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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Would this annoy you too? I'm sure it isn't allowed...

68 replies

TruJay · 14/06/2015 12:28

The house next door was repossessed about 2 years ago and stayed empty for a long time. It was bought by a family, mum, dad and I think 3 children around 6-8 months ago. At first the family would come up to the house every couple of days or so and do bits and bobs at the house (it needs a bit of work) but have never actually moved in.

We have talked briefly, said hi, the usual. They always say they'll be moving in in two weeks but it's still months later and no furniture has been moved in and no one is living there.

About 3 months ago cars started to appear on the driveway and at the moment there are 4 (we have large driveways) the cars are clearly bought at auction as they have the writing on the windows of dates/price etc.

So now the house looks like a garage with deliveries of car parts, beaten up cars on the drive and loads of people turning up for their cars valeting, fixing etc.

Sometimes the home owner is not there and it's just his friends.

It looks a mess, the noise is driving me mad, hammering at half 9 at night last night so went out and asked them to be quiet which they did but with a snappy response. He later came round to apologise for snapping and asked if we could agree a time when noise has to stop to which I said the kids are in bed at 7 and he replied "so it's ok to be as noisy as we want til 7 yeh?" I replied no, it isn't. I don't want to listen to constant noise especially when it isn't even the home owner but his random mates.

The guy said that "well I have a business to run"
Surely this isn't allowed though, you can't just buy a house, make it look as if you are moving in you and your family and then actually just use it at junkyard/garage.

I don't want to listen to bikes/quads/cars revving through the day up to and after 9 at night.

I've read up online and there are lots of things in place that is needed to change a residential property into a business and that a car garage due to noise, mess etc will not be granted so I know they don't have any permission as it says letters will be sent to neighbouring properties.
I think they are testing to see what they can get away with, trying to sort it myself before going to council.

The guy just can't see that we worked our ass off to buy our house in a quite place and when DH has worked all week we don't want our evenings and weekends disturbed.

I'm sure it's great having somewhere to store all this crap and carry out all the noisy work and then go back to your tidy quiet house elsewhere but it's not right and I'm sure this isn't allowed by what I've read online.

Sorry that was long.

AIBU?

OP posts:

Damnautocorrect · 15/06/2015 14:33

Garages have to have lots of licenses and waste disposal methods (oils, co2, batteries, tyres etc) Getting planning is very difficult for one.

Some parish councils also have special covenants for selling cars e.g only 1 car for sale within x distance. So that's worth checking.

At first I thought your neighbour was just storing them on his drive and I thought you were being a bit unreasonable, but not the working on and late night noise.

rumbelina · 15/06/2015 14:39

You could try your local Environment Agency team as well re the waste disposal.

LurkingHusband · 15/06/2015 14:40

Personally I would have thought the killer is going to be insurance/tax.

The cars are insured aren't they ?

Damnautocorrect · 15/06/2015 14:47

If they are on his drive they don't need to be taxed or insured

LurkingHusband · 15/06/2015 14:51

So they're all properly SORNed then ?

kali110 · 15/06/2015 15:00

Thats Only if they are declared off the road

kali110 · 15/06/2015 15:00

Lurking beat me to it

LurkingHusband · 15/06/2015 15:14

It's almost axiomatic that someone acting in this way is going to fail to observe the law.
Are they correctly declaring the cars as being "in trade" ?
-YES: In which case he will have an appropriate motor traders policy
-NO: In which case the previous owners are liable for insurance and tax (it being a criminal offence to not have either).

Also, are these cars being advertised somewhere on the internet ? I'd be surprised if this person is relying on drive bys to sell their stock.

Astrid28 · 15/06/2015 16:05

I feel your pain. We have a massive congestion problem on our street and there are numerous crashes on our crossroads/outside my house.

One of the neighbours was saying to me how awful it was and then proceeded to explain that he has 15 cars parked along the street that he's waiting to sell, so when they go that should make a bit of a difference!

I'm all for a bit of enterprise but come on.

ElephantsAndMiasmas · 15/06/2015 16:12

Good point, Lurking. Have you tried googling the company name/address?

