to wonder if the new next-door neighbour's building plans are a bit ott?

[beatrice14]

They're a couple with a toddler. They sounded very nice when they phoned up initially. But then they moved out after 2 days and sent my mum (I'm 15) about some building work they wanted to do before they moved in. We thought that was fine, just a bit of tapping etc. But then they emailed my mum saying that they want to build a basement, a hut at the bottom of the garden, replace all the windows, and a couple of other things. They said that to do this they would need

builders, lorries and bulldozers from 8 am to 6 pm,from September 2021 to August 2022. I understand that they want to make their new house perfect, but the timing isn't ideal as I have to take my GCSEs in 2022, and it would disrupt my mum's work (she currently works from home as a tutor) it it's really loud. Hopefully I will not have to do remote learning next school year as they anticipate it'll be very noisy. My mum is considering complaining, as are some other neighbours. However, she is not sure if they would just ignore any protest and do it anyway. are we BU or are they? Thank you for reading!

The windows alone won't take long- we had all ours replaced in less than a week.

Yep, I've checked with my mum. They also want to build more on the ground floor, first floor and the front garden. The estimate of the length of the work is 60 weeks.

Can you get a surveyor?

You should be able to check on the council website if they have already applied for and been granted planning permission. If they haven't yet, as other posters have said it will be a good while before anything happens. They're probably asking for a party wall agreement now, as whether you agree or not will impact on what they can do, and the subsequent plans that they draw up and submit to the council for planning permission. Considering the potential impact on your property of a basement, I'd definitely recommend that your mum insists on a surveyor, which your neighbour will have to pay for. Good luck!

Don’t sign the party wall agreement without advice from a specialist. The neighbours have to pay for a party wall surveyor on behalf of your mum (she can choose and appoint) - she just needs to give them a name and contact details.

Make sure your mother insists on appointing her own party wall surveyor: the neighbours will have to pay for it but for them it is a small cost relative to the whole project but it will protect her interests. We did this when we built a basement (sorry!) and it meant we had to pay both sets of neighbours for minor damage caused by our builders, which was entirely right and proper and ensured we were all happy with everything.

She should also register on the council’s planning website, get all the details, and register an objection to anything she doesn’t like, provided her objection is on proper planning grounds. They will probably get permission for some or all of that work. Maybe not the garden hut.

It is highly unlikely that they will need bulldozers etc for the whole period. Sections of time, yes. And if you find a builder that works until 6 then that's good going!

Sounds like they're giving you worst case scenario, I wouldn't be too concerned.

Like apps have said once they apply for planning permission the plans will be accessible via the local council planning portal. I think you can comment/make objections there, and also they used to (pre covid) hold planning meetings where neighbours or affected parties could raise an objection. (Our neighbour raised an objection to our - fairly modest- extension, but the council still approved it. It wasn't an adjoining house though)

Worth your mum talking to the council, asking to speak to the relevant committee if it does need planning permission.

Personally I very much doubt there would be much building work after 4pm (in winter especially) or at weekends.

Planning permission is one thing, but they will also need to apply for a Building Warrant - which will be a long and complicated process with so much work proposed. Digging out a basement is a highly specialised area (also rather pricey) and not to be entered into lightly - I should think that many of their plans are rather 'pie in the sky' (probably watched too many episodes of Grand Designs and think they are designers) and they may end up with building a shed in the garden instead...

If they do get planning permission, then I think it would be very sensible to talk to them about your GCSEs and whether they can work around that a little. Often builders finish work by the time you're likely to be home from school, and so it might be mainly asking whether they can avoid (or schedule quieter work for) the Easter holidays, and when study leave begins. Schools often provide somewhere you can work during study leave, too, so you might be able to go in and revise there, although it won't be as comfortable.

