House extension dispute with neighbour

ognum

Think you need to read the act but you need a surveyor who will talk to her surveyor (it gets expensive and YOU pay)
You need to observe the act if you build within 2 metres of her home, or your other neighbour.
It s obvious that many extensions are built with out the agreement being put in place but leagally you are at fault if you dont follow it!

G_M

Look.

Read up on the Party Wall Act! It might apply in your circumstances, it might not. Speak to your surveyor for advice.

If it applies, follow the process.

If it doesn't apply, ignore your neighbour.

Simple.

erdd2

Will the neighbour be drawing attention to their alleged illegal extension....just wondering

zoominov

G_M wrote: »

Look.

Read up on the Party Wall Act! It might apply in your circumstances, it might not. Speak to your surveyor for advice.

If it applies, follow the process.

If it doesn't apply, ignore your neighbour.

Simple.

cool i am reading it , we are doing a extension of 3.0m and leaving a gap of 2inches do we need a surveyor or the party wall

erdd2 wrote: »

Will the neighbour be drawing attention to their alleged illegal extension....just wondering

Yup she did the planning officer came down for a site inspection smiled and grinned when he saw her extension and remarked "her extension looks unlawful and will look into the history"

ILW

zoominov wrote: »

cool i am reading it , we are doing a extension of 3.0m and leaving a gap of 2inches do we need a surveyor or the party wall



Yup she did the planning officer came down for a site inspection smiled and grinned when he saw her extension and remarked "her extension looks unlawful and will look into the history"

If you build a wall 2" away from another, this could cause all sorts of maintenance issues for both of you.

chris_m

zoominov wrote: »

cool i am reading it , we are doing a extension of 3.0m and leaving a gap of 2inches do we need a surveyor or the party wall

Page 18 states that Party Wall Act notification is needed if excavating within 3 metres, or 6 metres if you're going down a long way. Either way I reckon your 2 inch (or 2 feet, as you posted earlier) gap falls well within that.

You must have served it not less than a month before the excavation work is planned to commence - so you won't be able to start on Wednesday unless you won't actually start the foundations work itself until after the first week in September.

zoominov

chris_m wrote: »

Page 18 states that Party Wall Act notification is needed if excavating within 3 metres, or 6 metres if you're going down a long way. Either way I reckon your 2 inch (or 2 feet, as you posted earlier) gap falls well within that.

You must have served it not less than a month before the excavation work is planned to commence - so you won't be able to start on Wednesday unless you won't actually start the foundations work itself until after the first week in September.

We didn't recieve a official letter from our neighbour , it was handwritten and sent it via recorded delivery , and said "she wishes to uphold the decision until her surveyor does a site insepection"

So how long can she stop the working for going ahead 1 month

do i have to serve a party wall notice

I don't know what the next step is

I don't get the last bit i can start digging but i can't start building ie. making the foundation ?

devotee

She can't, your planning application was approved. Just serve her the party wall notice. She's probably getting her knickers in a twist as her extension is illegal.

chris_m

I'm no expert but from the quick scan I did over the Party Wall leaflet I reckon;

zoominov wrote: »

do i have to serve a party wall notice

Yes

zoominov wrote: »

I don't get the last bit i can start digging but i can't start building ie. making the foundation ?

I'm not even sure you could start digging, not within the prescribed distance from your neighbour's wall, until either a month has elapsed after serving the notice or (if it takes longer) any survey required by her has been completed and the work approved. If you think about it, the digging for foundations is the part of the work most at risk of causing problems for adjacent structures. Once the foundations are in, the trench has been filled and stabilised although there may still be issues with how the ground reacts over time.

To be perfectly honest, it's little use asking questions here. No-one here can give you definite answers, however knowledgable they might be, because none of us have seen your property, your neighbour's property or your plans.

Indeed, your own descriptions have been somewhat vague which clouds the issue - you haven't said in what way your neighbour's extension is illegal nor how it encroaches on your property, you've initially stated that you're going to be building 2 feet away from her property then later you changed that to 2 inches.

Not wanting to sound harsh, just realistic, I think you are out of your depth on this and no amount of questions/answers on an internet forum will fix that. You need a professional surveyor to inspect the situation and give you proper advice as to what you legally and practically need to do and what you can do in what timescales.

I certainly wouldn't recommend dusting off the shovel for Wednesday.

zoominov

Can i just write to a letter to her saying "we are shortly starting work in our property , could you appoint your surveyor , so he/she can inspect our site"

or so i have to serve a proper "party wall notice"