Snazy

After the poor workmanship on the house next to me, and its subsequent collapsed, the day has come where they have applied for planning concent on the land left.

The application is as follows...
The construction of a four storey building plus basement at 6 Church Rise, London, SE23 incorporating balconies/terraced gardens to provide 6 one bedroom and 2 two bedroom self-contained flats, 2 three bedroom maisonette and two studio flats provision of refuse/recycling stores, cycle store and three car parking spaces.

So thats 12 residences, 18 bedrooms, so the possibility of 20+ residents... and 3 parking spaces!
No images of the building plans yet, but im sure its not going to be constructed to look anything like its surrounding properties.

If this goes through we get to live here while its constructed by the same clowns who caused the last one to collapse.
Making matters worse, they will be responsible for removing the supports and current foundations from the old property which is currently stopping our place from slipping any further...

Doom!

Suresh

I hope you're going to oppose the application.

My suspicious nature leads me to ask if they wanted the original property to fall down so that they could do leverage the plot like they are trying to do now

jimmyv

yup its certainly not been unheared of, but just oppose the application, get some other locals in on the act.
not knowing the area where it is but its more than likely they will need to build something fitting and inkeeping, and as mentioned before the planners will probably relish the lack of parking spaces, looks more eco
friendly and the like, im assuming you know the builders are suitably insured, also i would suggest not being there while they are removing the supports, cr@p i know but not worth the potential risk.

GC8WRX

20 residents and 3 spaces.............that takes the ****, how are the spaces allocated, first come first served? there will be arguments over the spaces, you watch. And if it turns nasty cars WILL be keyed!

And how have the same morons who built the last place so well (so well it collasped) got a new contract, smells of a backhander to me


Typical of this fcuked up country and an example of the many reasons im considering moving to holland!

Snazy

Already been evacuated from the house once, dont wanna go through that again.

Can do without scenes like this again







As for opposing it, well yeah I was thinking about it lol.

Waiting to see what the actual images of the planned building look like first. Its interesting to hear it being referred to as a masionette, and not a block. So I guess thats a positive.

Really dont trust the clowns one bit.

Leslie

I think you will have to object Snazy and quote all the details about the previous **** up in your own defence.

Les

Snazy

The contractors doing the work, own the property development company too, so would never sack themselves Sadly!

As for the residents vrs parking... check this out.

Their current major place is this one, just about 100 yards down the road.

The construction of a three storey extension to the side and formation of a basement, incorporating light wells to the front and rear together with the alteration and conversion of 14 Waldram Park Road SE23, to provide 4 one bedroom, 2 two bedroom and 1 three bedroom self-contained flats and 2 self-contained studio units, associated landscaping, provision of a refuse store, 10 cycle spaces, 3 car parking spaces and an extended vehicular access to the front.

Do the maths on the humber of occupants there too! And this is on a main road, Red Route, so no parking outside possible. The only place they can park is my road..... and fight not only amongst the current residents, but the 20+ expected if this new one gets the go ahead!

If you want a real laugh, click this link and look at the current then proposed floor plans.. And people worry about battery HENS... What about battery Humans !
Lewisham Borough Council - Documents from Planning Application

Snazy

Very much mate, sadly they are not bothered too much about historical building reputation, more valid insurance etc

The last letter I sent was replied to but avoiding all the major issues I had raised. I think getting together with some local reisdents and going for a meeting in the planning office is a good idea though

As im off work still it gives me plenty of time to go round the neighbours

Gripes I have already from past experience are..

Working out of hours
Damage to property
Restriction of access to my property
Excessive noise and dirt
Damage to pavements outside property
Trespass
Unsafe practises
Day time HUGE fires
3 call outs of the fire brigade thanks to the above.
Blowing up gas cylinders for fun
Poor workmanship causing building to collapse
Working against planning permission
Installation of windows facing my bathroom window

Shall I go on. lol

What can we expect with them doing a whole new build, and digging MORE of the foundtions out, to put a basement in!

jimmyv

Party Wall Agreement mate, call up local surveyors and get them in on the case if your worried about it, but yes get as many like minded locals as yourself and pay a visit to the planning dept.
hope all goes well.

Snazy

There was not one in place last time. This was noticed when I called the local authorities about the cracks appearing in my house. The guys that came round said one had not been issued. before anything could be done further, the house collapsed.

Again, this is who is going to be doing the work this time, and flaunting all the rules in the face of the local authority.

Meeting time it is.

JimmyBFC

It seems you still have your sense of humour mate, tbh, without blowing my own trumpet, if Id have had to put up with all their ****e, id probably be serving a sentence at her majesty's pleasure.

A lad round our way had a fondness for having fires and covering our back windows, which the missus had cleaned that day with all their sh1te, needless to say I popped around and had a word in his shell like and funnily enough he doesn't seem to bother any mnore.

I just hate to see ppl being made mugs of and taking the p1ss, I hope you get it all sorted mate, but like you say, the council are bent as fvck, and are partial to backhanders, a friend of mine built a wall all around his house to keep the nosey snobs that live around him from snooping (without planning permission) - he then paid someone with influence 3k and suprise suprise the wall stayed.....lmao.

jimmyv

d'oh not cool, i hope you get something sorted asap.

Snazy

Cheers Jimmy's lol

Yeah got to keep a sense of humour about it all, especially with mum being ill. If I start getting upset about it, its gonna affect her.

Time to get some community spirit going round my area and try doing it that way.

Bodgit

why dont you see if you can sell your property at an over inflated price to them. They may pay well over the odds for your land. you place could become the parking for the residents.

