EXCLUSIVE We lived happily in our house for years... but a horrendous decision from our neighbour has cost us £50k - we've been forced out

Daily Mail​

25-05-2025

A couple have been left distraught after their neighbours house started to be turned into an HMO - which left people defecating in an alleyway near their home and knocked £50k off their house.
Roger Brown, 67, and his wife Gail, 64, have been plagued with weeks of builders leaving them feeling unsafe and at their wits' end.
The couple, from Shepperton, Sunbury-on-Thames, have lived in their three-bedroom terraced house in a residential street for 45 years.
Now they fear the neighbourhood of local families could be torn apart by outsiders moving into a house of multiple occupancy (HMO).
As contractors work to transform their next door house, the couple are constantly fighting against disappearing tools, ruined views and even people defecating in the alleyway near their family home.
Roger told MailOnline: 'They stole ladders from my garden to use. They have been going down in the alleyway and doing their business there, both ways. They are sh**ting out here.'
He said he and his wife's lives have been turned upside down and hit out at the council for failing to protect them as they confessed they can barely work they're so worried.
But there appears to be no easy way out for the couple, who claim they are being forced to sell up their much-loved home, losing a small fortune in the process.
Roger, a health and safety trainer, added: 'Work started [but] we had been given no notification. It's being turned into a six-bedroom HMO.
'They have been working there [for] three weeks. They have extended the downstairs now it blocks out the light.
And while the change of view is upsetting the 67-year-old, Roger revealed a more horrific reality that is upsetting both himself and his wife.
Roger slammed the local authorities and said they have been unsupportive.
He said: 'The council has been next to useless. We are very stressed over all this. We don't know who will be living here. It's horrendous.'
Because of the disruption, Roger says he and Gail are considering moving but are concerned about the impact on their house price - another worry that is too much to take for the hexagenarians.
The health and safety worker said: 'We are going to sell. We are being forced out. An estate agent said we will lose £50,000.
'My wife won't feel safe because we don't know who we will be living next to.
'We were in shock. We felt sick. My work is suffering because of the stress I'm going through.
'We have been totally let down. It's wrong. They cut through an expensive fence. All those things add up. It's too much to bear and we don't need it in our time of life.'
A Spelthorne Borough Council spokeswoman said: 'The work is being overseen by an Approved Inspector not Spelthorne Borough Council's building control team. Unfortunately, this means the Council cannot intervene from a building control point of view.
'A planning enforcement officer visited the premises but based on the evidence his view was that it would fall within permitted development rights.
'The officer therefore advised that no action could be taken from a planning perspective and that this would also apply to a change of use to an HMO (planning permission is not required).
'The Council was later advised by an Approved Inspector of works that the enlarged property will be used for a six-unit HMO.
'This does not need planning permission but will need an HMO licence. The Council's Environmental Health team has sent out an application pack, but no application has been received yet.
'Unfortunately, the legislation does not allow for public consultation on HMO licence applications or for neighbours to comment or object.
'In January 2025, the Council's planning committee approved an Article 4 direction to withdraw permitted development rights for change of use to HMOs across all wards in the borough.
'However, this will not come into effect until at least the beginning of next year. Going forward this means planning permission will be needed for HMOs but will not prevent applications being submitted or being granted or allowed on appeal.
'The issue with regards the lack of toilet facilities for the workers has been addressed.'