PenguinBollards · 15/06/2015 16:14

Good idea, Elephants ~ try googling 'car repairs + your post code' and see if anything comes up.

Birnamwood · 15/06/2015 16:22

^and if you do find anything, screenshot the living day lights out of it before he gets wind and takes it all down. Look in the local rag too

LurkingHusband · 15/06/2015 16:43

Birnamwood

If they have to start taking ads down, it'll start affecting their trade ! Almost as much as if loads of bogus "buyers" started making detailed time-consuming queries about the cars, and then failing to show up for appointments to view them. That could really dent a business ...

LurkingHusband · 15/06/2015 16:45

(forgot to add this to the decision tree)

-YES: In which case he will have an appropriate motor traders policy

which begs the question what reputable insurance company would offer a motor trader policy at a residential address ? (Clue: none on planet earth, or leastways the UK).

PenguinBollards · 15/06/2015 16:50

' what reputable insurance company would offer a motor trader policy at a residential address ?'

You used to be able to get them, I can name several insurers that offered trading from home policies. Haven't worked in the industry for a few years now, though ~ have they all been stopped?

Damnautocorrect · 15/06/2015 17:01

You can still get traders policies at residential addresses (think mobile mechanics) if you can prove your trading, so VAT number, accounts etc.
It has got stricter but you can get them if your a business - which it looks like he is

LurkingHusband · 15/06/2015 17:04

I wasn't talking about general insurance. I was specifically talking about the insurance policy a trader needs to cover all the cars on his yard, to avoid the need for SORN.

There are two ways a car can be uninsured in the UK now (continuous insurance changes).

Be covered by SORN
Be owned by a complete twunt

In all other cases (regardless of location) a car must be covered by a valid insurance policy.

The changes were made so that there's no excuse to drive past an ANPR check, and come up "uninsured". As people who aren't on the MID are discovering .

HellKitty · 15/06/2015 17:04

Damn you Elephant! I was going to suggest Google

LurkingHusband · 15/06/2015 17:08

Damnautocorrect

one of the conditions of the insurance will be "suitable premises", which wouldn't cover this situation. I'm not talking of the part of the insurance which covers driving customer cars (essential for a mobile mechanic). I am talking of the part which covers cars in the workshop/showroom.

Of course if this character has got the appropriate insurance, maybe the insurers haven't been told the truth ?

Damnautocorrect · 15/06/2015 17:09

I'm talking about traders policy insurance too. As in, for small traders like this guy they give you a long in to the database and you have to put each reg number in, then take it off when you sell it.

PenguinBollards · 15/06/2015 17:10

Trading from home/road risks policies do cover (or at least used to cover) a stock of vehicles held at a private address, even if not SORN. Perhaps they don't now, I've been out of the industry for a good few years.

Damnautocorrect · 15/06/2015 17:15

Yeah we are talking about the same insurance. I have one at a residential address. I don't have a showroom on my drive and they aren't sold off my driveway. As they are kept in different places. I have a car limit (60k) and it insures me to drive and abandon any car anywhere as long as it's on the database it's covered (obviously taxes as well) as any normal policy would. It doesn't have to be in the showroom / compound / workshop to be covered. Customers cars do, my cars and cars for sale no.

PenguinBollards · 15/06/2015 17:16

Oh, Damnautocorrect, I had entirely forgotten the monotonous hell that was updating the MID on behalf of less computer-literate clients

LurkingHusband · 15/06/2015 17:18

Trading from home/road risks policies do cover (or at least used to cover) a stock of vehicles held at a private address,

Yes. With appropriate licensing and regulation in place. Insurers aren't particularly big on underwriting business which relies on breaking laws and by-laws to operate.

All of which is moot here, since I'd wager a massimo Americano that this joker doesn't have any insurance at all. Why should he ? It's cheaper than renting the right premises ?

PenguinBollards · 15/06/2015 17:19

"one of the conditions of the insurance will be "suitable premises""

It's depends on the type of policy ~ there are insurance policies that cover a stock of trade vehicles held at a private address: motor trade road risks (as opposed to motor trade combined policies, which cover showrooms, garages, etc).

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