Is neighbours porch breaking building regs

adaze

Definately looks like it has been built on your side of the boundary, if you look at the painted board behind the guttering and following the pointing down, it looks like it is about a bricks length over the boundary, so about 215mm onto your property :eek:

stardoman

While it is not a planning matter, there is something called the Party Wall Act. If someone is going to build on the boundary they are supposed to get agreement from the neighbours. If they can't get agreement there is a procedure where they have to appoint a surveyor to decide what can and can't be done.

This Act does not stop the work from taking place but places responsibility on the person benefitting from the work to make good any damage he causes.

We are about to build an extension and have been advised to get the neighbours to sign a Party Wall Agreement even though all the building and foundations will be on our land and we are not building up to the boundary (we are detached).

See the following website for more information on the Party Wall Act :

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/partywall

HTH. Mandy.

adaze

stardoman wrote: »

While it is not a planning matter, there is something called the Party Wall Act. If someone is going to build on the boundary they are supposed to get agreement from the neighbours. If they can't get agreement there is a procedure where they have to appoint a surveyor to decide what can and can't be done.

Also if you look at the very constriction of the porch, the foundations must be on your property so the PWA will almost definately apply. What happens if you want to dig up your front garden, find a load of concrete in the way and remove that, or undermine it? Their porch will come tumbling down.... :cool:

planning_officer

lindos90 wrote: »

This is crazy but true afaik. My neighbour had planning permission to build an extension, I saw the plans at the council office and pointed out to the officer that the majority of the foundations on the boundary side of the extension were actually on my side of the boundary and would mean digging up my patio about 18" along the boundary!!!

The officer said he was not bothered about that as long as the building was safe, and infact anyone can ask for planning permission on any land, not necessarily land they own!!

Thank goodness since then my neighbour has not gone ahead with the extension, but I live in fear that he will one day, if he got permission once, he could do it again.

It's not really 'crazy', as the planning system is only concerned with the visual impact of the built form - Council's do not hold land ownership records so it is impossible to check if someone owns all the land they say they do. That's why planning is limited (in cases like this) to the external appearance of a development, as there is other legislation that deals with land ownership. Gaining planning permission does not override land ownership - for example, I could apply to build an extension to your house if I really wanted to, but I couldn't build it without your permission, as you own the land! In your case, even if the neighbour has been granted planning permission for the extension, they can't just go ahead and do it if it crosses your boundary - they need your permission and the planning decision does not override that.

sarah7610

Thanks for the reply and information.
In answer to some of your comments, no, not all of the porch is new, only the white bit. The brick part is original but the original door was flush to the house. As for my porch, it is also original apart from the roof which was put on before I bought the house by the Housing Assosiation. These were also fitted to all other rented housing on the estate and therefore I should imagine had planning permission.
My neighbours porch is very impossing and also over the border which I am sure no-one who buys a house would want. They didn't ask me if it was ok to build it where it was, in fact, as they were about to start building it I came out of my house to find they were going to build it even closer to my window and I stopped them. When I got home, that's where it was! They'd only moved it a couple of inches.