A furious homeowner in Hertfordshire claims her Victorian house has been plunged into near-permanent darkness and left freezing cold after council planners approved a controversial new-build property constructed just inches from her living room window.
A Decade-Long Planning Battle Ends in Defeat
Marilyn Devonish, 56, fought plans to develop a narrow sliver of land beside her semi-detached home on Estcourt Road in Watford for over a decade. For years, Watford Borough Council rejected applications for the site, which was once used as access to a workshop.
However, in 2024, officials approved a scheme for a part single, part two-storey home. The construction, which began in March 2025, has now resulted in a new property being built directly in front of Ms Devonish's main living room window.
The development has effectively turned her £425,000 Victorian semi into more of a terraced house, with a gap of less than ten feet at the front and an extremely narrow space at the rear.
'Pitch Black' Living Room and a Home Turned 'Freezer'
The impact on Ms Devonish's home has been severe. She states that her once bright living room is now almost pitch black, forcing her to use artificial light even during the day. She claims the loss of sunlight has made her home around 10 degrees colder.
"My home has been plunged into near-permanent darkness," the hypnotist and neurolinguistic coach told the Daily Mail. "What was once the brightest room in the house is now almost pitch black... This winter has been brutal."
She reports needing to run her heating for up to 17 hours a day to achieve a basic level of warmth, also resorting to plug-in heaters. Furthermore, she has endured kitchen flooding which she believes is linked to the neighbouring development.
Privacy 'Shattered' and Council's Controversial Approval
Beyond the loss of light and warmth, Ms Devonish says her privacy has been completely shattered. Despite assurances, the new build features four floor-to-ceiling glass doors that open directly towards her living room.
In one alarming incident, she walked naked from her bathroom to her bedroom only to find a workman standing a few feet away on a glass-roofed terrace, looking straight at her. "It's beyond stressful, it's actually sort of violating," she said.
Planning experts had previously warned any proposal would need an "exceptional" design to overcome privacy and light issues. The council's own approval report acknowledged the harm, noting the loss of light and outlook would leave her living room feeling enclosed and affect its reasonable enjoyment.
Nevertheless, planners ruled this "moderate" harm was outweighed by the need to build more homes, stating the scheme made "efficient use of vacant land". Ms Devonish, a former Liberal Democrat councillor, accuses the authority of sacrificing existing residents to meet housing targets.
In response, Councillor Glen Saffery, Portfolio Holder for Planning, said the council must determine applications in line with national planning legislation and policy, highlighting the "difficult constraints" councils operate under.
The planning agent for the applicant argued the project was "designed to have minimal impact" and that slatted fence panels would shield the effect of the glass doors.
