Allowing neighbour to put scaffolding on my drive?

paddy's_mum

For what it's worth, I think the question of allowing scaffolding, or not as the case may be, is of far less importance than (as slummymummy points out) making sure that the provisions of the Party Wall Act are carried out.

Unless your new neighbour is known to be an okay chap, I suspect that I would be investing some money in seeking the advice of a good lawyer, as well as finding out all I could via books, web and other peoples' experiences so that at least I would be aware of some of the pitfalls. I would recommend that you do your homework before so much as a brick is knocked down next door. Good luck.

misgrace

Iguana wrote: »

I am not a legal expert, but who is responsible for insurance/liability if someone on the scaffolding/errecting the scaffolding/doing the building work has an accident when it is on your land?

I agree with the above poster, as having the scaffold on your drive can lead to problems, specially if you have gun-ho builders who have no care.
First it will be the scaffolding, then the boards, then thier tools, ladders etc, could leave stuff lying around when they go home, so when you come in, you cant get your car in or out, also they could well end up using your drive as a spare dumping ground, this is from experience that happened to a very good friend of mine.

I am not saying this will be the case, but like the OP say, get some agreement drawn up, even just to protect yourself.

Mr_Warren_2

I cannot believe what i am reading. A new neighbour arrives in the area, all happy to have bought his/her dream house, needs some work done (well a lot of work) to said house, asks you for your permission to partially errect a structure on your site ....and you just say no ???? I guess you live in the South of England, that would figure ! Don,t expect a Christmas card or invite to the celebrations when the house is built.
I agree that you want access to your garage so why don,t you say yes to the proviso that you have access to your garage entrance? Get a contract sorted out as it won,t cost much in solicitor,s fees and am sure new people would be happy to cover the costs.

meester

Mr_Warren wrote: »

I cannot believe what i am reading. A new neighbour arrives in the area, all happy to have bought his/her dream house, needs some work done (well a lot of work) to said house,

Er, don't you think, before spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on a house, you'd best find out first whether it would be ok?

Like, 'Knock knock knock Hello, I'm Mr.Warren, I'm thinking about buying the house next door and spending the next nine months causing all kinds of noise and disturbance and I'd also like to block access to your garage for that time, will this be ok?' 'No' 'Ok, I'll come up with something else.

asks you for your permission to partially errect a structure on your site ....and you just say no ???? I guess you live in the South of England, that would figure !

I guess you're some presumptuous geordie who acts first and asks questions later, that figures.

oilit

Mr_Warren wrote: »

I cannot believe what i am reading. A new neighbour arrives in the area, all happy to have bought his/her dream house, needs some work done (well a lot of work) to said house, asks you for your permission to partially errect a structure on your site ....and you just say no ???? I guess you live in the South of England, that would figure ! quote]

I must admit - I thought the same, I would have expected the response to have been 'let me think about it' (and I am a grumpy southerner !!!!)

Anyways regardless of that, issues to consider:

1) all of above

2) Daily/weekly clearing of your drive of any debris that has dropped through the scaffold boards
3) Tell your house buildings insurance /ask them if they have any requests (I found that my insurance company insisted on seeing contract and asked for a copy of the builders third party liability insurance)
4) You shoudl tell your car insurance company if you are changing where you park it - and explain any additional costs to the neighbour and state that as a result of your allowing them - additional costs for you are a,b,c and on the proviso of a suitable agreed timescale, contract and reimbursement of your costs then the answer is whatever you want it to be (yes/no)

My only other comment is that I personally woudl try to be accomodating assuming they are going to live there - you never know you might get that wall repaired by them for nothing - or if nothing else your improving the value of your property by doing nothing if the existing structure is so bad.

wallbash

another [strike]grumpy[/strike] southerner

I have bought wrecks in the past :rolleyes: never thought about checking with the neighbours for permission, location and price was my only thought.

The neighbour was considerate enough to knock on your door and explain what he wanted to do , discussed his problem i.e access
Would have thought a bit of understanding was called for.
The house next door is
quote eyesore the neglected house
If you want to remedy that situation , compromise you must !
( but by al means take some of the precautions already posted)

meester

wallbash wrote: »

another [strike]grumpy[/strike] southerner

I have bought wrecks in the past :rolleyes: never thought about checking with the neighbours for permission, location and price was my only thought.

I wouldn't ask either. Providing of course my multi-hundred thousand pound investment can be realised without their permission!

You'd be off your rocker to buy a house right up next to another without making sure of access.

slummymummyof3

The PWA is to facilitate the works to go ahead and as the adjoining owner you cannot prevent it going ahead once planning has been obtained. In all honesty, planning will take 6-8 weeks and the PWA will take a minimum of a month for the notices to run (1 month notice for 3-6 metre notice and where the foundations are likely to be deeper than the adjoining neighbours). In some cases a notice may need to be issued for demolition of the wall - if the adjoining neighbour is making use of the wall for say the support of a structure - however, the building owner would still be able to demolish the wall as far as the height of the structure. It would be a surveyor not a solicitor who would draw up the access agreement if it was not included in the award.

smitchy73

I would explain your worries to your neighbour, then if necessary ask the builder to make sure there was access to your garage, I couldn't see why a scaffolding structure couldn't be build in the shape of a small tunnel, or built up to a certain level to allow your car to pass underneath, depending on space obviously, you may find the demolition wouldn't involve any scaffolding and if would only be when it is being built, and once the initial framework is built they would need the scaffolding for the brickwork, then when that side is done the scaffolding could be removed from the side, also make sure the overhang from the roof isn't infringing on your property either, and of course ensure that everything is cleaned on a regular basis, especially nails, screws sharp things that might getg your tyres on the driveway!!

andrew-b

I can understand the reluctance (being another grumpy southerner myself of course lol) if you do lose vehicular access to your garage plus the car insurance issues if your car should it get damaged by vandals etc and of course no one likes the inconvenience, noise and mess of building works right on their doorstep. But i think you may be best to go have a word with the neighbour and rebuild your bridges and explain what led to your initial answer of no but that you've thought about it and are willing to compromise and come to some sort of agreemenet. It would be easy to make things really awkward for them but at the end of the day you won't gain much except make an enemy of your neighbour and string the rebuilding out for far longer. It's far nicer to have neighbours that you get on with! Also if you get on well they may be more willing to discuss their plans with you and allow you to have some input on the appearance of the side wall.

Find out what his intentions are and how long he expects the scaffold to be there. As pointed out it might be possible to build scaffolding over your drive in such a way you could drive under it. Or maybe they could use a moveable scaffold tower or platform lift that could be moved out the way to allow you to park your car in the garage overnight.

I would ask, although you appreciate they will do their best to look after your property, that they accept responsibility for any damage to your driveway itself. A brick or tool dropped from a height could easily damage the driveway or go through a manhole cover etc.

I think you will have to make some compromises i'm afraid but remember it won't be forever.

Andy