Allowing neighbour to put scaffolding on my drive?

tomstickland

Grumpelstiltskin wrote: »

He has asked if I would be prepared to let him put scaffolding on my drive whilst he does the work. I have said straight away no, I want to be able to get my car into my garage at the back of my house and basically although I want rid of the eyesore the neglected house has become I don't want any hassle.

Why are you being so obstructive?
It would be better to take a more constructive and positive approach, but also seek some sort of compensation for your inconvenience.

cheekyweegit

Just another thought, you do realise you will need to inform both your buildings and contents insurance providers you have scaffolding up if you do decide to go ahead as this increases the risk unfortunately for crimes such as burglary. Think of a burglar breaking a window / forcing one open on an upper level which they suddenly have access to thanks to your neighbours scaffolding. Repairs to the window would be a claim off your buildings insurance and the contents well is self explanatory.

Failure to inform your insurance companies might invalidate your insurance and thus make any claim as a result null and void and you will be out of pocket in more ways than one.

I live in a council house and the roof was getting replaced, but I still had to phone my insurance company to let them know when the scaffolding was erected and again when dismantled. It luckily didn't affect my premium, but in some cases it might. You could ask your neighbour to pay the difference in any premium or make enquiries to your insurance companies as to whether it would make a difference or not.

Good luck and hope all goes well.

Grumpelstiltskin

Guys Thanks for all the information.
I know now what I need to do and what I need to say to him next time he comes round.
BTW I am not a southerner, but I am a woman living on my own so you see I don't want or need any hassle.
The house BTW was sold by auction, ( now why are houses often sold by auction?) in this case there are potentially problems with the ground the house was built on, he said he hadn't even been inside it and when I told him of the pitfalls I don't think he even fully understood what he had bought.
I can see it being easy to demolish the property, but getting another one built may be more problematic. ( I do speak from practical experience on that) so I will go in prepared and see what happens.
Thanks again.

misgrace

Grumpelstiltskin wrote: »

Guys Thanks for all the information.
I know now what I need to do and what I need to say to him next time he comes round.
BTW I am not a southerner, but I am a woman living on my own so you see I don't want or need any hassle.
.

I am a southerner, not a grumpy one either, just one that is realistic, and a female to boot.:D

I feel that the above poster has every right to be concerned,and this is why she has to have things in black and white.

Very good point from 'cheekyweegit', thats another thing you have to take into consideration.

I just feel it in my bones that its going to go pear shape if she allows the scaffolding without any safeguards, call me pessamistic or whatever you want, but I have dealt with so many trades over the years, that I have lost confidence with the majority of them,specially when work is being done on the exterior of the house, and the funny thing is, as some of you know is that I am in the trade myself, but I know first hand what goes on, with the majority of them.

I just want Grumpel to be armed with as much info and help, and a lot of you have given her that.:D

tomstickland

The best way of avoiding hassle to to have an open communication with the person who's bought the house. Clearly explain your concerns, but also be prepared to colloborate in allowing him to get the project completed with the minimum fuss. Either way there's going to be some disruption and it'd be much better to be regarded as a good neighbour as opposed to a nuisance.

wallbash

We ALL want the best for the OP , but as tomstickland posts , its down to communication.

slummymummyof3

So long as you make the building owner aware that you know that he will need the PWA, he will not be able to pull the wool over your eyes and you can be assured that the surveyor(s) will protect you both. It might be that he is unaware that he will need the PWA or it could be possible that he thhinks he can just do the work and you won't be any the wiser. The PWA cannot be done retrospectively. However, by communicating with the building owner, a lot can be achieved!

darich

i'd contact the council and tell them he's building without permission.
What happened to "neighbour notifications"??
What he's doing is building without permission and hope the council will be less likely to tell him to take it down than they would be if he asked before building. The council have enforcement officers who look after this type of thing.
There is no such thing as being told verbally it is ok - he must have drawings and the council will only give permission if the proper procedures are followed.

justontime

I was in a very similar situation several years ago, the next door house that bordered my drive was being renovated. I wasn't over the moon about months of building work, but I was pleasant and accommodating with the builder. It didn't involve scaffolding on my property but it did overhang my drive. During the time the works were going on I got 4 punctures because they were doing work on the pavement and they left nails and stuff in the gutter at the end of my drive. That cost me a new tyre each time! There were several incidents with intruders climbing up the scaffolding causing me worry and a lot of wasted time, and it frightened my young children. Then someone climbed the scaffolding and started throwing white gloss paint about (left out by the builder), it went all over my 6 month old Ford Galaxy. The builder was not interested, I investigated suing him but it would have been expensive and exhausting and not guaranteed to succeed. My insurance paid up except for the excess, but it damaged my no claims and my insurance went up significantly the following year.


I am not a miserable southerner, at the time I had just been widowed and I really didn't need the aggravation. I would strongly advise that you talk your situation through with a solicitor and get everything done properly.

Mr_Warren_2

meester wrote: »

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

in Geordieland my good lady, people do talk to each other and people are known to be friendly. if a new neighbour arrived and asked me that question, i would have negotiated with them as discussed in this forum and i see many answers similar to mine. we do have a couple of grumpy ladies around, one who owns a derelict house (not lived in) that caused much problems to her next door family when said family wanted to errect a conservatory. Mind she is 73 and suffering from slight dementia.....and she is from the South too.