It may not be your GCSEs it affects - planning permission went in for a new house very close to us when DD was in year 6; it wasn't actually built until she was in year 9. (We actually swapped her room to that side of the house; it had previously been my study, but we knew that the noise was likely to be during the school day so it would disrupt her less. Of course sod's law said that the single noisiest thing was 8am each morning during half-term!)

Where abouts in the country are you? (You don’t have to be too specific!)

Councils treat basement applications differently

Where I live (SW London) the council has a basement policy, and as long as your plans comply with the policy, planning permission should be granted within 12 weeks

But the neighbouring council has a very different policy and insists on things like ground water surveys (to check your basement won’t disrupt the water table) before it will grant planning, so it takes 6+ months to do the whole application process

Your mum should speak to a surveyor who has specific experience in dealing with party wall awards for basements

As well as things like repairing any cracks that appear in your walls, you can also ask them to get your cars washed to remove dust etc

The noisiest part of a basement excavation is at the start when all the digging is happening, and that shouldn’t be more than 12-16 weeks so hopefully the worst of the noisy work will be long out the way before you need to start revising

If they haven't got planning permission and trying to extend significantly outside permitted development it could take months if not years. Besides which, builders are rarely on site beyond 4 o'clock let alone 5 o'clock so I really wouldn't worry about the mention of 8am-6pm,
If you do end up in lockdown again next winter and they are doing very noisy and disruptive work, I would seriously consider asking school if you can continue to attend due to extenuating circumstances.

@beatrice14

Yep, I've checked with my mum. They also want to build more on the ground floor, first floor and the front garden. The estimate of the length of the work is 60 weeks.

If your mum has all the info why isn't she posting this? Why is a '15 year old' on a parent site asking for planning advice?

@WaltzingBetty

I teach 15 year olds and not sure any would refer to their mum as DM!!

Am I the only one who thinks this is BS

Round here (SW London) this kind of building project is pretty common.

1. Planning permission is sought from the council and is likely to be granted if all the council’s safety/survey requirements have been met. Takes about 2-3 months to get permission usually. You can object to their application for planning permission but only on certain grounds, disruption from building work is not a reason to object. The grounds for objection are usually things like overdevelopment (eg if they want to dig out under the garden) or flood risk from all the concrete they’ll be putting into the ground. But it’s rare for these objections to succeed tbh.

2. Party wall notice is a separate matter, This is designed to protect against damage to your property. The neighbours need to serve a party wall notice on you, usually this is done after planning permission has been granted. Your mum cannot say no to the work under the party wall rules, all she can do is choose to appoint her own surveyor to supervise the work and check it doesn’t damage your house. (The neighbours will pay for your surveyor). Your mum absolutely should appoint her own surveyor, basement dig outs quite often cause some cracking and movement in next door houses and you need to ensure this gets repaired by your neighbours.

3. This kind of building project absolutely DOES take a year, often longer.

4. 8am to 6pm and Saturday mornings is standard site hours for my area and many others

I’m really sorry. Hopefully however you won’t have lockdown with this project next to you - like we did last year.

@championthewonderhorse70

Am I the only one who thinks this is BS

Pp have been deleted for daring to suggest such a thing...

PS. make sure your mum appoints a good party wall surveyor, ideally someone recommended by a friend, and not one who has sent an unsolicited letter through your door

Champion - Beatrice14 has been on MN for a while and I believe she is who she says she is.

I don't know anything about creating a basement but is 8-6 Mon-Fri and Saturday mornings for almost a year an extreme amount of work? I have friends who have had 4-5 bedroom houses built in less time.

Building a new house is a lot simpler and takes a lot less time than digging out under and redeveloping an old house shivawn

I get that, I'm just thinking it's an extreme amount of work for what they will get out of it. I mean that must be costing an absolute fortune and all they'll have at the end of it is a basement on a terraced/semi D. For the hassle and what they're spending on buying this house and a year of heavy construction works with bulldozers etc they could probably have built their perfect self build.

Check with your local council what work times are permitted. Where I used to live they were not allowed on weekends.