Angry bungalow owners feel like they are “living in a box” after new houses were built on land behind their gardens.
Residents in Hythe Road in Dymchurch, Kent are calling for the properties to be demolished before anyone moves in.
But the local council says no further action can be taken if the three-bed, two-storey houses had approved planning permission.
Maureen Field, 80, who has lived with her husband John, 87, in their bungalow for more than 60 years, said: “It’s a monstrosity.”
“Everywhere we go in our garden, we are overlooked. We would like them demolished, but we know that will not be the case.
“So we just want to make sure that this builder realises the strong feelings of all these people around here and what it’s done to our mental and physical health, because it’s like living in a box, having these facing you.
“We feel we’ve been let down by the council and the inspectorate.”
The plans submitted for the homes in 2020 received a number of objections and were refused by a Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) planning committee a year later.
Six councillors voted to reject the proposals, while two were in favour and four abstained.
However, the plans then given a green light a year later after an appeal.
The Planning Inspectorate ruled that “any impact on both outlook and privacy would be limited”.
Planning inspector Martin Andrews concluded that the new homes “would not cause harm to the living conditions for the occupiers of neighbouring dwellings as regards outlook and privacy”.
The inspector also noted that the FHDC planning officer’s report said the proposed layout “does not present any serious concerns in regards to the impacts on these properties”.
For those residents whose back gardens face the houses, Mr Andrews said there would be “some slight sense of enclosure” but that the gaps between the old and new properties were large enough.
The inspector was also not satisfied that flood risk was a reason for refusal, stating that procedures to assess the risk were sound and followed government advice.
But Peter Johnson, who lives just 26 metres away from the site, is another local who remains concerned.
The 73-year-old said: “The flooding has been tremendous. Our property and garden were flooded.”
“So it is a flood risk area, but the new houses won’t be flooded because they’re two metres up in the air.”
The residents campaigning against the new-builds are being supported by Romney Marsh ward councillor Tony Cooper.
The Labour member said: “These residents deserve a remedy.”
“I’m hoping that the district council will consider implementing planning enforcement because it is stark and so obviously overbearing, denying its neighbours privacy.”
But a FHDC spokesperson said: “This application was refused by the local planning authority but allowed on appeal by the Secretary of State.”
“No further action can be taken so long as it is built in accordance with the approved details.”
