Residents surprised after landlord begins constructing luxurious penthouses on TOP of their flats – regardless of giving them no warning

When Sarah* went to bed in her west London apartment, the last thing she expected to wake up to was a sea of metal poles right outside her window.   

For the last six years, her top floor flat in Chiswick Village had been a stress free home, with idyllic views of the Thames and devoid of any hassle from noisy builders.

That was until developers, London Penthouse Ltd, and landlord, Colin Tett, decided to build a whole new floor of luxury penthouses right above her – supposedly without any prior warning. 

Sarah and other residents living in the surrounding 15 blocks of flats are now plagued with water leaks, noisy building works and scaffolding on a daily basis. 

They also claim the site is ‘hazardous’ and have witnessed builders peering into their homes as they work. 

The torment has become so unrelenting that six of the flats – worth between £400,000 and £650,000 before the build began – have already been put up for sale. 

But for those adamant of staying, they face having to put up with relentless noise for years on end. There are also fears the landlord is not putting in the required fire safety standards so the developers won’t have to foot the hefty bill. 

London Penthouse Ltd disagree and have instead blamed the local residents’ group for the lack of communication and promise that once the works were complete, ‘all properties within a building will see an increase in value and desirability’. 

With a private maintenance team and residents who have lived there for decades, the immaculate grounds and community atmosphere make it a rare find in the capital.

But all that is under threat because one greedy landlord has decided to add a whole new layer of flats to the blocks, so that the cute properties will officially become high rise towers – and the previous top floor ‘penthouse’ owners will be downgraded. 

Residents bought their flats with a clause in the contract saying the landlord owns the airspace and can build on top of the property. In 2021 he decided to invoke that and started building. 

On top of this are the fire safety concerns, which residents claim have been shortcut by the developers, who they say want to save on costs by not putting in the new required amount of fire exits following the Grenfell tragedy – a claim the developers strenuously deny.

Now, the close-knit community of Chiswick Village is begging the landlord to ‘do things properly’, as they told the Daily Mail that many of them had no idea the development was even going ahead. 

Indeed, one scaffolder even told us that they’d ‘never had so much stick [so many objections] to a building development as this one. It’s been a nightmare.’ 

One resident, who has rented in the village for over six years and wanted to remain anonymous, said she had no idea that the development was going to happen.  

She only realised that the long-rumoured plans for a new penthouse development were going ahead when scaffolding appeared overnight. 

‘I’ve lived here since 2019 and I hadn’t been informed about it at all. 

‘The noise is really affecting me a lot – that’s the main issue, although I also noticed that the water in my flat has gone on and off at various times.’

‘How is this legal?!’, she added.

Piyu Banerjee, 50, has just moved in and had no clue about the scale of the building work. 

She said: ‘I just moved in last weekend and the building work is very restrictive. It goes without saying that scaffolding is ugly but it’s also hazardous. 

‘The building process right outside my window is also uncomfortable – builders are looking in, etc. 

‘It’s a super old building anyway so I don’t know why they’re adding even more weight to the top. It’s not modern.’ 

The flats, which sold for an average of £449,000 according to Zoopla, were originally built in 1935-36 on former orchard land and are situated in the affluent area of Chiswick in West London.  

The six currently listed on Zoopla range from £400,000 to £650,000 for a top floor flat – which won’t be the top floor for much longer. 

The £650,000 ad listing for the three-bed and two-bathroom flat does not mention the penthouse development anywhere on the property listing. 

Instead it describes the property as ‘recently modernised and enjoying far reaching views across the landscaped communal grounds.’ 

It adds that the property is ‘designed to maximise light’ and is ‘bright and well proportioned’. 

About 40 per cent of the 280 flats are owned while the rest are rented through letting agencies.  

Designed by Charles Evelyn Simmons in 1937, the complex near to the river and the Great West Road was bought by Chiswick Village Residents Limited in 1996, which owns the freehold. 

But a bitter dispute has commenced because the development rights, owned by the landlord, were sold separately to the leaseholders’ rights. 

Director and owner Colin Tett negotiated and purchased the lease under which the new penthouses are being built in 1998 – whilst he was also the chair of the Board of Chiswick Village Residents’ Limited (CVRL). 

The other members of CVRL told the Mail they have opposed the development from the start and claim they were not given answers by either Mr Tett or London Penthouses. 

Now, the penthouse plans long feared by the resident freeholders living in the community are being commenced by the landlord – who, we are told, owns the indefinite ‘space’ above the flats. 

One young mother-of-three had just bought a top floor flat in the village, believing she would settle in to a spacious family home there with plenty of light.  

But the development, which she tells us was ‘never confirmed’, has not only devalued her property but will also cause relentless noise for years while the build directly on top of her home is being completed, she says. 

‘It’s not great at all, it’s not been handled well. The noise can start at any time. I’ve been in the village itself for nearly 16 years though. 

