overlooked by neighbouring houses - new build

bigfreddiel

Four new build houses in field behind my house -the builder has raised the earth level by 2 metres - using the soil from the excavated foundations.

A stone wall separates the properties - its my wall as wall. So now walking down their garden they an see right intoour houss and garden.

Is this raising of their ground level a planning issue?

Can I eret a fence based upon the new soil level the builder has created- you can install a 2metre fence without planning I believe.

What else coud I do? I have been complaining in writing to the planning dept about the entire build process with things like windows bigger than on the plan -the houses being 1.5 metres taller than on the plans and all we get back is an acknowledgements - I reckon the builder will apply for retrospective planning and it wil be passed,

Comments please

fj

TEDDYRUKSPIN

bigfreddiel wrote: »

Four new build houses in field behind my house -the builder has raised the earth level by 2 metres - using the soil from the excavated foundations.

A stone wall separates the properties - its my wall as wall. So now walking down their garden they an see right intoour houss and garden.

Is this raising of their ground level a planning issue?

Can I eret a fence based upon the new soil level the builder has created- you can install a 2metre fence without planning I believe.

What else coud I do? I have been complaining in writing to the planning dept about the entire build process with things like windows bigger than on the plan -the houses being 1.5 metres taller than on the plans and all we get back is an acknowledgements - I reckon the builder will apply for retrospective planning and it wil be passed,

Comments please

fj

Are you sure the neighbour has their ground by two metres? Does that mean they can just walk into your garden? I am kind of missing the boat to be honest.

Anyway, you can raise your fencing to that amount of height without problem. If the opposite ground was raised more than 30cm, they should have submitted some form of planning permission.

Now, the overseeing problem. This can devalue your property. If it is a big concern, you can phone your council first to see if they can get someone over as soon as possible.

Outpost

bigfreddiel wrote: »

What else could I do?

Put some pants on when you're walking around the house from now on.

TEDDYRUKSPIN

Outpost wrote: »

Put some pants on when you're walking around the house from now on.

Actually the opposite might work! Maybe putting reflective film on your windows? Don't even know if you need planning permission for that.

bigfreddiel

TEDDYRUKSPIN wrote: »

Are you sure the neighbour has their ground by two metres? Does that mean they can just walk into your garden? I am kind of missing the boat to be honest.

Anyway, you can raise your fencing to that amount of height without problem. If the opposite ground was raised more than 30cm, they should have submitted some form of planning permission.

Now, the overseeing problem. This can devalue your property. If it is a big concern, you can phone your council first to see if they can get someone over as soon as possible.

It is 2 meters and yes they could just walk in - been challenging planning the last two years but get no where

anyway how about these ideas:

1 i know where the datum level is for the new builds - its on the plans - I just base my fence height on that

2 i go for outline planning for property in my back garden - its big enough - and it will ruin the new builds view - i'm right on the beach in north cornwall - so it woud really affect the new builds when the buyers do their searches.

3 I put upa fence that has an iregular up-down vertical planking arrangement - so the average height is 2 metres - or would the ruling here be that the maxeight of the 'up' planks was 2 metres rather than say 1.75-2.25-1.75-2.25 and so on

we thought of reflective film

other ideas are wind chimes - we wouldn't hear them

new age bali style silk wind thingies

national front/english defence league flags

signs saying 'rotweilers running free'

wind turbine

fj

mrschaucer

Like the outline planning idea!
How about nice big eucalyptus trees, or bamboo (you can get REALLY tall stuff). Don't think the idea of averaging out the height of the fence will work, to be honest.
In our town, developers did build a couple of new build houses too high and were made to amend the height, so don't give up complaining formally to the Planning Authorities. The more concrete proof you can give them re ground levels/windows/height etc the better. If they are just sending you acknowledgements, then keep hounding them to find out what stage your official complaints are at. As a last resort, there is the Local Authority ombudsman or whatever he's called.

Mojisola

Won't the builder be putting up a fence once the houses are built?

You are only supposed to put up a fence to a maximum height of 2m from your ground level but, in your position, I would be putting up a higher one if the builder doesn't sort it out.

I'm assuming that the builder has constructed a seriously strong supporting wall between your land and the new houses.

bigfreddiel

mrschaucer wrote: »

Like the outline planning idea!
How about nice big eucalyptus trees, or bamboo (you can get REALLY tall stuff). Don't think the idea of averaging out the height of the fence will work, to be honest.
In our town, developers did build a couple of new build houses too high and were made to amend the height, so don't give up complaining formally to the Planning Authorities. The more concrete proof you can give them re ground levels/windows/height etc the better. If they are just sending you acknowledgements, then keep hounding them to find out what stage your official complaints are at. As a last resort, there is the Local Authority ombudsman or whatever he's called.

north cornish coast - sea 200 metres away - wind speed in winter 60-100mph - salt - sand - these do not nix with growing trees or bamboo sadly

bigfreddiel

Mojisola wrote: »

Won't the builder be putting up a fence once the houses are built?

You are only supposed to put up a fence to a maximum height of 2m from your ground level but, in your position, I would be putting up a higher one if the builder doesn't sort it out.

I'm assuming that the builder has constructed a seriously strong supporting wall between your land and the new houses.

I have a stone wall around my property -the builder wont be adding to it because they get a wonderful view of the sea (and my property/garden as well) so its up to me to screen it off myself

Where i live the policy was to only build bungalows - had that been the case noweverything would have been okay - the developer knows how to work the system so i'm never going to win - he has a reputation for this type of behaviour so i guess its all funded into his budget how he gets all the changes through - i leave you to speculate what i mean!

Mojisola

bigfreddiel wrote: »

I have a stone wall around my property -the builder wont be adding to it because they get a wonderful view of the sea (and my property/garden as well) so its up to me to screen it off myself

Your stone wall won't be strong enough to act as a retaining wall for 2 metres of soil. He must be putting in something else.

If the view is important to the new build, the council will probably be brought in if you put up a fence higher than 2m. You'd better look into tall shrubs that will be happy in your situation if you want any privacy.

bigfreddiel

Mojisola wrote: »

Your stone wall won't be strong enough to act as a retaining wall for 2 metres of soil. He must be putting in something else.

If the view is important to the new build, the council will probably be brought in if you put up a fence higher than 2m. You'd better look into tall shrubs that will be happy in your situation if you want any privacy.

have you ever seen a cornish stone wall (not a dry wall) i assure you 2metres is the lowest it gets -further round my property its 6 - 8 metres high! so there - yah boo sucks and all that stuff!

now can i measure my fence from their datum?