02-07-2025
We live next to eyesore cottage covered in scaffolding for 5 YEARS with rubbish strewn across garden – we're sick of it
NEIGHBOURS who live next to an eyesore cottage which has been covered in scaffolding for five years and rubbish litters the garden, say they are sick of it.
The property dubbed 'Scaffold House' by angry locals is at the centre of a five-year-long planning row for its messy building work.
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The house on Letton Road in Shipdham, Norfolk, has been undergoing renovations since 2020.
Owner Margaret Smith predicted the works to replace ceilings and the roof would run until 2030.
However neighbours have repeatedly complained to Breckland Council that the home is an eyesore with building material strewn across the garden.
Now, the row - which has been running almost as long as the scaffolding has been up - has seen government inspectors drafted in to resolve it.
If they rule against Ms Smith she could be forced to take it all down.
The renovation of the detached two-bedroom house in Letton Road started soon after Ms Smith purchased it for £185,000 in 2020.
The scaffolding has been a prominent feature of the street in the past five years and locals quickly became irritated by the new view from their gardens.
Breckland Council received an enforcement complaint in 2021 but the investigation into the property was dropped the following year.
This was on the basis that materials were being temporarily stored at the property for the purposes of renovating it.
However, the complaint was reopened in 2023 due to an increase in the amount of materials being stored and a reconsidered view that these items 'go beyond' what would be required for building works.
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The authority decided to take full enforcement action in January this year and ordered Ms Smith to remove debris and materials from the property by November.
Ms Smith has appealed this to the Planning Inspectorate, the government body which rules in planning disputes and has the power to overturn the notice issued by the council.
Ms Smith, who works for mental health services in the NHS, said she enjoys DIY in her spare time and undertook the project herself in order to "keep costs down".
Due to work commitments, she said the time she has to work on the property is limited.
A statement to the Planning Inspectorate said: "Furthermore, due to increases in the cost of living, mortgage payments, labour and materials, the renovation project has not yet been able to have been completed.
"It has also involved much more work than was initially anticipated."
The renovation works already completed include a new boundary fence, windows, chimneys, ceilings and radiators.
But the majority of works are still yet to be completed.
Ms Smith wants to replace the ceilings in the bathroom and dining room, fit ceilings to the bedroom and kitchen and repair the roof.
She also wants to replace the front and rear porches, put in pathways and a driveway, fit a new kitchen and bathroom, and replace the downstairs floorboards.
In 2022, she predicted the works would be completed by 2030.
While some neighbours complained to the council, describing the property as an "extreme eyesore" and a "dreadful" view from their gardens, others are less phased.
Emma Farrow, who lives near the house, said: "I don't have a clue what they're doing but it doesn't affect me.
"It has been like that since I moved in and I've got used to it."
Dave Gray-Taylor said: "It's their own place and they're doing it up at their own pace.
"The scaffold house has become a bit of a landmark."
Joan Bartlett, however, said immediate neighbours had become "fed up".
"The scaffolding has been there for so long it's taken root," she added.
The Planning Inspectorate will hold a hearing in due course to consider Ms Smith's argument and the case presented by the council.
It will decide whether to uphold the enforcement notice or throw it out and allow Ms Smith to leave the property as it is.
She has declined to comment.
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