Renovation in flat during lockdown

[zagig]

Anyone knows is flat renovation during lockdown against the regulation or not?
My neighbour upstairs is going to start a second renovation project next week, I wfh all the time, is there a way to stop it?
Thanks!

I did this last year and really upset my neighbours some of whom were working from home. I truly had not thought of the impact and how much noise I would make. When I found out I stopped the work. I think you need to appeal to people’s decency. I don’t think there are particular regulations. I have lots more work to but I wouldn’t do the noisy work in lockdown again.

If my neighbour upstairs is like you!
He did one floor project at the beginning of the first lockdown and we already told them how dad is it for us and how upset we were but he is going to do this again now! I guess some people just donot care at all.
Seems like we cannot do anything in this situation which is really unfair as we cannot go anywhere to hide during lockdown.

It’s so unfair. Most people don’t care about anyone but themselves I’ve found. You should still tell him again how bad it is for you just in case he will take notice.
I’m in a council property and the council put letters in everyone’s doors asking them to be considerate of their neighbours during lockdown and not use power tools, play loud music etc etc. I don’t think they can enforce any restrictions though. I do feel sorry for you. Can you ask for a clear timeline of work and make it clear you are working from home and need to know exactly when to expect noise and for how long?

Thank you for your suggestion, that's very helpful. I will try to get a clear timeline although I really donot want to speak to him anymore...but I guess at least I can try to avoid meetings during noisy hours or have more walk in the park! Finger crossed I can survive next week. Thank you!

I was doing really noisy work and honestly had not considered the neighbours. When I saw the lady’s face downstairs as she told me she had a terrible headache and wasn’t able to do her meetings I was mortified. I stopped the major work that day. On other days I took her number and arranged all noise around her. She was very surprised that I asked her about hours etc. I don’t think she expected me to be so concerned about her but I was.

I think if you know exactly what and when to expect you can at least go out for a walk. And you are absolutely within your rights to expect to work at home peacefully.

I actually just talked with my neighbour and he said there is no clear time line and was not being helpful or say anything nice. Again he is just not that type of nice person. Anyway I will try to make some record if it's too noisy and keep calm, no need to be so upset by someone else. Thank you for your support

That’s a real shame that he’s so selfish. Really well done for approaching him though. Ridiculous that he can’t give you a clear time line. Clearly not interested. What’s he having done? I hope it’s horrible.

People are allowed to do renovations. Some of us have potentially been working from home for a year with no end date in site. When should he do it?

@kirinm

People are allowed to do renovations. Some of us have potentially been working from home for a year with no end date in site. When should he do it?

Exactly. Baffled by the 'people are so selfish' responses. No they are not. Do you expect people to hold off from doing renovations to their homes for 7+ months? Even when lockdown is lifted, a large proportion of people will still continue to work from home - so when exactly would be a 'good' time to resume the work?

Builders have to work too you know. In fact, building work was allowed to continue by the govt even during the first lockdown. Even when retail shops were closed, building merchants remained open. The only 'regulations' you speak of are the specific hours that the work can take place. Works can take place from 8am - 6pm which is acceptable. I wouldn't appreciate hearing drilling very early in the morning or later in the evening.

You can of course approach your neighbour and ask them to be mindful about noise. They're not at any liberty to down tools however, just because you're pissed off with the noise. You should also consider that they may have hired tradespeople to carry out works. If they've hired an electrician for 2 days, that electrician isn't going to stop working to appease you. Tradespeople are booked up far in advance because you'll find lots of people are currently undertaking renovations, as working from home is enabling them to oversee the work.

It was only me who said people are so selfish. I think I’m particularly selfless then. I wouldn’t continue with my project once I knew I was causing a problem for my neighbours. That’s me. All my projects are now on hold.

Tricky, because you can't stop renovations but you should try and consider where you can.

@Cissyandflora

It was only me who said people are so selfish. I think I’m particularly selfless then. I wouldn’t continue with my project once I knew I was causing a problem for my neighbours. That’s me. All my projects are now on hold.

Well that's fine for you but it's unfair to assume that everybody else can financially put off projects for months on end because the noise will upset their neighbour. Particularly if they can only move into the property once certain works have been carried out.

I am doing a major loft conversion which I have been planning since July last year to commence this year as I am off on maternity leave and I can manage the project. When I was planning it I had no idea we would still be in lockdown. I am going ahead as it has been so difficult to find traders I can trust, they are also so busy and need a start date. We desperately need the space and I don’t want to do renovations when working full time. I don’t want to upset my neighbours but I am not willing to wait another year and who is to say we will be back to office working anyway.

My adjoining semi did a full refurb all of 2020. The owner is abroad so fully managed by a separate team so even worse. They did stick to the allowed hours in the beginning but later started working all day Saturday. When we questioned this (they need to stop at 1pm on Saturday per council rules) they said they felt sorry for the workers who needed more money!!!! We said doesn't work for us, they need to stop at 1 as we have no where to go and 5.5 days out of 7 is already beyond our tolerance. Thankfully they listened. But it was tough having building noise, dust and privacy loss when stuck at home with work and home schooling.
I have not even mentioned the music the builders played !!