It would safeguard yourself just incase they have a planning officer "on the payroll".

Snazy

The first thing would be, I have lived here 27 years and have no desire to move. Followed by many other reasons I guess
I cant see the plot my house is on only being used for parking either. Another 12 flats with poor parking is far more likely

PaulC72

Sorry to hear about this Snaz, bad builders give the rest a bad reputation.

You just need to keep on top of it and maybe speak to building control and planning I would also speak to your local counciller too see if they can help..

I hope you get it sorted & I don't envy you having to live next door to that when it starts even if they work normal hours {sat included} the noise, mess etc will be quite bad, if it does end up going ahead you want to discuss a few things direct to the company building them. i.e cleaning your outside, and how are they going to keep the road clean etc.

Suresh

I'd say only a builder would say that. As far as I know the majority of the population has yet to meet a good builder!

nooobyscoooby

If these characters are shoring up your house, presumably your insurance company is involved.

Your insurers will want to know what's going on - they should be paying for professional surveyors and engineers to review the current state of play and what is planned.

You need to get a good solicitor with party wall experience on obard ASAP too.

Make sure the surveyor, engineer and solicitor MEET FACE TO FACE on a REGULAR basis - you do not want to be the go-between as that is how things gets cocked up.

All of your professinoal costs should be paid for by the third party insurers. Make sure you keep accurate records to make your claims stick.

As for the development, have you considered that your house may be worth a lot more omney as a building plot than as a house.

It's all very well taking the high moral ground and saying "I'm not selling to a developer" but if your house is worth £500k as a home, but, say, £800K as a building plot, frankly you'd be an idiot not to take the TAX FREE money!

And the time to do it is NOW when your new neighbours are at the planning stage and before building as with two plots to work with, they would be able to do a lot more.

Get a couple of good estate agents in and sound them out.

PaulC72

Too true, I work in construction and the whole bad builder scenario sends waves right up through all the companies not just the general builder.

It s preception most people who are not involved with a contruction type of thing have sadly so it does have an effect, I speak to headteachers, doctors, burses and so on when we are pricing refurbs or new builds and hear all sorts it is such a shame really.

Odds on

Tell us about it.... Last time I asked for a quote from an insurance company they made out that my policy had to go up due to them not making any money last year. I don't think their bad though...

Then my bank started charging me to clear cheques as it's now a company account. I like the people that work in my local branch, so it's OK.

I asked someone who worked in an office if they thought their job was really necessary, they didn't think so...

Snazy

I think there is some confusion here..

No builders are doing ANY work on our house, nor are planned to either.
We have no intention of moving. Like the IKEA ad says about make a house a home...
This has been our home for 27 years now, and I really have no immediate interest nor plans to move. Regardless of financial compensation.

Shark Man

One would like to think that the application would get thrown out purely on that reason alone.

However, after seeing the junk thats been built near me which is pretty much like the above, it could well be approved. Seems that provison for car parking is becoming a low priority to gain planning approval. Be it public grooming to disuade buyers from using cars, or by nice backhanders to the councilors (I know in my case it was blatantly the latter ).

Iwan

+1 basically, it all starts to make sense now. I'd be livid if that went on near me.

Shark Man

Oh, just a thought...Are they NHBC registered?: if so. Report them. After the house collapse fiasco they should be struck off. Also beware there are other regulatory bodies, such as Zurich ( so make sure they know as well )

Struck off = no 10year guarantee = uninsurable building and no mortgage

Snazy

You would hope so, but based on the other one just getting the OK, clearly over crowding is the done thing these days.

yeah I realise that about the parking thing, we are near the station, so the annoying part is, the cars that half of them will actually own, will be left parked all week anyway!

Snazy

Cheers mate, worth looking into I guess. Anything is at this point. Would back down if a serious reputable company was to do the ground work. Then maybe we could strike a deal lol.

Iwan, indeed mate. The whole neighbourhood is already sick of these developers already. You can see a property they own a mile off. They trash it, then leave it for months!

Odds on

Getting struck off the NHBC register would be a 1st! They are there to protect the builder, not the client.

Dieseldog

If you want to oppose the application, you need to go through the councils 'Town Plan' with a fine tooth comb. Maybe there's something about requiring a parking space for every dwelling, or density of dwellings... Also take some pictures of the street at all times of the day, hopefully to show how difficult parking is now, let alone with another 'x' dwellings. And get together with other neighbours. You may find some useful skills to offer - legal, or knowing the editor of the local rag, or being your local MEP. Plus you get to know your neighbours better - a bit of community spirit...

Went through all this when the house opposite was sold and they put in an application for a 150 bed hotel. Couldn't believe the applicant hadn't checked the Town Plan - all it took was highlighting the areas in which he failed to meet the guidelines.

Alternatively, if you own the property net door, consider doing as Noooobyscooooby says and flog it for a premium, but if that was possible, I'd think the developers would have already contacted you...

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Re the parking - if they are a property development company they will probably just give one of the local councillors or their mate in the planning dept a bung and it will sail through.

Ridiculous really, with more and more children now staying at home, lots of houses end up with four or even five cars, often only with parking for one or two available.

They should bring in some rules for new builds that they can only build if they can provide adequate off street parking like some flat complexes do.

GU5

Parking standards state a MAXIMUM of 1 space per 1-2 bedroomed dwelling

Lewisham Council - Parking standards for vehicles

It's crazy but if they said there was to be no parking it would be very unlikely to be objected to by the Highways dept as there will be no increase in existing traffic levels. So by having three spaces they have pretty much given the Highways no reason to object, ticking off that part of the planning application.