Greenwich residents fight developer over noisy flats

Angry residents of the Greenwich Millennium Village have hit out at the housebuilding industry after suffering catastrophic noise problems with their flats.

Alan Jones, a flatowner in the village, said that the problem was impact sound. He said: “I can hear any movement upstairs amplified as in a drum; the frame creaks as well. I can even hear the neighbours above the people above me. If our neighbours have a dinner party we go out – I’d rather sleep on a friend’s floor for the night.”

The residents have become so frustrated with their dealings with consortium developer Greenwich Millennium Village Ltd, which include Countryside Properties, that they have set up their own pressure group, called the Core Four Collective and taken their case to local MP Nick Raynsford.

The case could have implications for Part E of the Building Regulations, which deals with sound insulation, as experts argue that the standards for impact resistance within developments are not stringent enough.

A Core Four Collective spokesperson said: “We are deeply dissatisfied with the product we have bought, the treatment we received from the builder and the attention given by [warranty provider] NHBC.”

Nick Raysford has taken up the case and agreed noise levels in the apartments were unacceptable. He told Building: “The noise penetration was far greater than I would have expected from a new building constructed to current standards.”

The residents refused to back down after developer Greenwich Millennium Village commissioned acoustic tests demonstrating that the block passed the requirements of the Building Regulations. However the residents demonstrated that GMVL had not carried out the tests to British Standards and commissioned their own that showed that the flats had failed to comply with Part E.

Alan Cherry, chairman of Countryside Properties and GMVL, said it had taken time because of the complexity of the problem and the nature of the investigations. He said: “It has led to a series of findings and recommendations. We have made it very clear we are facing up to this problem. Whatever the problems are they will be dealt with to everybody’s satisfaction.”

NHBC said its investigations had revealed some of the homes did not meet Part E because part of the floor construction had been omitted, and it had also instructed the builder to carry out further investigations and remedial work. It said it would continue its involvement until the homes satisfied the NHBC Technical Standards.