Bubble-pop row at £2.6m home
Tycoon sues over mystery noise
A TYCOON who spent £2.6million on a luxury flat says he was kept awake by an ‘unbearable’ mystery noise.
Nazirali Tejani, 70, says a sound ‘akin to popping bubble wrap’ ran through the entire flat and woke him and his wife at night.
Other residents heard a noise but despite extensive work, Mr Tejani said its source was not found.
The businessman is now suing for more than £1million over the disturbance at the apartment in upmarket Fitzroy Place – London’s first new garden square in over a century.
The pharmaceuticals and property tycoon first complained about the noise in 2016. He says he could not live in the flat nor rent it out and it is now worth £815,000 less than he paid.
His lawyers say the noise is caused by ‘defects in the design and/or construction of the facade of the building’ which have not been resolved. His barrister, Timothy Dutton KC, said: ‘The noise occurs both day and night. It is loud enough to wake the claimant and his wife when sleeping.
‘The noise cannot be suppressed or masked and can be heard even if a television or radio is playing in the apartment and irrespective of whether internal doors are closed.
‘The noise is a loud pop or crack at irregular intervals – at its worst approximately every 15 minutes.’
In a 2018 letter Mr Tejani said: ‘The noise is unbearable and I cannot stay in the flat any longer.’
The freeholder and developer of the 289 flats on the site of the former Middlesex Hospital deny liability.
They say the noise is not caused by defects and is ‘not at a level that should wake up any occupant’.
A legal battle before a High Court judge is set to begin next month.