Will hoey

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Suppose I should be happy we had a lovely view for the last 24 years. One consolation is that we paid £90k for our house, they're paying over £650k and don't have a view either. And their garden is tiny.

 

Have spent the morning hammering planks along the bottom of the fence so the girls can't inadvertently dig their way out under the large gap beneath the fence .

 

 

[Grandmashazzie]

Aw that's a shame.At least you sound accepting.Same thing happened to a friend and she gathered petitions etc but building went ahead,she became very bitter about it

[WitchHazel]

How sad to lose such a gorgeous view.

 

Hope they don't complain about your girls!

[patsylabrador]

That's such a shame. You must feel a little sad. That's a lot of money for a house with almost no land. Even my suburban semi has got more than that.

TBH they look like they might fall down quite soon anyway.

[sparkysmum]

You are soo much more philosophical than I could ever be. It is likely that we are going to have a similar scenario in the field adjoining us. I am already planning to lie down in front of their diggers and my neighbour is going to park his company lorry at the entrance to the field.

[Space Chick]

We had a risk with the woodland and farmland behind us, we fought, and for now have won.

 

I think you are being very philosophical ANH, shows a strength of character that I wouldn't have in your shoes.

[Charlottechicken]

I don't quite know what to say, ANH

 

At least you say you have enjoyed the view for 24 years, that is something no-one can take away.

 

I really don't feel we have enough of a population explosion to warrant building on greenfield sites at the rate we are. These new estates look soulless, and like you say, expensive houses with little or no garden, really poor use of our land I feel

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I do feel sad. And angry. But have no choice but to feel philosophical . We've done a petition, online complaints to the council and meetings with the developer who basically lied and submitted different plans once planning permission had been granted. So there's nothing we can do except hope our new neighbours are nice. If they dare complain about the girls, I'll be mentioning the noise, dust & disruption we've been putting up with for over a year .

 

I'm tempted to paint a rude phrase on the back of my house in huge black letters - they've ruined my view so perhaps I should do the same to them .

 

I'm sorry you're facing the same, Alli. Your outlook is lovely - it'll be heartbreaking to lose that .

[Luvachicken]

Such a shame you lost your view.

I remember reading your post about the land at the back of your garden a while ago.

If I had £650k to spare I would move to the house over the back of you just so I could be a nice neighbour and swap chicken stories.

I hope someone nice moves into the house for you.

[Purplemaniacs]

That is a shame. It doesn't seem a lot of house for that price.

 

Chrissie

[Groovychook]

I really feel for you ANH. I'm so sorry that they got their way

[Daphne]

If I had £650k to spare I would move to the house over the back of you just so I could be a nice neighbour and swap chicken stories.

 

 

What a lovely thing to say

 

Was the noise/disruption/mud better or worse than you expected ANH?

[WitchHazel]

I know it won't rteally make up for it, but can you get any compensation for blight?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I would love to have you as a neighbour, Luvachicken . I'd even put a gate in our shared fence .

 

Daphne, the worst noise was when they were demolishing the water works buildings and filtration tanks. There was constant noisy machinery and rubble being tipped into massive lorries. The actual house building hasn't been too noisy but the dust has been horrible - our windows/car/plants are constantly covered.

 

The main annoyance is getting used to being overlooked - we never used to close our curtains but now we're so close now we have to if we're getting changed. There's also light pollution which is only going to get worse when the street lights go in .

[WitchHazel]

The main annoyance is getting used to being overlooked - we never used to close our curtains but now we're so close now we have to if we're getting changed.

 

Maybe something like this would help? http://www.windowfilm.co.uk/buy-online/frostbrite

 

 

Alternatively - more versatile but much more expensive - something like this http://www.luxaflex.co.uk/products/indoor/facette-shades/ We have these in two rooms which are overlooked, and they are brilliant. We have them in a light fabric, not the overpowering black shown in that link. They still let the light in, we can see outside, but outside can't see in. A quick flick, and the light is shut out and we can't see out either.

[Valkyrie]

When the house opposite my lovely neighbour had an extension in the loft (no planning permission required now) they were looking down directly into her bedroom window. So she walked around naked and hoped they didn't like what they saw and didn't keep nosing in after that. Seems to have worked somewhat!

 

If they changed the plans afterwards isn't that illegal? Others have been made to take down buildings that aren't done to the specs. Your view was so lovely. I'd be absolutely gutted.

 

Our lovely council didn't renew the paperwork that protected this village from builders. Consquently all the surrounding land has been bought up and we are expecting loads of houses to go up. When we first moved here Charles Church owned the fields and woods opposite. They failed at appeal and sold it to another builder. It is just a matter of time before that all goes. In the meantime hundreds of houses have gone up to the east of here and all underneath pylons. All have no front gardens and doors open onto the road in some places. Back gardens are almost non-existent. The new house garden in your photo looks huge by comparison to what they are doing here. All squashed together and commanding megabucks. Then there are more going up on the north side and Sainsburys is wanting to put up shop there. The infrastructure isn't really that good with all the new houses and the traffic will be horrendous! I've lost track of the number but it's in the hundreds - possibly reaching over a thousand in all. Another reason for us escaping from this place!

