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

[angelos02]

Neighbour is having a huge extension - so much so, we have found out that they are moving out for 6 months. It will have a huge impact on my life - noise, scaffolding etc. At the end of it I will have lost a huge amount of view - they will gain everything and the only person to be negatively impacted is me! So do I just have to suck it up as it is just the way things are now?

Did they have planning permission OP? Unless they are in breach of the conditions there’s not much you can do. Buy some noise cancelling headphones?

"No - I don't think I am BU. The most annoying thing is they've just moved in - if they wanted more room/space, why not buy a house that suits what you want."

Yes, you are being very unreasonable. It is extremely common (in London at least) for people to buy a house with the express intention of turning it into their dream home. Every house in our street that has changed hands in the last 10 years, with one exception, has had a big kitchen extension and loft conversion. Most moved out for three to six months. It is the norm.

We have banging and drilling going on next door right now for a kitchen extension. Yes, it is a bit annoying but it is only for a few months.

This is awful. I feel angry just reading it.

This is daft. The issue affecting the neighbours is noise. The issue that would affect people living in the property whilst it's being renovated is that doing so may be dangerous, may not have electric or water on etc. The disruption they have to live with is not having a house, and paying rent somewhere else while paying for a mortgage.

Empathy to you, it is a bitter pill to swallow when you lose a view and have to put up with all the mess and dust only to end up with a worse situation at the end of it.

I don't think YABU at all to talk about it on here, unfortunately many people cannot afford to move house so instead they make improvements to what they have.

in the case of your neighbour, they may have bought the house with the intention to extend because they weren't able to find the accommodation they need at a price they could afford so they bought a property knowing they could improve it at a more affordable price (extending is almost always cheaper than buying a 4-5 bed property at a premium).

Give it time, you may find you come to terms with the loss of view and can still enjoy living where you do. If not maybe look at other properties in the years to come to see if anything else comes up that's better.

Yes, absolutely ridiculous. Having the people living in the house while major renovations are being done is also likely to slow the whole thing down considerably, if they have to work around rooms in which the family are living, ensure safe access, keep on all power and water etc.

Thats ridiculous, living in a house in the process of having building work with a range of random men coming in and out isnt remotely comparable to hearing the noise of nearby building work.

So when their statutory notification visible from the street went up, and you put your objection in, was there even any response from them or the planning department?

Not as disruptive as having other people’s noise and mess imposed on you without any regard to whether it’s convenient / whether you can still use house and garden in the same way.

Swanning off to temporary accommodation is your own choice.

But you chose to have the building work done - your neighbours didn’t…

This!!

They ain’t randoms they are the men you chose

I think it ought to be a legal requirement that the people benefiting from the extension ought to also fully experience the disruption.

what a ridiculous idea that people would be forced by law to stay in a property with potentially no roof, no heating or electrics when the workmen are doing the renovation. Why would any government pass a law just to force them to suffer.

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

Then don’t choose to have a big renovation?

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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

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

... 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!