New neighbour from hell

[Aliceinunderland]

We have had a new next door neighbour since January. He hasn't actually moved in yet and is currently doing a complete renovation on the house itself. We are a row of 1950's terraces but he is the end house, we live next door.
He introduced himself to us and brought a bottle of wine and some fudge round to apologise in advance for the work. I said that was really thoughtful and that he shouldn't worry as we are out working during the week. So far so good.
After this it turned into a living hell.
At first it was the drilling and banging until around 8pm at night. We said nothing because he's young and clearly excited about having his first home and as anyone would, wants to get it done quickly. This then escalated to all day Saturday and sometimes Sundays. I had a quick word and asked for him to let us know when he planned to work outside reasonable hours.
Then came the third party wall agreement that he tried to make us sign with 3 days notice until the work started. Unfortunately for him we rent so once he found this out, things escalated even more.
I had to go round again on a Sunday when there was continued banging to have him smirking in my face. He agreed to let us know when work was taking place in unreasonable hours and so I left hoping that my strong words had finally sunk in.
Well no. In short this Easter weekend was beyond anything I have ever experienced. Good Friday we were woken up by a company using a pneumatic drill to dig up his front path. I believe they were replacing the water pipe but it wasn't an emergency as when I asked the workmen why they were working on a bank holiday, they said the job had been booked in for weeks!? This went on until late afternoon. Easter Sunday we had banging as the neighbour was obviously (from the sounds) trying to board the walls. I went round at 3.30pm as we had family round and asked him to stop which to be fair, he did. Bak holiday Monday comes and yet again I am woken up at 9am by drilling, banging and general noise from the house. He had booked plasterers to come. I thought it would be one of the quieter jobs but no! I lost my shit. I couldn't even go round to say anything as I knew I would not be polite so my partner went and said any more noise in unreasonable hours would be reported. His reply, I'll let you know when work is being done on a bank holiday.
But we have two more bank holidays next month. The house looks nowhere near complete (I'm assuming he's planning to extend as he has boarded up the kitchen door) and I physically and mentally can't take any more noise. I have a stressful job and like to relax at home but that's impossible now.
Do I just go ahead and report him to the council? How are the companies allowed to do work on a bank holiday and who do I complain to about them? Am I just being upright and need to relax? I just can't take much more.

I’m really sorry you’ve had such a hard time lately, genuinely, that sounds incredibly difficult.

But distress from house renovations is all relative, and I think it’s important to keep perspective. You’re asking for one day of peace, which I understand but is it worth creating long-term ill feeling with a neighbour who is just trying to improve their home?

I’ve lived through awful neighbour situations too - real harassment, not just noise

This doesn’t seem like that. Renovation work is temporary, and while it’s disruptive, it’s not antisocial behaviour or a criminal offence.

You moved for peace. But peace doesn’t mean control over other people’s timelines or lives.

Logging it with the council likely won’t change anything, and may just escalate tension. Sometimes, the best compromise is patience.

From your second post it's clear your council has no set times and so your unreasonable is subjective. I don't think 9am starts or 8pm finishes are at all unreasonable. Would I work on a new house that I'd bought in my free time? Of course I would, but it would be reasonable, just like I (subjectively) think your neighbour is being.

I do sympathise because like I say, I worked nights. In summer I wished death on every individual out mowing their lawns, but they were just getting on with their daily tasks. It was me who needed to adjust and put things in place.

No, I wouldn't warn a neighbour if we were doing DIY in a BH, and I wouldn't expect my neighbour to inform me.

I've been in this situation and it was utterly horrendous and had made me want to move. I just can't relax here now. We had the same...drilling and banging 7am -8pm every single day. I had Christmas day off and that was it. I had strep throat and my husband went round to beg them to turn down their music as i was so ill and tired and they told him to eff off. It was solid noise for 3 months. Yes, it didn't last forever but it nearly ruined me and I do not feel comfortable living here now. Infact I try my level best not to be here of i can. Those saying you are being unreasonable have absolutely no idea how this feels as they literally could not give a flying eff and there is nothing you can do about it. You have my complete sympathy

Btw...we're talking drilling into brick walls to make new doors and into foundations here....not just to odd bang of a picture being put on the wall. Our neighbour knocked down an internal wall and changed the bloody staircase!!! Plus put a damp proof course into our party wall without saying anything and now we have really bad damp.

Not to be 'that' person but whilst my council doesn't set out the exact times on their website (it does talk about noisy work but weirdly doesn't set out the exact times, it just says Sundays and bank holidays are unlikely to be reasonable times), it's also clear that they do take legal action against people who cause excessive building noise to court as a case was in the local paper. Sorry if that was not clear in one of my posts.. And again, I wouldn't count digging up a path with a pneumatic drill DIY but perhaps I have a different understanding of what DIY is. But thank you for your perspective. Im sure he's not doing it just to wind me up, it's just very frustrating but yes perhaps I need to dig deep and find a reserve of patience. At this point though I have no interest in having any kind of relationship with him moving forward so I'm not worried about that. I just want a quiet life.

Most people carry out DIY on a BH.
If its not drilling, there is power washing, gardening, lawnmowers, children shrieking.
If you prefer a quiet one, don't live in a 50 year terrace house.
I'm sure you're annoying him as much as he is annoying you.
At this point though I have no interest in having any kind of relationship with him moving forward so I'm not worried about that. I just want a quiet life.
Falling out with neighbours is not a quiet life.