[patsylabrador]

This thread has helped me come to a decision. We've reached the point where we could move out to the countryside. I was 80-20 in favour of staying in London. Partly because I like it and partly because we live close to the tube. I reckoned that when we're old & knackered we can just wobble off to the tube station and pretty much go anywhere in the world from there.

But there was always this niggle about trying something different. I know what the view from my house is - boring, and it's likely to stay that way. Moving out would be too big a deal to potentially end up with the same view.

I am now 100 behind staying in London.

 

Seriously, those houses look a bit flimsy.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Witchhazel thanks, that's very interesting! The film certainly looks a possibility - how can you tell if you have a ratio of light 3:1 though . If I fitted that, I'd want to go round to the new neighbours and see if I can see in .

 

Valkyrie, they didn't change the specs per se, just sneaked another 5 houses in so where they told us there would be 15 or so, facing sideways on to us, now there are about 20 which have been spun round so the back windows all face us.

 

That sounds awful, what's happening near you . Fine for those who buy the houses but heartbreaking for existing residents in the area . The infrastructure round is here is going to be stretched to breaking point too - which we all pointed out . The schools are already full so where their kids are going to go I don't know. The doctor/dentist will struggle with residents of 270 new houses, I'm certain and the traffic is going to be awful on an already busy road. The new estate has one entrance for 270 houses. Oh but the council did a traffic report (on a Sunday morning at 6am, presumably ) and "it won't be a problem". We'll see.

[WitchHazel]

Witchhazel thanks, that's very interesting! The film certainly looks a possibility - how can you tell if you have a ratio of light 3:1 though . If I fitted that, I'd want to go round to the new neighbours and see if I can see in ..

 

I thought the ratio only applied if you were using the reflective one? I don't think it applies to the film with the acid etching.

 

We have acid etched gass in our front door (not the film, it's the glass that is etched), and it is surprisingly effective. We can see out quite well, but someone outside has to get very close to the door to be able to peer in.

 

I am going to use the film on two side windows.

[Alis girls]

Like Patsy I would like to move but worry about ending up with a housing estate or travellers on our doorstep. Just found out our lovely Asian neighbour is putting house on the market. I hope we wont end up with someone horrible who doesnt like cats or hens. We also dread them putting social housing tennants in as they can be a nightmare as we found before. I like the fact that even in London we say hello to our neighbours and look after their houses when they go away. I laughed about the neighbour walking round in the buff to see if neighbours could see in. that was funny.

[Luvachicken]

I would love to have you as a neighbour, Luvachicken . I'd even put a gate in our shared fence .

 

I really would be up like a shot ............... now, if I could just win on the premium bonds

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Witchhazel thanks, that's very interesting! The film certainly looks a possibility - how can you tell if you have a ratio of light 3:1 though . If I fitted that, I'd want to go round to the new neighbours and see if I can see in ..

I thought the ratio only applied if you were using the reflective one? I don't think it applies to the film with the acid etching.

I was thinking the reflective one would be best - we'd want the window to be completely clear on our side.

[Charlottechicken]

TBH, I would look at planting something tall against your boundary in strategic places where their windows may look in. I have done this in my garden, as there is a terrace of houses backing on to me.

 

I have reflective film on my upstairs bathroom window (even though it is patterned glass) as my next door but one neighbours have a loft conversion and I caught them peering out sideways once The reflective film is completely seethrough when you have a light on in the house and it is dark outside. It also gives a grey/blue hue in the room, my bathroom is blue and very sunny so the colour and slight loss of light is not an issue.

 

Do bear in mind that if only the upstairs windows can see your property, they probably won't spend much time gazing out of them.

 

Hope you can get things sorted to your satisfaction

[Chickabee]

What a shame. Maybe if they'd built fewer houses and more spaced apart it would be better. We currently have someone appealing to build 5 houses in their back gardens near us. They are not even affordable homes, which the government are supposed to be concentrating on. They're all greedy what's names selling their souls to the devil

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Actually, you're right Charlottechicken. Their upstairs windows are the "secondary" bedrooms, the master is at the front, so they may not even be occupied - or will have kids who won't care if they can see into ours!

 

We do actually have 2 trees, luckily, which when in leaf will obscure most of the windows anyway. They'll all probably be desperate for privacy too so may well plant their own trees!

 

I agree, Chickabee, it's all about how much money they can make . They are putting affordable housing into the estate, apparently, but "affordable" Edinburgh prices will still be ridiculous.