The builders next door are ruining our retirement! Pensioners fume over neighbours’ 17 MONTH renovation

• EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Kalman, 76, and wife Margaret, 73, say life is unbearable
• Noise causing couple to contemplate to sell their house in Salford, Manchester  

More than a year of drilling and hammering through the walls of a neighbour’s home is making an elderly couple’s life unbearable.

Daniel Kalman, 76, and his wife of 50 years Margaret, 73, hoped to spend their retirement bedded down in the haven of their picturesque 1930s family home where they have lived for the last 37 years but are now considering selling up.

But the grandparents say they are forced to spend whole days out of their own house to escape the hellish noise. 

Their once peaceful lives in the tranquil neighbourhood where they raised their children has become miserable since new owners bought the next door property in Limefield Road, Salford, Greater Manchester, for £650,000 in May 2022.

They have not been able to invite friends and family to their house for the last 17 months and often spend whole days away because of the pounding noise which vibrates through their home from 8am. 

But builders say they have done nothing wrong and have kept within the law.  

Daniel Kalman, 76, and his wife of 50 years Margaret, 73, have had to live with the hellish noise of hammering and drilling pounding through their walls in Limefield Road, Salford, for 17 months

The grandparents’ once peaceful lives in the tranquil neighbourhood where they raised their children has become unbearable since new owners bought the neighbouring property

Mrs Kalman at times physically shakes and ‘feels like jelly’ because of the grating pummelling sounds as she suffers with misophonia – an incurable condition, brought to the public eye by This Morning host Ruth Langsford, where noises trigger a strong emotional reaction, usually anger, anxiety or disgust.

She paid for a letter from her GP to confirm her condition in the hopes it would put some weight behind their objections to the council, while her concerned husband even bought her industrial ear plugs but they made no difference.  

Land registry documents show the title deeds in the name of Deborah Benoliel who runs fashion website Accessory World, with stores in Manchester, Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, and Golders Green and Stamford Hill in London.

It is understood she is yet to move into the property, with her husband Moishe Kaye who is often seen at the building site, and his brother Yankel – also known as Jack – said to be overseeing the works through project management company May. 

Steel fences surround the property while a monkey puzzle tree and hedges which adorned the edge of the home have been chopped down. 

Nine planning applications have so far been submitted for renovation works of which seven have been decided on by Salford City Council. 

The green light was given to extend the bottom and first floors and side of the home, as well as a loft conversion which included tearing down the garage. 

They have not been able to invite friends and family to their house and often spend whole days away to escape the noise

The home was bought for £650,000 in May 2022 and renovation works began that July, with nine planning applications being submitted to the council

The green light was given to extend the bottom and first floors and side of the home, as well as a loft conversion which included tearing down the garage

The brickwork completed on the home shows some gaps. Two more blueprints are yet to be decided on which detail plans to extend the rear of the property and erect an outbuilding

The latest planning applications have been met with fierce opposition with a total of more than 800 objections

Two more blueprints are yet to be decided on which detail plans to extend the rear of the property and build an outbuilding. They have been met with fierce opposition with more than 800 objections across both applications. 

The Kalmans concede no illegal activity has taken place but their pleas through WhatsApp messages to start the works later have fallen on death ears with ugly rows erupting between the warring neighbours.

The couple say they have now had their number blocked by Jack Kaye after Mrs Kalman sent a number of messages complaining about the noise. 

Semi-retired osteopath Mr Kalman told MailOnline: ‘I don’t object to whatever they are doing, that’s their business. But they’ve intruded on our lives for seventeen months now with incessant noise. Between pile driving and drilling, which goes on and on, we’ve had to leave the house just to get away.’

The winter months mean they are now ‘trapped in their home’ with the couple not wishing to venture outside into the cold, and Mrs Kalman says the ‘intolerable’ noise is ‘driving me mad’. 

Speaking from her home with the drilling noises heard in the background, she said: ‘Now we are sitting in a room far away from where the noise is coming and it’s very very disturbing in here. It’s very distressing for me.’

They have now been ‘driven’ to call in estate agents with the view of putting their home on the market – a heartbreaking decision they are finding hard to comprehend. 

‘We’ve got a beautiful home here and we are very comfortable here but we are being driven bonkers by this,’ Mr Kalman said. 

Mrs Kalman suffers with misophonia at times physically shakes and ‘feels like jelly’ because of the grating pummelling sounds

Steel fences surround the property while a monkey puzzle tree and hedges which adorned the edge of the home have been chopped down

The Kalmans are now considering putting their home of 37 years on the market saying they are being ‘driven’ to it because of the building works

Project manager Jack Kaye has hit back claiming the site closes at 4.30pm, although he does have some sympathy for the couple

‘I think it would be quite heart-breaking to leave this house. We’ve got our personal stamp on it in every way.’ 

The semi-detached homes were built by the Home Office to house the Strangeways’ prison doctor and chaplain.   

Project manager Jack Kaye has hit back claiming the site closes at 4.30pm, although he does have some sympathy for the couple. 

‘She (the neighbour) is an older lady and has medical problems, so noise bothers her,’ he said.

‘Salford Council has inspected a couple of times and said we are doing everything right.

‘She requested that we don’t start drilling until 10am but I had twelve tradesmen on site at that point and that would have cost me a full day’s work.

‘I feel bad for her but she began leaving non-stop harassing messages. I asked her to stop but she didn’t, so it got to the point where I had to block her number.

‘We work within the law. We don’t work late into the evening or at weekends. These are totally unfounded allegations.

‘We have tried our best but at this point her requests are unreasonable and we have to agree to disagree. I will continue to get the job done.’

One neighbour said: ‘They have been working on the property for a long time, but it does look like a full renovation.

‘I can hear a bit of noise but that is to be expected because it is a building site.

‘Their house is attached to the one being renovated so any noise will probably vibrate through the walls. The drilling there is probably quite noisy.

‘I don’t find it too bad, but I don’t live next door.’

Another added: ‘She is probably angry because the builders have not backed down.

‘What would they rather have? A house that is derelict and failing into disrepair or a nice house that doesn’t lower the value of his property?

‘I bet they’d be the first to complain is it was abandoned, and their house started to get damp.’

While a third said: ‘What if it was their house being renovated? Would they agree to start mid-morning which meant it would take longer to finish? I not sure they would.’

Salford City Council has been contacted for comment.  

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