmare.

nice neighbours we always inform them of work being done and they accept that the house needs updating. The other side is a massive battle axe that comes out to inspect everything and god forbid that anyone in a van parks opposite her garage (normal road with parking all the way along but she take offence to any trades people parking there. Her excuse is that she parks forward into her garage and reverses out 🤦🏻‍♀️

but we live in a popular fishing town and most properties in the area have had massive extensions and it’s just the way it is here.

in my last property (large 3 bed link detached) the neighbours said they were planning to build a large extension at the back which would have affected my light but I wasn’t going to complain (I sold before they did it) and the new owners are planning a big extension themselves.

moving house is EXPENSIVE and houses need to adapt to modern living. The reality is that anyone (well most) could stick a big extension on so something you should be thoughtful of when buying the property? Like don’t buy a house that backs onto a field then kick off when they stick 200 houses on it!

Trouble is putting on a big extension is often a lot cheaper than moving as when you move your scewed on stamp duty so I can see why people do it as they're families grow or their circumstances change.

Really, did you type this on your phone, laptop, or iPad? Do you use a car, do you have nothing in your life that you have for the joy of or that has simply made your life easier. If you answered no to all this then you may have a valid point that isn’t completely hypocritical. People can have an extension to just leave it empty if they so wish. They’re putting good money into the pockets of hard workers. That extension will provide work for, bricklayers, window fitters, floor screeders, floor fitters, electricians, carpenters, plasterers and maybe even plumbers and decorators.

YABU. Just as you are not in a position to move, they may not be in a position to purchase something that fully suits their needs.

Buying a smaller house and extending it is much, much more cost effective and affordable than buying a bigger house.

We extended about 4 years ago as our family grew, we looked at selling and moving instead but couldn't afford to buy what we could build into our existing house. We also love the area and our neighbours and it's close to the primary school so we didn't actually want to move - but needed more space.

The disruption is annoying, but it's not forever and it's not the end of the world. Progress happens.

I blame Phil and Kirsty with their Love it or List it programme!

Renovations aren't always about making a house bigger.

The house we bought last year had had no work done on it since it was built 60 years ago and hadn't been lived in for 5 years. What were we supposed to do? The bathrooms were unusable and there was no cooker.

We did this, moved out for 6 months. Large downstairs extension and loft conversion. We did it because we wanted it a certain way, it cost more than buying it done. However, all our neighbours also have the same, so they understood it was temporary disruption for long term good neighbours and they had benefitted from similar work in the past. Helped our builders were great. We held a party to say thank you once we moved back in for the neighbours to have a nose around the works and to apologise for the disruption.

So that's a definite disadvantage to WFH.

That's just silly. We had a massive extension built and did live in the house while work was done, but that was before kids arrived. We had to climb a ladder to get upstairs as there was no staircase. We had no kitchen just a kettle in a downstairs loo. No bathroom at all at one point, just a toilet. And on more than one occassion stepped off the bottom rung of the ladder into several inches of water as the ground floor kept flooding until we added a drain. There was no way a family could be expected to put up with that.

Why didn't you oppose the plans if your view is going to be compromised? Yes it's a pita when neighbours extend especially if they're not living there although hopefully with no residents the build will be much quicker than having to work around people.

I write this, sitting in my home office, my head spinning from the constant noise of heavy machinery, drilling, banging and vibrating coming from next door. They told us about the work but neglected to tell us about the risk to our very old boundary wall as their heavy plant machinery slowly and heavily drives closely to it. They neglected to tell us the depth of the work, the fact our garden (and pool) would be overlooked by workmen throughout the summer. The build will be going on all year - both of them leave the house to work whereas we both work from home so I feel that the impact sits solely on us. I understand why they want to build their extension but it feels selfish.

... because apparently, you're only just existing if you DON'T have all those things these days.

Late stage capitalism is so great! I can have an outdoor cinema in my garden (the latest, de riguer way to make your neighbours lives a misery in modern Britain) and fuck everyone!

Then it’s not choice, is it? if it’s repairs.

Why on earth would you do, or even think, this because your neighbours are doing an extension? It doesn't make the OP's life any better and is just really weird.

Perhaps even alert HMRC if you think there could be any tax avoidance/evasion taking place, payments not declared to them. Or if done via a limited company

What? What if your house sprung or leak or some other disaster and it meant your whole house needed stripping back to the bones and the garden dug up to lay new pipes. Should they just live with a derelict house as to not upset the neighbours & do the bare minimum. You can’t dictate what someone does to their own property as long as it’s done lawfully. I think it’s more selfish to expect people not to maintain and upkeep their properties. If you don’t like being inconvenienced by noise etc, maybe you’re the person living in the wrong house.

I think there are two different issues here.

Everyone wants their house to look amazing and to add value, and we do have planning laws to protect the impact on the environment and their neighbours. So long as they have complied with the rules and you had the right to object, then I don't think they have done anything wrong. That said, I do agree with you that buying a new house and immediately blocking your new neighbour's view is not the right way to introduce yourself.

However, I think it is their responsibility to try and make sure you were inconvenienced as little as possible while building work goes on. They cannot avoid all noise and dust, but things like making sure noisy building work is not before 9am or on weekends should be expected. The story from a PP where a neighbour told their builders it was fine to cut across their front garden is outrageous. I don't think the fact they moved out is evidence of ill-will. Houses are a nightmare to live in while work is going on, and work probably moved much quicker if the builder's didn't have to worry about always leaving the electricity and water on, and a working bathroom, at the end of each day.

But I am sympathetic. Our kitchen overlooks a field that was owned by our neighbours. As soon as we heard they were thinking about moving we bought that field from them to make sure nobody else could build anything on it, and sure enough the new owners have asked if they can buy it back. No chance!

FYI they can also have as many kids as they want without asking you. As many cars as they want. Barbecues. A hot tub. A trampoline. The street their oyster.

Nonsense. For centuries people who could afford to have been moving entire villages because they messed with their view!

Check planning conditions assuming there was planning permission granted. The complain to the Council immediately any are breached, if they are.

Also if they are not living there, check if empty Council tax payments need to be made (unlikely but worth doing so). Perhaps even alert HMRC if you think there could be any tax avoidance/evasion taking place, payments not declared to them. Or if done via a limited company.

It's one of those things where its like "well that's shit but tough shit" they don't have to think about you, you're just their neighbour, you're not their responsibility. If they need an extension then they need an extension. Yeah it sucks to be you but that's just life sometimes.

Didn’t the council contact you. If the actual extension is a hindrance to you they must advise so they can make a decision. If it’s nothing more than inconvenience over construction work then you are being unreasonable. They may have wanted to live on that street or area. They may not afford a ready made how they like house or there may not be anything they can buy and have a vision. To expect people never to do anything on their property is unreasonable and unrealistic. Maybe it’s you who should move instead, you’re the not wanting to live round people who just want to live their lives. There’s plenty of places that have street covenants on buildings or houses with no neighbours

Then don’t choose to have a big renovation?

Why make your neighbours suffer because you want a big house!

I guess this reflects the increasing selfish isolated world we live in