‘They never confirmed anything but they had planning permission for years. We didn’t get confirmation for when it started. 

‘The view from the top of my flat will be worse, definitely. There are health and safety concerns what with it being a high rise. 

‘Ultimately we care most about if they do the health and safety correctly.’ 

Indeed, it’s the rumours swirling that fire safety rules are not being followed which has residents most worried. 

After the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, which led to 72 deaths, a new Building Safety Act was passed in 2022, introducing new requirements and safety standards for high rise buildings and construction blocks. 

The act sets out certain requirements for buildings over 11 metres in height – which the Chiswick Village flats will qualify as once construction is completed. 

These requirements include fire doors at the flat entrances and on escape routes, sprinkler systems for all new residential buildings over 11 metres tall, wayfinding signage and evacuation systems. 

Many of these, residents claim, have not been adhered to, while the scaffolding was actually blocking one flat entrance when the Mail visited. 

Indeed, while the developers told the Mail that a sprinkler system will be installed in the new flats, there was no mention about the flats below.  

Those living inside the flats have been told that the new law does not apply to Chiswick Village, as a small amount of work had been done on the project before the new regulations passed into legislation. 

They told the Daily Mail they suspect the landlord is not putting in the required safety standards now so that they won’t have to foot the hefty bill that will come from having to put them in later – which will instead land at the doorstep of Chiswick Village’s long-time residents. 

Martin Weaver, 65, is chairman of the Chiswick Village Residents Limited and has lived in the village since 1988. 

He told the Daily Mail that the development is dividing the once-harmonious community, and he now fears that living in the historic community will become ‘intolerable’. 

‘The council initially refused planning permission, the landlord appealed, and the appeal was granted seven years ago. 

‘But nothing happened – then all of a sudden scaffolding appeared outside our windows. 

‘We were given a week’s notice to tell all of the other residents. The landlord was deliberately trying to divide us by doing that – and I’ve taken the brunt of all the frustration,’ Martin said. 

He told us that many residents have raised fears of robbery due to the scaffolding outside their windows too – without any CCTV or alarms provided by the developers. 

‘We’ve reported it to the council that scaffolding is up with no alarms, security, or identification of who’s doing it – we haven’t been given a number or anything. 

‘Our sanctuary has now been threatened and we’ve got no protection whatsoever. 

‘I worry that the whole building itself will become intolerable to live in – I work from home and the noise is already a lot.’ 

Martin added: ‘I’ve been fighting this for 18 years. 

‘We’ve built up so much neighbourly cohesion here for decades. 

‘We have parties on the green at Christmas for the kids, we’ve redone it all recently with the restoration, and we’re a tight-knit community who all know each other and get on well. 

‘Now potentially a lot of this will go because of the landlord’s cavalier attitude.’ 

Martin also said that they haven’t been given an end date for the build, but he believes it will take around three years.  

Other residents, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: ‘We understand that we need more housing but they have to comply with safety regulations – which we fear they’re not. 

‘Safety shouldn’t be affected by a loophole – it’s about doing it the right way and making sure it’s all safe, otherwise there’s no trust. 

‘People are trying to sell their flats now – the development is going to affect our mortgages and rent because it will devalue those top floor properties.’ 

‘It’s definitely putting people off from buying them too, because if you come here then you see the scaffolding and the noise you don’t want to stay,’ they added.  

A spokesperson for Hounslow Council said: ‘Following a review of the planning permission for the development at Chiswick Village, the Council has found no immediate breaches of planning control. 

‘The developer lawfully implemented the approved scheme before the statutory expiry date, and all pre-commencement conditions have been discharged in line with the approved details. 

‘The Council’s Planning Enforcement Team has contacted the developer to remind them of their obligations under the Construction Environmental Management Plan and will continue to monitor the site to ensure ongoing compliance.’ 

The council added: ‘In parallel, the Council’s Building Control’s role is to ensure that the correct procedures and transitional arrangements are being followed, and that we have confidence the design meets a reasonable safety standard.  

‘The Council’s Building Control Service is actively engaging with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) and London Fire Brigade to ensure that the works are taking place in line with the regulations. 

‘Where residents raise concerns, these are taken seriously and investigated in line with planning, building and environmental regulations.’ 

The developers were contacted for comment. 

In a 1,500 word response, London Penthouse strenuously denied the claims of residents. 

Among other rebuttals, they said fire safety was not being shortcut, that there had never been water leaks caused by their building, and that scaffolding alarms will be installed.

They also claimed that it was the leaseholders and the managers of the village who had not passed updates about the development on to residents. 

London Penthouse told the Mail that the construction period will be 18 months ‘for the current phase of works’ and denied that the top floor flats would lose value after another floor was added.

‘Generally, once we complete a development all properties within a building will see an increase in value and desirability,’ they said.

Regarding fire safety, the firm said that it was the responsibility of freeholders to register new high rise buildings on completion and that all works will comply with the relevant fire safety regulations. 

*This name has been changed.