House bought pre lockdown not suitable for new work life...WWYD

[FoxyBingoedOut]

In November 2018, I bought a new house. I was working 2 weeks out of every 4 abroad. The other weeks I would be in London in an apartment. I bought the house as a place to relax on the weekends I would be in the UK and as an investment (as I don't own a home anywhere else) and with the intent that I would either retire there or sell it at that time and move somewhere else. I had never worked from home.

The garden and plot this house is on is simply stunning. I love gardening and this is what appealed to me. It has loads of off street parking and a double garage which was important to dp. The house itself is like an old rural cottage (built around 1700).

Then Covid happened. My job completely changed overnight. I have been working from home since April last year and the house has just become a nightmare for me. There is not one room you can be in without hearing lots of noise from within the house. There is no room for a study anyway other than setting up space in the garage (which I have done) but it's freezing even with heaters. The house is grade 2 listed and it's in a v strict conservation area so we can't make amendments easily and are not allowed to make a room that is 'liveable' in in the garden.

I got a builder round to talk about the sound proofing and there are little things that can be done but it will never be sound proof enough inside the house.

Given my job is likely to be more WFH and I can't see my travel returning as it was before, I think I should sell the house and buy somewhere more appropriate for my needs. Dp thinks I'm insane - he loves the house and is devastated I feel this way and thinks that compromises can be made. It's like a great holiday home but I really think I need a house with doors that fit and close as a minimum if I'm going to be at home and working a lot more.

I’d convert part of the garage to a study.

How noisy can the house be. Do you have children etc bashing about? In the meantime buy noise cancelling headphones.

Could you work from the London appt?

No house will be soundproof. Honestly? You sound a bit picky

Do you have kids at home is that the issue? Otherwise where is the noise Coming from?

It's really bad. Dp runs a business from home so he's there all the time. To put it in context, if I'm in a downstairs room and he's upstairs on the loo, I can literally hear him fart. When he does calls at the opposite end of the house, I can hear every word he says.

It's a very old house

We cant get planning to convert the garage unfortunately

What actual noise are you talking about?

Noise cancelling headphones? No house is silent.

It's mainly dp and the dog though the dc do come and visit. The sound really travels throughout the house. Dp's work is him on calls all day (as is mine).

If it’s a big garden can you put some kind of building that doesn’t need planning permission for your office?
Can you rent a working space somewhere close?

Can you get some ear defenders or noise cancelling headphones? Thick curtains over doors?

Can one of you rent office space elsewhere?

If the house is perfect in all ways except this one thing then I would seek to address just this one thing.

I know it sounds like I'm being fussy but as an example today, I was on a call this morning with my boss (I have noise cancelling headphones) when he said 'your dog drinks really loudly' and this was a dog lapping water in a next door room fgs! It's like the noise travels along the ceilings and echos - it's hard to explain.

Dp is a lot less bothered than me but I find it really irritating when I'm trying to do confidential and important calls and the other party can hear dp in the background on his calls

This type of thing doesn’t need planning permission:

www.thegardenoffice.co.uk/product-prices/tgo1/

And it would be fully sound-proofed (no Affiliation that company, just the first thing that came up in google).

Renting office space elsewhere would be a good idea. There must be people around with an annex/unusable air bnb space etc that they’d be interested to rent out. A friend on Facebook was recently advertising her space

Unfortunately we can't put any structure like that in the garden (we are in a conservation area with really strict rules). I did initially look to do that but both the parish and county council would not allow it.

I think my only hope is sorting out the garage to be more habitable (I can't hear anything there!)

What about something like a 'Shepard's hut' a 'la David Cameron?? It's fully moveable so shouldn't affect any planning?

Yes that's a good point about office space - thanks I will look and see what is in the area. They will probably have better Internet and phone signal too!

Buy a caravan or mobile home, park it on your really big drive and one of you work from there. Take it in turns to be fair if needed.

Or yes, make space in the garage - either get some battened walls or put a studio inside the garage if possible.

And your glass slippers are too tight, I expect.

Bit weird perhaps, but can you put a caravan on your drive or in your garage and use it as your office? They can be heated comfortably and at least sound can't travel along the ceiling.

Sorry I'm not from the UK so I probably misunderstand some of your metaphors (glass slippers?)

One of dp's friends last year parked his caravan on the drive and the neighbours complained and eventually the parish council wrote to us and asked us to move it! It's a weird country sometimes, it's hard if you're not from here to understand all these village subtleties!

Build a free standing room/cabin within the garage?

Can you buy or DIY an indoor soundproof work pod? Have a look on google images to see what I mean.

Is you garage integral or a stand alone ? Can you not convert that internally ? It would need boarding and insulating internally but not a huge job and I can't see how that would need planning ? I'm currently converting my garage which is to the side of my property but not attached.
I dont need planning or building regs. Your garage wouldn't have been built with the property originally and can surely be converted sympathetically into a useful office space ?

Tell your DP to be quieter
Buy more soundproofed doors and make sure they are shut.