Clear window overlooking our house

[2GirlsDad]

Hi,

When we moved in, we noticed our neighbours have a large clear glass window facing the side of our house. We only have obfuscated so we did not worry about it.

That is, until we had some scaffolding fit to have our loft converted and had the neighbour asking that we ask the workers to find some way to ensure they could not look into their house - they were not proposing boarding it but building some structure on the scaffolding to do it. I did not find that very amusing and we said they may want to look after their privacy and put some net curtains. The lady insisted as if she had any right and we made clear we know this window should not be clear glass. She backed down and we thought that was the end of it.

We finished our conversion and they did theirs. We were amazed they went on to install a clear glass window on the loft side wall! We raised it with planning a month ago, eventually they came over and the planning inspector informed us that their understand the neighbours intend to change it with obfuscated glass. We saw the scaffolding being remove and see no signs of the window being replaced. On top of it, they also decided to have the external part of the dormer painted white...

I am trying to be measured but I am wonder whether the council will push forward...

And it is starting to irritate us to see such blatant disregard for planning.

I wonder if this is happening elsewhere and am looking for ideas of what to do....

If a window has been clear glass for over 4 years and no one objected in that time then I think the planners won't enforce planning and make them change it. It is also possible the window has been there for a long time, i.e. before there were rules about having obscured glass in overlooking windows.

If a window is new and a formal objection has been raised then there will be a time period for it to be changed, if the objection is a valid one. Speak to the planning department.

Am interested in this as a property has been built right behind our house/diagonally. 4 large windows overlook us now and no curtains! I've planted 2 trees but they will take time to establish. When I did our bathroom we were told we must have opaque glass installed and they blocked one big window in dd's bedroom and insisted on 2 smaller ones instead
I can't see why it was one rule for us and another for the new build?

Our neighbours has obscured glass in their side window in the approved planning permission and put in clear glass instead.

We complained. The neighbours put film over it as soon as the enforcement officer warned them he was coming and took the film down a few months later. Planning enforcement now not bothered. Our privacy ruined. If anyone knows how to stop this please say!

Msmoppet,

That is exactly what our neighbors did! Approval has the condition and they ignored both the window and the rendered and painted!

I will see what happens, I could put a camera on the side and see what they do !

People in the house behind and just to the left of us (i.e. next door to house immediately behind ours) built a very ugly two-storey extension, with an enormous window on the upper floor which has no curtains or blinds. It's their open plan kitchen and living room, for us it's like looking at a film screen 24/7. I don't know how they got permission; it's several years old now and I don't remember anything about their planning application.

So they objected to your legal building rights and you were proved correct. Then you objected to their legal rights and they were proved correct?

I hope you are joking about the camera - you'll only escalate things. CCTV should not cover anyone else's property.

Some of the type of work discussed above may have been carried out using permitted development and therefore will not have needed planning permission.
Re the loft window/skylight if it is positioned above a certain height (I think it’s 1.7m) it does not need to obsquered glass as in theory is looking up at the sky rather than out at neighbours.
I would suggest you try not to let this issue get to you too much, these things can get out of hard and really aren’t with the stress!

Planners rely to some extent on neighbours reporting breaches rather than checking everything themselves. So if you think there has been a breach of planning and it bothers you, report. Don’t assume the planning officials will come and check.

Hi minipie,

We absolutely reported it to the authorities and they came around. The planning application they made was approved as is normal mentioning there would not be clear windows on the side.

@wowfudge , I am half joking as they have also recently installed an additional camera on their fascia that points to their and our gate and as such is also pointing to the side of our garden... I wonder what would happen if they would try to escalate and end up being found in the wrong.

And @Itscoldouthere , planning approval is required whenever people are going beyond permitted development like if they want to install side clear windows at loft height. And to have a chance of success and to prevent escalations, a chat to ask permission from your neighbours will make a big difference. Perhaps you can confirm the detail but my understanding is that the standard exception for permitted development is that it allows a clear window at ground level for the kitchen.

Are you sure it is Planning and not Building Control you should ask to enforce? Do the windows directly look into yours or onto wall? Have you asked to see what the camera actually covers?

Yes, this is a planning topic. Building control in our neighbours case is also council but in any case provided the window frame is as strong as is needed, building control would be happy...

Anyway, great news, our neighbours replaced the window pane with obfuscated. First concrete outcome!

As for the camera, it is not worth the hassle in our case. The law is like a strainer, many of these cameras are partially obfuscated and sometimes they can even be tilted internally... At the end of the day, they cannot see more than a narrow corner area of our garden (which is concreted, so not like the other poster where the neighbours are trying to get a view).

I suspect that a good way to deal with clear glass facing you is to install a (dummy?) camera that peeks straight into the offending clear glass window. I would imagine that, in most cases, at least net curtains would go up...

Or a super bright security light that comes on frequently?! It’s not your fault cats set the thing off so often and it happens to be directly shining into their window....

We have this issue. New neighbours changed their windows and we were able to see straight into their bedrooms from our house (which is embarrassing as they often don't close their curtains in the evening)

Cherry laurel is your friend! Grows high and fast