Neighbours and building over our boundary

LilacPixie

where is scotland is it?? I like to be nosey. To be honest i would totally walk away. The neighbours don't sound nice. Really who would remove a neighbours fence without asking permission??

RobertoMoir

It could be an honest mistake on the part of these 'nice neighbours'. It's funny, though, how the mistakes in these cases nearly always seem to be in favour of the people making them.

At best you're going to be buying a house next door to people who go after what they want without paying due attention to what they do and who have a track record in making "mistakes" in their favour that trample on others.

I've lost the address but there's another website that deals with house, land law, rights of way, planning permission and that kind of thing and they have forum after forum of stuff that starts with this kind of "mistake" over an extension or a fence and ends in something not far short of open warfare. (might have been http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/phpBB2/index.php)

ad9898_3

This thread is a wind up surely, no one in their right mind would buy a house with this situation hanging over it, especially in this market.

Got to be a wind up, if not, I would just like to say, you have won the Nigerian National Lottery, send me a cheque for 10k, (admin fee:D) and I will whisk your winning cheque to you, it's for £5 million.

jackieb

I'm in Scotland and when we applied for planning permission for an extension earlier this year, our extension had to be at least 1 metre from next doors boundry.

jackieb

Also check your local council's website to see if the neighbours have planning permission or even just a building warrant. On our local council's website we used to be able to see everyone's plans.

slummymummyof3

You can build up to the boundary with your foundations projecting under the neighbours land - party wall act! It sounds as if the neighbour who has built the extension needed to give the adjoining owner party wall notices even if not up to the line of junction (boundary.) This cannot be dealt with retrospectively. If you get (or the exisiting owner) into a boundary dispute, this is an extremely costly exercise, possibly £20k+ - be very careful! Planning will not get involved as it is a civil matter.

John_Pierpoint

When push comes to shove, this will cost 10's of thousands to sort out legally AND YOU HAVE GOT TO LIVE NEXT DOOR!

I always make it a rule to chat up the neighbours before buying anything - of course this does not stop a neighbour selling to create a neighbour from hell.
Go and talk to the neighbours.

Very sensibly the criminal law does not get involved in cases of squatting unless there is some sort of aggravation involved.

Is it obvious that something funny has happened to the boundary - if it is that could cause problems when YOU come to sell.

If you want to read lots of threads on boundary disputes, google for a site called "gardenlaw".

Davesnave

While boundary disputes are an absolute bu99er, and I should know because I'm closely linked to one now, what no one seems to be mentioning is that it's in your potential neighbour's interest to get this sorted too. If you or your friend object, they have an unsaleable property and a legal fight which could cost many thousands on their hands. This has to play to your advantage.

I would want to meet the neighbour PDQ. Some people are just bad news. I'd want to hear from the horse's mouth what was in their mind, then I'd plan my next move. As others have said, it may be sensible to walk away, but once you have the facts you'll be better able to judge.

Running_Horse

If you're not going to listen to the good advice given, why come here asking for it?

david29dpo

I am presently in the middle of a similar dispute with my parents house. Anyone wishing to buy into one must be mad or stupid. I wound not wish the hassle its causing to me and and my parents on anyone.