Neighbour running a business from home: customers, vans and noise, what can you do?

The neighbours have opened a hair salon in the front room, a workshop in the garage, a nail bar, a therapy practice or an online shop with a courier van outside every day. For them it is a dream come true and simply their work. For you it may mean customers ringing the bell all day, your drive blocked, a machine humming through the wall or the smell of hairspray drifting through your open window.

Why a neighbour's home business feels so sensitive

Working from home is completely normal, and most home businesses go unnoticed. It gets difficult when the business grows or when the activity spills outside: onto the pavement, into the street and into the air. Common issues are:

• Parking and traffic. Customers hunt for a space, park on the pavement or across your drive and slam car doors.

• Deliveries. A van loading and unloading every morning.

• Noise. A workshop, a hairdryer, a saw or a compressor, often at set times and sometimes in the evening or on Saturdays.

• Smells. Hairspray, nail polish, paint or cooking smells that drift into your home.

Your neighbours usually don't see it. They are indoors and don't hear their own machine as a nuisance.

Raise it kindly

Start with a conversation, not with the council. Say that you understand it is their work, describe specifically what you notice and ask for one realistic change:

"I can see the salon is doing well, that's great! I have noticed that customers often park across our drive, so sometimes I can't get out. Could you ask them to keep it clear?"

Avoid words like 'illegal' or 'you're not allowed to do that'. Whether it is allowed is for the council to decide; you just want your home to stay liveable.

What you can ask for and agree

Don't ask for the business to close. Ask for arrangements that make the difference:

• Set hours for customers, for example weekdays between 9 am and 6 pm and not on Sundays.

• Parking on their own drive or in an agreed spot, with driveways kept clear.

• Grouped deliveries or deliveries at one set time, not before 8 am.

• Extraction or a closed window where there are smells.

• Machinery only in the daytime and on an anti-vibration mat.

• A sign, so that customers don't ring your bell.

Agree a date to check together whether it helps, and ask your neighbours to tell their customers about the arrangements.

What do the rules say in England?

Running a business from home does not usually need planning permission as long as the house remains mainly a private home. Permission is likely to be needed if there is a 'material change of use': for example if the business causes a marked rise in traffic or callers, involves activities unusual in a residential area, or disturbs neighbours at unreasonable hours or through noise or smells. The council's planning enforcement team can investigate a possible breach and, where appropriate, take action.

A tenancy agreement, lease or mortgage may also contain terms about running a business from the property. Noise or smells from a business can be a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 if they unreasonably and substantially interfere with the use of your home, but a few customers a day rarely is. This article is general information, not legal advice; always check your own council's guidance on working from home.

Keep a log

Each time, note the date, start and end time and what you saw, heard or smelt: how many customers or vans, where they were, what noise or smell and what the effect on you was. Do not record number plates or customers' names, and no decibels you measured yourself. Note quiet days and arrangements that worked too.

In practice

A log is useful, but the council decides on its own evidence. In Warwickshire, a resident complained for years about a neighbour's car repair business run from home: noise, fumes and blocked driveways. The council considered his diary records and made 15 site visits, but did not find enough evidence of a material change of use. The Local Government Ombudsman found in 2022 that the council had handled it properly (source: Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Warwick District Council). The lesson: the formal route is slow and uncertain, while an arrangement with your neighbours can work next week.

If you can't solve it together

• Try community mediation. A neutral mediator helps get the conversation going again; many councils offer or fund a service.

• Ask the council's planning department. They can tell you whether the business may need permission and can investigate a complaint.

• Report noise or smells to the council's environmental health team, and check the lease or house rules if you live in a block of flats.

Help with the first message

The CalmNotes pack for a neighbour's business from home gives you editable example messages about hours, parking, deliveries and noise, with a reminder and a third message if nothing changes, guidance on the rules and a log. Read more on our page about neighbours running a business from home.

Choose a suitable next step

Free incident diary — Record incidents, contact and agreements.

Prepare your records and request for help — Organise your information and prepare a request for help.

Find support — Find out who may be able to help with your situation.