Next Door Has Bulit Over Boundary, Advice Wanted Please.

chris1985_2

Hello, I am trying to get some advice about next doors conservatory being built over my boundary.

This year I wanted to upgrade the existing lean to conservatory which was built approx 1995. The windows were replaced as was the roof.

When removing my old roof the window fitters noticed that next doors lean to consevatory was built not only over the boundary and upto my wall but actually on it. Next door had used my single brick wall as the side of their lean to conservatory. Their roof had been slapped over my old one and they had no wall of their own, just using my single brick wall! When removing my old roof to replace with new the window fitters could not remove it entirely as next doors roof is on top of mine. So my new roof had to be cut short.

To cross the boundary next door removed the fence panel. They put plasterboard onto my wall and fixed their roof ontop of my roof ontop of my wall.

Everything was already done before I bought the house and I had not noticed until my new roof was going on.

Anyway it is causing me a lot of stress and damp is getting in, the walls are soaking wet inside my lean to but not next doors.

If I had my way I would get next door to remove her roof and plasterboard and floor away from mine and have another brick wall built on the exterior of mine to make it double walled... this would still be my wall as it would still be on my boundary as when my lean to conservatory was built it was well within our boundaries, there was a 4" gap before the boundary line.

So anyway she has gone over a total of 8 inches if you include her roof being over the top of our wall.

I dunno what to do please advice would be great.

I am on good terms with next door I dont wanna fall out with her but its stressing me out!

Thank you, Chris

fluffymuffy

chris1985 wrote: »

Everything was already done before I bought the house and I had not noticed until my new roof was going on.

I think that's the bit to keep in mind. Either the last occupants of your house agreed to this arrangement or even if they didn't then your surveyor failed to notice/tell you.

chris1985_2

Next door tell me the last owners of my house had a verbal OK with them, however surely if it's on the land registry that I own that land I could get it back legally. I only got a mortgage survey done and not an in depth survey. Seems like a real botched job to me. Isn't it a fire risk also? Thanks for the quick response! Chris

fluffymuffy

It's not just the thickness of the wall they've taken then? There's a width that used to accommodate the fence? Was it your fence/theirs/shared?

The Party Wall Act allows for flashing and waterproofing into a neighbouring wall - there's no right of support. Does next door's roof rely on the side wall or is it spanned front to back?

I think there are two issues here. You want your land and feel that you shouldn't be losing space so next door can make use of it. Also there's the practical issues of getting your own conservatory sorted out.

fluffymuffy

chris1985 wrote: »

If I had my way I would get next door to remove her roof and plasterboard and floor away from mine and have another brick wall built on the exterior of mine to make it double walled... this would still be my wall as it would still be on my boundary as when my lean to conservatory was built it was well within our boundaries, there was a 4" gap before the boundary line.

I don't think this is a good solution. If you're going to demand you neighbour has all the upheaval of redoing their conservatory you should make it a proper solution whereby they have their wall entirely on their land.

If you accept that next door are using your land and just get your roof sorted out then the best way is to have the same system as next door and let the whole thing run across both properties. This is only possible if the conservatories are the same size/height/pitch. If this is impossible then next door's conservatory needs altering to place it entirely on their own land.

I'd be having a word with my solicitor at this point.

David_Aldred

Hello Chris,
I have seen this type of thing on several occasions and in each case the problems were difficult to resolve to everyone's satisfaction. Depending how far you want to go with it if you think you are stressed now you might be considerably more stressed by the time you are through.

Where two properties alongside each other are extended to the rear the options are often to either join those extensions along the party line with mutual consent or to leave a small gap which being small can be difficult to maintain and prevent it becoming a source of dampness to both extensions / properties.

Where the extensions to both properties are not built at the same time the extension that goes up last may sometimes make use of the first extension to form one side of the new extension. Sometimes this is done with mutual consent sometimes it is done without and a dispute arises.