No this is out of order and i would contact the council

We gutted our new house, literally started again with just the 4 walls..
It took 13 weeks
BUT my builders were instructed to work Monday -Friday 9-5 (loud jobs 10-4 only)
and on the weekends only quiet jobs
(So no drilling or banging, only things like painting / Putting things together etc )

I'm so sorry you had to go through that, I hope in time you feel more comfortable in your own home. It is utterly miserable. My.anxiety is through the roof as I never know when the noise will start and my blood pressure is through the roof. I do think that unless you've experienced it, it's very difficult to understand what it's like. Drilling and banging from DIY is one thing that I often hear from my other neighbour but can easily tune it out. This is altogether a different thing, pounding deep vibration noise on top of music and god knows what the scraping noise is that seems to accompany every tradesperson that enters the house no matter what they are doing.
I'm registered hard of hearing in one ear so god knows how loud it actually is. I'm fed up, the kids are fed up and you're exactly right, we just don't feel comfortable anymore. I wouldn't dream of doing this to anyone and I'm so conscious of not making a disturbance for any of my neighbours. I guess there's just two types of people, those who are considerate and those who aren't. I probably won't do anything at all and just pray he finishes soon. Thank you for making me feel heard though and I really hope you find peace at home too.

All the examples you gave are what I would class as DIY yes. Are you seriously suggesting that replacing a water pipe on Good Friday by digging up the front path from 9am until 3pm using a pneumatic drill (btw both operators were using ear defenders as it was that loud) is DIY??? Or that boarding and plastering the shared wall is typical DIY? He could have done that on the Saturday but didn't. He wasn't there when this work was being carried out either.
I chose this house because it's a quiet street. We have children, we have general noise and people doing up their houses and having been here 10 years the only issues have ever been the parking. We are all generally considerate and respectful of each other here and it works well. If I could afford to live in a detached house then I would do. Lucky you if money is no object but I live and work in the south east where rent is already extortionate.
How would I be annoying him? By asking him politely to keep noise to a minimum outside reasonable hours? If that's annoying to him then I don't know how he will survive in life when someone is actually rude to him.
Choosing to not have a friendly relationship with a neighbour is hardly a declaration of war.
I'd say thank you for your view but quite frankly it's just exaggerated nonsense.

I'd say thank you for your view but quite frankly it's just exaggerated nonsense.
As is yours, it is not forever, good Friday is a normal working day for many.
I had a plumber here good Friday and a tiler Saturday morning.

Report him to your local noise people at the council. Particularly heavy drilling on Sundays. It might have to be a civil complaint though

I’d (begrudgingly) accept anything between 8am and 7pm. Other than that I’d keep a log and report it to council. I’d stop conversing with him and maybe for next few months plan to be out more and don’t host.

Looking at it from the other side. He’s bought the house, probably intends to live there for 15/20 years so is getting it how he wants it, and may go on to be as quiet as a mouse. You rent and could depart any moment if your landlord wishes it. He could then get noisy neighbours .Why should he be too bothered what a temporary resident thinks about the noise?

I hope he has sorted out the party wall agreement with the landlord. Did you inform your LL or managing agent straight away? I think your LL should be dealing with the noise aspect.

My new neighbours cut through our water supply, but didn’t think it was important enough to tell us.
The next week he screamed at us for washing our car on our drive, in case any run off went near his front garden, which is all weeds. Now I just ignore him, or I may say something I live to regret.

The fact that many people, including my partner, work on a bank holiday doesn't mean it isn't a bank holiday. I assume your plumber was not using a pneumatic drill to complete his work therefore any noise was likely to be minimal and a one off. But that is not what we are experiencing. If my neighbour had done any work on the Saturday I would not have cared at all, he could have made as much noise as he wanted to all day. Instead he chose to do it on Easter Sunday.

Look, you've decided you're not going to see even a sliver of this from any point of view other than your own, and with every post you're making me feel more and more sorry for this chap

You claim you want a quiet life but as far as you're concerned you're quite happy to hold this grudge for as long as you're both neighbours - this is not a quiet life.

House renovations are noisy, it's the risk you take living in a house thar is quite literally attached to another one.

I'd be quite interested to hear his point of view, he's probably wondering wtf he's let himself in for with the cranks next door, and if he's destined for a life of visits if he so much as coughs too loudly

Nb it sounds like the house he's bought is in a fucking appalling state if its a back to brick / replacing pipes / walls job

Maybe be angry at your former neighbour who let it get in that state

Alright I'll bite because you seem intent on arguing with a stranger on the internet.
I have literally changed my mind about making a report to the council so it's not fair to say I'm not willing to see things from any other perspective. You on the other hand don't take into account anything I or anyone else says and seem to insist your view is the only right one.
I'm not harbouring a grudge or declaring war on the neighbour. I just have no interest in being friendly with him. I will say a polite hello in passing but I won't be going out of my way to have friendly chats in the street. I hardly think that approach will bring me stress and arguments.
I think when you have to resort to calling strangers names on the internet then you've probably got nothing helpful to add to the discussion.

Depends on what the council regulations say

9 am is not early, bank holiday or otherwise. Based on the work taking place during normal hours, I think YABU.

It sounds like he’s project managing the work himself and also doing some of it himself, so in that sense, it is DIY. I’m not sure how it’s relevant when professional builders work etc since he’s not one.

But he's not doing the work through the night??? You can go out and visit friends or family to escape.

I have nowhere to go for sleep but my own home. My NDNs made my life hell. Be thankful your sleep isn't disturbed.

I blank my neighbours in the street, have nothing to say to them. They're selfish fu*#s.

Party Wall Act

You have a remedy