AIBU to ask if I can report my neighbour's bright blue house?

[Katey83]

I live in a terraced house. My neighbours have painted the back of their house bright blue (think swimming pool blue / like the Mikanos blue). It is horrible and looms over my garden. It’s really going to spoil my enjoyment of my space to have to look at this every day. I spoke to the wife earlier this morning and said it was not to my taste and would they consider changing and she said ‘the beige of your house isn’t to my taste but it’s your house. This is my house.’ And shut the door in my face. WIBU to report them to the council? Can I even do so? Surely you can’t just paint any offensive colour and expect neighbours to live alongside it?

I think it sounds nice, but even if I didn't, it's not my house. I don't think there's anything you can do about it, and the council won't be interested.

You probably wouldn't like my new shed either. It's periwinkle blue (blue-ish lilac).

who else thought the neighbours response was comedy gold? 😂

I've just remembered that when I was a teenager, our next door neighbour painted her entire end-terraced house mint green. A very unusual choice, and it raised a lot of eyebrows. I didn't like it much and neither did my mum, but tough luck! We lived in council houses, but the neighbour had bought hers. TBH it annoyed me much more that she started painting her pebbledash shed the same colour, then either ran out of paint or couldn't be bothered to finish the job. The shed stayed half cream and half mint (not in a neat kind of way) for many years, and was still like that when I moved out.

Now are ye sure it was swimming pool blue and not American flag blue? 😏😏

When I was growing up someone painted their house purple - the front too! The blue is much more tasteful than that.

Maybe the blue house would look less ‘overbearing’ if you painted the back of yours something nicer and a bit more colourful than beige. A soft green or pink maybe, not anything quite as bright.

Hopefully people can see the difference between Mykonos blue (you probably don't want to go there either OP), a lighter blue of swimming pools or darker US flag blue (avoid the US too OP, they like their flags).

I don't know if these are official colour names, likely not. Oddly, Farrow &Ball call swimming pool blue 'lobster', but live lobsters are dark blue and cooked ones pink.

@Livingthebestlife op has obviously never heard of Balamory. Poorless at your comment 🤣🤣🤣

Someone locally has painted their entire house hi-viz yellow. It's probably visible from the International Space Station. But it's their house and the rest of us just need to remember our sunglasses if we plan on walking past.

um but you were being quite rude??

Sometimes there is.
This is the guidance for leasehold properties in the Grosvenor Estate/Duchy of Westminster (Belgravia & Pimlico in London). Paint is covered on p10. BS number given. It’s Magnolia.

Omg😂😂

Yeah I knew some places are covered by that but I'd guess the OP would know if that were the case as their house would be the same I would think.

This would annoy me too, especially if it’s an eyesore. I’d be worried that it would have an effect on neighbouring property values if it’s that out of character with the other terraced houses, but if it’s just the back it might be difficult to argue that. … and also hard to prove.
like others have said not much you can do about it I’m afraid unless there is no restrictions in place, like a conservation area (others mentioned), if you live in new build area then there maybe restrictions in place.
if it were me I’d speak to the local council and find out if the area has any restrictions attached, but the likelihood is that it dosnt, and if it’s just the back of the house I think you’re going to have to put up with it.

if their home gets reported now, they’re going to assume it’s you now, I hope this dosnt effect your neighbourly relationship.

I think you may want to think how trellis & climbers or bamboo (in planters), or trees/shrubs/bushes to create a screen, maybe you’ll find something that compliments?
good luck

😂 Our old rental was this colour with a BRIGHT PINK door - tbf - it was not to my taste but i grew to love it - and it meant no one would ever have to ask where i lived - they could see it a mile off 😂 (my house is now boringly black and white) - however, i am AGHAST at you asking them to change the colour of their house - the absolute balls on you! Ofc they would say no, it was a rude of you as well, but i am just here, applauding your daringness OP!! 😂

Never holiday in Tenby.

This has reminded when I was younger and living in Edinburgh. Someone in the new town painted their front door (not the whole house) pink and it was duly reported to the fun police (council) who took them to court and made them repaint it. This played out at length in the local paper.

They were listed buildings to be fair.

Photo please

Even if they own that fence, you can put your own fence in front of it and hide it, that’s what I would do

After seeing the clear blue sky in the skylight of our new loft extension I decided to paint the doors, skirting and all woodwork in a bright blue to remind me of holidays and church domes in Greece. F&B's Pea Flower Tea is the shade I chose as it's stunning. I smile every time I go into that room. 😃

I would have done the outside too but our conservation area specifies the shade of cream for the front facade. So we painted our door a stunning bright lilac.😎

Thank you x

YABU

Sympathies OP. There is a house painted that colour on my drive to work and it really stands out, in a bad way. And I normally really like painted houses. But this is very overbearing and really incongruous. I can see why it has bothered you. It is unsightly.

Can you plant something that will eventually grow to block out the sight of most of it?

The entitled rich twats in the New Town of Edinburgh are something to behold. They seem to think they are a special class, exempt from normal things. They moaned endlessly about the black bins everyone in the city had, thinking they were too special. There is a really nice centuries old pub in the New Town with a garden. The entitled rich twats made them have to close their garden to customers at 9pm even on weekends. Why buy next to a pub and then moan about pub noise?

I had one of them come running out of his townhouse, complaining and taking photos of me for locking up my bike in sight of his window.

Move to Letchworth. Houses have to be white. It’s a heritage town with millions of extra rules about what owners can and can’t do to their houses. Front Doors and window frames are all white.

You’d be happy there.

This can't be a real thread surely?

no one can be that bothered about the colour of the house next door that they fee they no longer will enjoy their garden?

being so entitled to think they could ask their neighbours to paint it a different colour I get - disagree with, but sadly see that kind of entitled rubbish daily.

op - just need to learn to live with it