In this case it appears there was oral agreement between the neighbour and the previous owner of your property for the neighbour to build their extension onto the first extension. Whether Planning and / or Building Regulation approval was given is not detailed in your original posting but depending upon size / use such approval may not have been necessary.

There are a number of things for you to consider and in all honesty if you are going to enter into dispute with your neighbour then you are going to have to seek profesional advice upon the matter from a legal advisor with experience of such disputes and also a specialist surveyor again experienced in boundary disputes rather than relying upon this forum for a resolution. However in similar cases I have come across the following may be some of the things to consider:

1. How long is it since you bought the property?
2. How long is it since you became aware of the dampness?
3. How long is it since you became aware of the boundary issue?

The above questions will have a direct bearing upon the matter.

You could attempt to seek damages from your surveyor who advised you when you bought the property but there are time restrictions upon such an action (often around 6 years - though there are circumstances where there may be extension of the time limit if it is reasonable that you did not have the specialist knowledge to be aware of the matter).

However taking action against your surveyor even if you were successful will not get you the land back or resolve the dampness.

There are also restrictions upon taking out an action against your neighbour if an amicable arrangement cannot be reached without resorting to litigation. For instance if there was an agreement (and that could have been an oral agreement though obviously it would have been preferable to have been a written agreement) for the change in boundary between your neighbour and the previous owner and this has been in place for a considerable period of time the neighbour could resist your claim by saying that the boundary was altered by mutual consent to what it now is. It follows that it would then be up to you to prove such an agreement was void and this might not be so easy (or cheap) to do.

If there is dampness coming from next door you may be able to bring an action against your neighbour for the damage and rectification if they fail to resolve it but again this will not give you the land back. Also it is of concern that you say your side of a single brick wall is wet whilst your neighbours side you say is dry and this would require further investigation by somebody competant to do so to determine the exact cause for evidence in a dispute.

Then there is the presently good relationship with your neighbour to consider. If at all possible neighbours should reach amicable solutions without resort to the courts because once that happens you will likely be far from friends that you currently now are and being at odds with each other is never a good thing especially when there may be other issues that you have to mutually agree upon. Finally you need to consider how the matter may effect any future sale of your property if it were picked up on by a surveyor for a purchaser / your implied duty of care to make that purchaser aware of the issue / change of boundary.

As a general comment I would say resolving the dampness amicably is likely going to be easier to achieve than making your neighbour take down their extension that has crossed the original boundary several years ago. As I said at the outset you will have to take appropriate legal and specialist surveyor advice, consider the cost of that advice not only as an initial cost but for however long the claim runs for and consider the chances of a successful outcome alongside the relationship with your neighbour. Be aware that costs for that advice can become staggeringly expensive especially with a drawn out dispute (which these things often become) and you may not necessarily win your boundary dispute no matter how confident you feel at the outset.

Kindest regards, David Aldred Independent damp and timber surveyor

paddy's_mum

Superb answer, David Aldred!

Chris1985 - as angry as you feel right now, think very hard about launching any kind of boundary dispute. The effects can wreck day-to-day life, make you ill with stress and cost you a great deal of money.

Our relatively clear-cut boundary dispute with a dotty octogenarian neighbour has so far gone on for nearly four years and cost (we estimate) about £13-14k in legal, surveyor and insurer fees. We are not yet in sight of the end.

Perhaps work towards getting the damp problem sorted without rattling anyone's chain too hard. Good luck.

Tucker

This should also have been made clear to you by the seller, who has surely failed to provide accurate information when signing the contract of sale?

My dad had a land dispute. A former neighbour let him use a small piece of waste land at the back of this neighbours garage. Whilst he'd used it and had it fenced off for over 10 to 12 years, he could never claim it under adverse possession, because he had made a verbal agreement to use the land.

It would have been adifferent story had he just taken it and fenced it in for 12 years, so I doubt there could be any claim by you neighbour that the land is now legally hers due to the new boundary.